Archive for July, 2010

Picked up a couple of the Signature Miracle on Ice cards on eBay the other day.

First is Eric Strobel, a bit player during the run. He put up three points in the Olmypics (1 goal, 2 assists).

Next is Bill Baker, another bit player. He only had one point, a goal, during the Olympics. According to the back of the card, it was a fairly important one as it was a last minute slapper to beat  Swedish phenom Pelle Lindbergh and gave the US a tie.

I am now down to four players (Silk, Broten, Pavelich, and Suter) and the two coaches (Patrick and Brooks) to complete my version of the set. If I want to completely finish it, I’ll need to get the second autograph version of each card. Up until today, I had zero desire to do that, but as I close in on finishing the set, part of me wants to complete it in it’s entirety.

Should I?

One can never have too many autographed cards of the 1980 US Olympic team, right?

Mark Stuart is my favourite Bruins player, so I was a little worried come free agent time because I desperately wanted the B’s to resign him. He ended up agreeing to a 1 year/1.68 million dollar extension. While I would have preferred the B’s to have locked him up for longer, this deal is more of a temporary deal until they can (hopefully) resign him to a long-term deal after next season.

Stuart was drafted 21st overall by the Bruins in the 2003 draft and has made his debut during the ’05-’06 season. He would only play in 17 games that season before being sent back down to the Providence Bruins for some seasoning. It was the same story the next season; Stuart would only play in 15 games for the B’s before being sent back down. I can tell you that during those two seasons, what I saw, I loved. He was a tough dude who made smart plays and thought it was only a matter of time before he would be up for good. And he was the following season. Stuart would play in every game for the Bruins for the next two seasons. Last season, Stuart missed a chunk of time with a broken pinkie finger. Surgery on it led to an infection which cost him almost the entire playoffs.

I can not speak to this personally, but Stuart seems like the guy who is a great clubhouse leader. The sort of player who practices hard every day, comes to the game ready to play, leaves it all on the ice, and leads by example. He has the makings, in my opinion, of a future captain. He’s a smart defenseman who plays tough. He’ll dish out hits and will take one to make a play if need be. He is always willing to drop the gloves if an opponent is getting a bit too chippy, either with himself or with a teammate. Bruins color commentator Jack Edwards (I think it was him initially) dubbed Stuart “caveman strong”. I take this to mean that he is just a solid, SOLID dude.

I have high hopes for him this upcoming season. I think if he were 100% during the playoffs, the B’s advance past Philadelphia. I hope the Bruins brass is smart enough to realize what they have with Stuart and do everything possible to lock him up for a long time. With Cam Neely as the new president of the organization, I have to believe that he sees the value, on and off the ice, of Stuart and makes it happen. This is the sort of guy who will see on the US Olympic team in the near future and you’ll think to yourself, “Whoa, this guy is a rock.”

I used to have an SPX auto/jersey card of Stuart, but you know how I feel about sticker autographs; the SP Authentic was a no brainer, especially since it can be had for like $8. Overall, I think he has a nice signature; I especially like how the crossed T spans the entire autograph.

Below is a clip of Stuart absolutely DESTROYING Anze Kopitar on a completely legal, open-ice hit, followed by Stuart dropping them against Wayne Simmonds. I like guys like Stuart who realize that if they lay out a player, especially a star player, they are going to have to answer the bell. And I like guys like Simmonds who stick up for their teammates. To me, these are the best fights; they aren’t set up in advance and there isn’t a long drawn out square off. Just two dudes going at it in the heat of the moment.