Blue Ink..............

Today the mailbox had some blue ink in it.

I've always liked the SPA Chirography sets. I have always liked how in SPA the base card color is white with nice crisp blue auto's. It really helps the auto pop.

There is a nice clear headshot on the card with a nice touch of foil to outline the box.

In my eyes this is a very pleasing very nice card. It's a PC keeper.

A long time coming ........ Marty Mail

When 08/09 ITG Between the Pipes came out we saw a new addition to an already impressive lineup. The debut of Super-Sized Pads.
Since those cards came out I've wanted one, just never had the funds to pull the trigger. In my opinion the 08/09 Pad cards are a lot nicer then the 09/10 Pad cards.
What I like most about about the 08/09 is the inclusion of the head shot.
Sure the pad size isn't as big as the 09/10 but the head shot is what does it for me.

International Ice Ink.........Marty Mail

Everyone scours the bay in search of deals. Well I found one.
I found a badly worded auction from a seller with 1 feedback.
What I got was a card that I've wanted for a long time. I love the idea of having a card of Marty in his Team Canada jersey.
This card also has a very cool photo, can't get better this action shot here. Show's Marty's old mask with the Zepter sticker on it, wearing the red Canada jersey. Rick Nash is also shown on this card.

Nice clean auto, very cool card. This card has since been moved to a collector doing this set. Good luck.

3 patch's, 1 jersey, 2 cards.........Devils Mail

Here we have a couple of cool new cards of some very enjoyable devils to watch.

First we have a very nice patch from this years Ultimate. A very nice 3 color Zach Parise patch. The window is very big, and the design this year is very nice. We Devils fans are hoping that Lou can lock this guy up to a life long contract as well.


Secondly we have a triple fabrics David Clarkson. We get 2 patch's and 1 jersey in on this card. Clarkson doesn't have much to any game used, and as I understand this is his only patch card.
In the future I'd like to add another one of these that has more color in the patch window's but being that this card is 09/10 and is already a year old, I don't know if that'll happen any time soon.

17 yea"R"s of STICK handling.....

Well in the mailbox today we have something different.

Something that we Devils fans may get to watch for 17 more years. We have a ITG Superlative Stickwork Ilya Kovalchuk 7/9.

This card is awesome. Kovalchuk uses the warrior sticks and this card shows the R. There is some nice wear that is shown this stick which is nice. Also appealing on this card is that the stick has been cut pretty evenly and takes up a very nice portion of the window. We've seen some cards that are lacking in this aspect.

The color scheme is very nice and even though there is no head shot I still think it's visually appealing.

Now the card:


Now just approve the contract!

The Wantlist

My current want list for my ongoing projects.

Certified Collision Course Auto
Cal Clutterbuck

10/11 Score Base Set:
555, 556, 557, 558, 559

Net Cam 10, 17, 20, 21

Canadian Greats : all but # 4, 15, 20
US Greats: all but # 8, 12, 17
Snow Globe: all but # 1, 3, 6, 8
Franchise: all but # 4, 7, 14, 15, 20, 22, 26

09/10 ITG BTP Brodeur Tribute Set : T-01, T-03, T-06

Other items to be added to want list soon.

The Kovalchuk Saga

My wife is all about the "Twilight Saga" and recently had me sit down and watch the first two movies of it. There is another one in theaters and another book to be made.



So in turn I get to teach her all about the "Kovalchuk Saga". Lets break this down chapter by chapter shall we.

Chapter 1: The Trade to the Devils
After a lengthy contract dispute with the Atlanta Thrashers it looked like Ilya wasn't going to sign, after a very public statement of what Ilya turned down from the team Don Waddell saved face and pulled of a trade with the Devils. The first chapter of the saga see's Ilya play 27 regular season games and 5 playoff games with the Devils, this is being dubbed the audition.

