Also officially surviving cuts were John Hayden, Tommy Wingels, Lance Buoma, and Anton Forsberg, of which the latter three will be making their Blackhawk debuts when they first hit the ice. But, I don't have any cards of those guys, whatsoever. Cue the sad trumpet.
Although, I did recently acquire some cards of some former Hawks to add to my Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection. So, in honor of the United Center residents updating their active roster, let's take a look at the updates I've made to my roster collection:
It's appropriate that blue-chipper DeBrincat should be the center of attention, seeing as all three of the cards I picked up just happen to be rookie or prospect cards. Here's hoping that Alex works out better than these guys.
Matt Keith was a right-winger drafted 59th overall in the 2001 draft by Chicago. He made his NHL debut on February 24, 2004, against the Flyers, and on March 1 of that same year, against the Predators, he scored his first goal. Right about there is where the highlight sheet on Keith runs out. His Blackhawks career amounted to 22 games over the course of three seasons before he was traded to the Ducks for P.A. Parenteau.
As for his 203-04 Topps Traded single, I think the teal borders play nicely off of the old, all-black jersey look.
David Rundblad was selected 17th overall in the 2009 draft and bounced around from St. Louis, to Ottawa, to Phoenix, where he played with their AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates, as shown by this 2013 Choice Top Prospects single. Eventually, David landed with Chicago during the 2013-14 season. The former big-time prospect was already a journeyman by this point, though he saw significant time on the ice as a defensive reserve with the Hawks on the way to their 2015 Stanley Cup victory. However, since that triumph, most of David's rink time has come overseas, in Switzerland and, now, Russia.
Choice, who handles minor league sets for a lot of the clubs and leagues in MiLB and independent baseball, seems to handle their fair share of minor league hockey teams and leagues, as well. This is the first such example to land in my burgeoning hockey collection.
Here we have another minor league hockey card, but this one comes courtesy of a major manufacturer, In The Game. More specifically, this card hails from their 2011-12 edition of the Heroes and Prospects line.
Phillip Danault was selected 26th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Blackhawks on the strength of his four seasons with the junior-level Victoriaville Tigers (with whom he's seen above) of the QMJHL. He made his NHL debut in the 2014-15 season with Chicago, as part of a two-game cameo, and then secured a regular spot on the fourth line during the next campaign. But, his blossoming Blackhawk career was ended in a "go for it all" trade with Montreal, when he was swapped for Tomas Flesichmann and Dale Weise. Those two did jack-squat in the Windy City, were gone by the time summer hit and without a Cup. Meanwhile, Phil has since gone on to become a key cog in the line rotation for the Canadiens.
Whoopsy. Maybe we should have kept our receipt for that deal.
With that, we've covered all of my recent additions to my Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection binder. Hopefully, Alex DeBrincat works out in Chicago much, much better than these prospects fared in the Second City. Also, fingers crossed that I'll be able to track down cardsof the uber prospect, Hayden, Wingels, Buoma, and Forsberg for said binder, in the near future. It was an off-season of seismic change for the franchise and I'm already struggling to keep up.
Such is the struggle of roster-based collecting.
I'm excited about DeBrincat, but still concerned about his size. I hope he's not another Tuevo Teravainen that doesn't pan out as a star due to size. If he ends up with a Young Guns card, I will have to spend more money on ePack so that I can get the gold rainbow Young Guns.
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