11-12 Crown Royale Erik Gudbranson Rookie Silhouettes Auto /99

Last summer I helped my neighbour out by selling a couple cards from my collection to him so he could give the cards as gifts to his nephews. One of those cards was able to net me two Rookie Silhouettes and this is the first of those two.

11-12 Crown Royale Erik Gudbranson Rookie Silhouettes Auto /99

While I never bought a box or a pack of this stuff, I do enjoy the Rookie Silhouettes a great deal and have a few in my collection now. The swatch is a nice 3 colour jersey piece that really pops out and the autograph is large and very visible. Erik was a member of the 2011 Canadian U20 team and helped them to a silver medal. Erik was a 3rd overall pick in the 2010 draft and really have developed into a spectacular shutdown defenseman for the Panthers who logs over 20 min a game on the blueline. He isn't going to wow with offensive numbers but he does help out on occasion and as he grows and matures I could see him chipping in a bit more as his career progresses. This is my first Gudbranson auto rookie and was on my to-do list for a while. I was able to add another blueliner with my proceeds from the card sale and I will share that in a future post.

11-12 UD Tin Break

Just before Christmas, I was shopping for others and buying for myself which included an 11-12 UD tin. Each tin had 12 packs so 3 Young Guns were possible along other wonderful inserts. Truth be told, I am starting to hate all the inserts like EA Sports Dream Team or Ambassadors or whatever they are throwing in these days. I do like the Canvas parallels but apart from that unless it is signed or game-used, I just have no interest in plain insert cards. So, here are the hits straight up...

11-12 UD Sean Couturier Young Gun

Sean Couturier was the biggest hit of the box. Sean was the 8th overall pick in 2011 and as been in the NHL since day 1. He has yet to find his offensive stride but as long as Philly is patient with this kid I think they will have a winner on their hands soon.

11-12 UD Teemu Hartikainen Young Gun

Wow an Oiler.....hard to believe I am disappointed getting an Oiler Young Gun but I am. Teemu will unfortunately be making another appearance on here in the near future.

11-12 UD Erik Gudbranson Young Gun

Chris Pronger without the offensive skill? A much more offensive Brad Marsh? Yep that is Erik Gudbranson, he is stay at home perfection. A player you would want on your team hands down but not want to ever pull from a pack of cards....ok maybe not that bad, I am actually happy pulling this as he is a former Canadian World Junior and I respect a good stay at home man.

11-12 UD Game Jersey Tuukka Rask

So despite Toronto giving up on him and sending him to Boston for Andrew Raycroft, Rask didn't exactly get revenge in this past round of the playoffs. Boston did win, but Rask was pretty shaky and unless Boston starts to tighten up defensively I suspect Rask and the boys will be out on the course before long.

Well there you have it, a tin which was the equivalent of half a retail box. I did reasonably well for 25 dollars which was the sale price down from 40. I also have a load of base cards which means I likely buy a hobby box some day and chase the base set of Series 1. Also in the box was an oversized Winter Classic card but I assure you, you aren't interested in seeing that :)

Eakin and Gudbranson

While I have made it no secret that I have been a big fan of the Rookie Anthology product, I see no reason why I can't mention it again! This product speaks to me and I have enjoyed buying two boxes of the stuff and getting a few singles online as well. Here is another one of those singles.

11/12 Rookie Anthology Rookie Rivalry Eakin/Gudbranson

Even though this card isn't numbered and doesn't book for very much, that certainly doesn't deter me from dropping nearly 3 dollars on it (including shipping). These are two former Team Canada World Junior players who I really enjoyed seeing wear Red and White for Canada and both are looking like they will have some pretty solid NHL careers. Just another cool card from my favourite set from 11/12.