Career in Cards: Daniel Alfredsson

2005-06_bDaniel Alfredsson officially retired yesterday after participating in a pregame skate with the Ottawa Senators, then giving his retirement speech. He spent 18 seasons in the NHL. Alfredsson won rookie if the year honors in 1996, played in the All-Star Game six times, and was a point-per-game player for most of his career. Most of these accomplishments were during the “dead puck era,” where NHL scoring steadily declined. Here’s a look back at Alfredsson’s career — with the help of a few trading cards. Continue reading “Career in Cards: Daniel Alfredsson”

Career in Cards: Chris Chelios

Last week, the Chicago Blackhawks honored former player and legend Chris Chelios with a pregame ceremony. Chelios retired in August, capping off a remarkable 27-year professional career that spanned from 1984 to 2010.

Chelios is my all-time favorite player. A defensive stalwart, he could help offensively too. He was rugged and would fight. Seemingly, there wasn’t anything Chelios couldn’t do…except take a night off. The man never quit, even when he was well into his forties and twice as old as many of the men he was playing against.

Now that Cheli has retired–or more appropriately, now that I have come to grips with his retirement–I thought it would be a good time to take a look back at his career…but with rectangular pieces of cardboard as the visuals.

Get comfortable…this is gonna take a while. Continue reading “Career in Cards: Chris Chelios”

Career in Cards: Mark Johnson

Before changing our focus from the Olympics and back to the NHL, I thought it would be fitting to do one final Olympics-themed article about Mark Johnson.

Johnson played on the “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic team in 1980, and was the coach of the silver-medal winning U.S. Women’s team in 2010. He also had a fine career in the NHL too, playing 11 seasons with the Penguins, North Stars, Whalers, Blues and Devils. Continue reading “Career in Cards: Mark Johnson”

Career in Cards: Tony McKegney

In honor of Black History Month, today we will take a look at the career of Tony McKegney. He was not the first black hockey player–or second, or third–to play in the NHL. Rather, McKegney was the first black hockey player to make an impact in the NHL. Here are some of his trading cards issued during his 13-year NHL career. Continue reading “Career in Cards: Tony McKegney”

Career in Cards: Mike Bossy

Today we take a look back at the career–in cards–of Hall of Fame right wing Mike Bossy. In 10 seasons, Bossy scored 50 or more goals in all but his last one, which was cut short by injuries. A bad back forced him to retire at age 30.But he accomplished more in 10 seasons that what most players do in 20. Continue reading “Career in Cards: Mike Bossy”