13-14 Panini Prizm Tanner Pearson Rookie Auto

Well the Kings won the 2014 Stanley Cup and I am pretty sure I am not breaking this news to any hockey fans out there. The last time the Kings won the Cup was 2012 against my beloved Devils. During their 2012 Cup run, I noticed a young defenseman who really impressed me named Slava Voynov.

This past run, two players who really jumped out at me were my boy Tyler Toffoli, and Tanner Pearson. On a line with Jeff Carter, these three exhibited a great deal of chemistry on the ice, which gave the Kings two solid scoring lines and propelled them to their Cup win.



13-14 Panini Prizm Tanner Pearson Rookie Auto

Here is a card that I put a bid on in the spring and had lost. The seller came back and offered me a second chance because the seller didn't accept the buyer's form of payment. I gladly accepted the second chance and here it is.

The Future Is Now - Jon Merrill

When you have been a fan of a sports team for over 25 years you are bound to see ups and downs. When I became a Devils fans there was one season of hope followed by a few miserable seasons. In fact from 88-93 were all pretty rough. There was hope, but mostly rough. Then from 94-2004 it was pretty amazing. Three Cups and four appearances in the finals. The last 10 years have had their ups and downs but currently we are trying to re-tool on the fly and some ways I think we have made great progress and others we haven't. I feel we have one or two too many 35+ players on the team but our youth are amazing and players you would want to build a franchise around. For example, the troubled Jon Merrill.

Jon was considered a first round draft pick and had the talent to back that up. However, he also had some rough edges and personal baggage of which I don't know what they were. But Lou felt he was totally worth the gamble when his name was still on the board in the second round so the Devils grabbed him with their first pick in 2010 (38th overall). We didn't have our first round pick that year due to being part of the Kovalchuk trade but it is worth noting that the pick the Devils had turned out to be Kevin Hayes. 

So far, what we have seen in New Jersey has been nothing short of excellent. He has contributed a bit offensively (11 points in 52) games but what he has done without the puck has been superb. He definitely plays like a player with a couple of years of experience and I know he will become more rounded and I expect big things from him. For Devils fans, he could be the next Bruce Driver or Paul Martin (when he was good with the Devils).

 13-14 Rookie Anthology Jon Merrill Auto Rookie /249

I am slowly trying to get some more new Devils into my collection and this is my first of a couple Merrills. I got this online in the spring for a mere 3.00 plus shipping and I really like the design and was very pleased with that steal of a deal. In the end his cards aren't going to make anyone rich but I know he will have a strong fan base and hopefully help the Devils re-tool back to the glory days.