A Hattrick of Nic Petans

The World Juniors each year are a showcase of the young talent around the world when it comes to ice hockey and each year I seem to walk away with a new player or two to admire. A few years ago, Nic Petan wore the Team Canada colours and just seemed to dominate the tournament. It was his second appearance and after finishing 4th in 2014, he helped lead Team Canada to a gold medal in 2015 by scoring 4 goals and 11 points along the way in just 7 games. 

Success in a junior tournament by no means dictates success at the NHL level but I do believe this young 22 year old player has the potential to be a very solid second line NHL player and given he's a member of a very young and exciting Jets team, the future could be very bright for both him and his club. Over the past couple years I've managed to pick up a few of his cards:

2015-16 Upper Deck Nicolas Petan Young Gun

While I Nic'd the scan of this one from the internet, I did pull one or two of his cards during my quest for a McDavid young gun. He didn't stalk me as much as Larkin or Panarin but each time I hit him I was pretty happy with the outcome regardless.

2015-16 UD Contours Rookies Nicolas Petan /199

 Contours was a product that meant to be a little premium and a little different but alas I don't believe collectors jumped aboard the product like Crown Royale fans used to and as a result you can find this product still for a pretty reasonable price. My LCS has boxes for 89.99. I picked this one up for $5 which I'd do all over again.

2015 Upper Deck Team Canada Juniors Jumbo Jersey Nicolas Petan /199

 Game used Team Canada jersey? Yes please! I don't think this was from the Gold Medal winning tournament but then again I don't know for certain it wasn't. Either way, it was game worn by Nic Petan which is still pretty cool in a Team Canada game.

Nicolas Petan finished this past year by playing in 54 NHL games where he put up 1 goal and 13 points. Very modest numbers but he mostly was seeing bottom 6 time and support and I believe in time he could find himself higher up in the line up and as a result production will increase. In the meantime I wouldn't be surprised if we see 30 points from him in 2017-18 and more importantly I am excited to see what the Jets will be capable of this coming season after just missing out on a playoff spot. They did finish the season as the hottest team in the NHL with a 7 game winning streak so if that is any indication, look out Western Conference.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Kind Gesture By a Friend...

As I mentioned in the previous post I would get to a post about a nice gift I received from a friend of mine. Given I live in a rural community and have little friends who share my interest in collecting, any one I do have in that category are fantastic in my books. Truth is I only have about two people whom I would call friends that I could drive over and see and have card collections of their own and one of them is the guy who owns the LCS. The other is my friend and neighbour and Christmas 2015 was one time I will never forget what he did for me.

Like all collectors I was trying my best to pull and Connor McDavid rookie (YG in particular). I was striking out on my attempts and while Dylan Larkin (4 YGs and 2 Canvas YG) later showed me a couple things. Upper Deck's collation isn't terribly random and Mr. McDavid wouldn't be finding me that Xmas. However, my friend did have success. He bought just two boxes and a blaster or two and hit TWO of them. What he did next I wouldn't have ever expected but he showed up on my steps after telling me he hit another and just gave it to me. No strings and no expectations back. A truly selfless act and one I really really appreciated.

I went to my own collection, grabbed a gift bag and I filled it with cards to show my appreciation in return and in the end both sides were happy and I still display this card frequently and I know that this card will always mean more to me than just some BV amount.


15-16 Upper Deck Connor McDavid Young Gun

Sorry for the poor quality but I took the photo with my cell phone because I didn't want to risk damaging the card pulling it off the scanner bed with my fingers. I loved this card from the moment I saw it and I know that Upper Deck had to have picked this particular pose for McDavid for the following reason:

 

Is it just me or do they look similar?? Anyway, thanks so much Brett and I look forward to many more trades either open ended or agreed upon! Next post will be a more recent gift I received from the fine folks at Upper Deck!