Chapter 2: July 1st and the weeks to follow
Leading up to free agency it was being reported that teams where trying to trade for the rights to Ilya and get the exclusive negotiation window. Amidst reports Devils GM Lou Lamoriello maintained that he was still talking to Ilya and that he believed that he was going to sign him.
While we devils fans waited and watched all we heard about was Kings GM Dean Lombardi and his courtship of Ilya. We heard about them dropping out and looking elsewhere. We then heard that they where "re-engaging" talks with the Kovalchuk camp and flying him into L.A.
We also heard of a very big offer from the Islanders, that as it turns out never really existed.
The KHL knocked on the Kovalchuk door with numerous offers.
We then got a tweet from Jay Grossman, after an initial tweet a lifetime before, stating that Ilya had made a decision and he was going to announce it shortly.

Chapter 3: The Decision and The Rejection
July 18th comes and we have a decision: The Devils. Fans of the Devils are ecstatic and the speculation begins on the term. We learn on the 19th of the term, 17 years and $102 million, giving an AAV of $6 million per year. Fans love the number and we also hear of a big press conference that will take place on the 20th. Players coming in to celibate are Captain Jamie Langenbrunner, Patrik Elias, Martin Brodeur and Zach Parise. Photo's are taken and fans are celebrating.
Later that night word creeps up that the NHL is going to reject the deal because it is no compliant and it circumvents the CBA.
Officially on the 21st we get word that the NHL does indeed reject the deal. The NHLPA now has 5 business days to file an appeal.
On the 26th we finally get word that the NHLPA has filed the grievance. We now sit and wait for a systems arbitrator to be hired.

Chapter 4: The Arbitrator and the Answer
July 30th we learn the identity of the arbiter, Richard Bloch, a New Jersey native. The hearings will start on August 3rd and will take 2 days to complete.
August 5th has come and past and the two days of hearings has come in gone. Tom Gulliti (Devils beat writer) has confirmed that to this point Kovalchuk was present at the Boston hearings, Jeff Vanderbeek (Owner) was not present and GM Lamoriello had no comment on wither he was there.
Gary Bettman also confirmed that he was not present.
The arbiter then has 48 hours to give his decision.
Today is August 9th and just after 5pm (the max time allowed) we learned the Richard Bloch has sided with the NHL and voided the contract between the Devils and Kovalchuk. More details on the rejection coming.
In the Bloch review he wrote that the "diveback" was very severe, he said that it helped, amongst other things show that there was no "intent to live out the life of the contract". Also mentioned was the fact that the NO MOVE changed to a NO TRADE which would allow the team and player to get out of the deal. Lastly, Bloch did called it a "retirement" contract, that didn't sit well.

Chapter 5:
After two weeks and many, rumored, visits to NHL headquarters and other negotiations Ilya seemed to be getting upset. It was reported on August 25th that the NHL has rejected another framework deal between Lou and Grossman. A day later a "deadline to get a deal done" was imposed by the Kovalchuk camp. The thought was that the offer from the KHL was now becoming more and more something that Ilya was considering and willing to do.
On August 27th comes news that the Devils, Ilya Kovalchuk and agent Mark Grossman have found a new framework and have submitted another deal to the league for approval. Bill Daley confirms a formal contract has been submitted and the NHL is going to exercise it's right of 5 days to review the deal in full.

We sit and wait.

More info on the rubber jersey's

The following was posted by waltdorholt on hfboards.com (devils section)

The "rubber" jerseys are usually old preseason jerseys that were recycled. They used a heat seal vinyl material for the logo and numbers. Typically used because they never knew who would be staying on the roster for the regular season. They were really just a step up from a practice jersey. Though some teams used heat seal jerseys for the regular season too. Pittsburgh wore them for years in the 80's.

The same goes for game jerseys without the nameplates. Sometimes when a player was traded, they just recycled the jerseys and stitched names right to the material without a nameplate. That was way back in the day when teams were poor and did what they could to save money.
Also, teams usually have 3-4 jerseys per player for the season, some sets may not have used nameplates, so it could have changed during the season, depending on the wear and tear of the jersey. I would assume that goalie jerseys take a huge beating compared to the skaters jerseys, so they probably go through jerseys quicker.
So if one player has a nameplate on his jersey and another doesn't, even though the jerseys are from the same season or even the same set, it doesn't mean they are fakes. It could just be from a jersey repair, or a recycled jersey from a traded player, etc.