Rookie Update - John Tavares

Despite a brilliant start to the NHL season as well as a massive slump, John Tavares has continued to battle every night. His persistance paid off Tuesday night with a career-best 5 points in one game in a surprising New York Islanders win over the Vancouver Canucks.

The blue-chip prospect had an amazing pass to set up a Matt Moulson goal as shown below:



Although it's doubtful that Tavares can finish in the running for the Calder Trophy due to his slump, this 5-point night proved beyond a doubt that he'll be a force to be reckoned with in the years to come. After all, a Calder Trophy doesn't guarantee greatness. Just ask Andrew Raycroft who won the Calder earlier this decade. Collectors will still be excited beyond belief to pull a John Tavares SP Authentic rookie card.



John Tavares has appeared previously in ITG Heroes and Prospects but his first Upper Deck rookie cards are available in most 2009-10 Upper Deck products available at Canada Card World.

2009-10 NHL Calder Trophy Race Revisited

As the Olympic break approached, five players were still in the running as the best rookie of the 2009-10 NHL season. In no specific order, John Tavares, Jimmy Howard, Matt Duchene, James Van Riemsdyk, and Tyler Myers were at the top of the rookie class. Other players were either too old (Antti Niemi) or too hurt (Semyon Varlamov) to be considered. With the Olympic break behind us, two of those players seem to have hit the wall. This does not mean their futures aren't as bright though, as Tavares had a 5-point night last night and Van Riemsdyk continues to play well. In fact, only three strong contenders remain.

Jimmy Howard



Jimmy Howard was supposed to be a good goalie from day one. Detroit knew it too. They just took their time releasing him and his skills to the world. His play after October cemented him as the Red Wings #1 goaltender and this late-bloomer seems to be the real deal.

Matt Duchene



Matt Duchene wasn't even the best rookie on his team in October and November as Ryan O'Reilly drew most of the attention. However, steady play and a super burst in December put this favourite of Don Cherry into the spotlight.

Tyler Myers



Tyler Myers was supposed to be a project defenseman. His splendid early season play was no fluke and this massive Zdeno Chara clone is a franchise player of epic proportions. Not only is he playing big minutes against the NHL's best but he is putting up amazing offensive numbers for a defenseman as well. A big 4 point night in March proved that he can play a full season and continue to make an impact.

Prediction - Barring a late season charge by one of the other two, this award will go to Tyler Myer. As stated earlier... Who dares steal this trophy away from the hulking defenseman?

Duchene and Myers have rookie cards available in most 2009-10 products available at Canada Card World. Jimmy Howard has rookie cards available in many 2005-06 products.

Rookie Update - John Tavares

Boom! Just like that!

4 goals in 2 games. The Tavares/Okposo connection is starting to bear fruit for both players. And John Tavares is now on pace for 40 goals on the season. That's quite a feat for a 19 year-old kid. What were you doing when you were nineteen?



As reported on Yahoo Sports, Tavares, the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, had both goals for the Islanders for the second straight night, but neither effort was enough for a win. The Ontario native has 15 goals in 31 games.

“It’s good to contribute, but at the end of the day it really doesn’t matter a whole lot,” Tavares said. “It’s too bad we weren’t able to at least get the point.”



John Tavares has cards available in many In The Game products and rookie cards in all 2009-10 Upper Deck products available at Canada Card World.

Upper Deck - The 2009-10 Rookies

An informative and interesting story on the new pros and their thoughts on the hobby.



Courtesy of TSN.

For your chance at the big rookies of 2009-10, please visit Canada Card World.

Rookie Update - John Tavares

It was inevitable. John Tavares has started ripping it up! He's showing the skill which made him the most talked about prospect since Sidney Crosby. If you don't remember his skill level, watch this goal:



With 4 goals and 8 points in his last 5 games, Tavares has captured the rookie goal and point scoring lead.

Not only has his scoring been on the rise, so have his card values. A recent eBay transaction netted one seller $340 for a 2009-10 Upper Deck Black RC Auto/Letter/Patch Redemption. Even his recently released Upper Deck Series One Young Guns are selling for anywhere from $80 to $120. This should be a great season for those lucky enough to pull a few Tavares cards from their hockey card packs.

2009-10 Upper Deck Series One and many other brands are available from Canada Card World.

Who to Collect (In Retrospect) - Kyle Okposo

Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri. Adam Oates and Brett Hull. John Tavares and Kyle Okposo?

There will be a day when these two may join the ranks of the all-time elite. They have the talent. There is no doubt about that. John Tavares has been talked about relentlessly but Kyle Okposo is no stranger to exhibitions of dominating skill.

Drafted 7th overall in 2006, Okposo made his debut with the Islanders in 2007-08 by scoring 5 points in only 9 games. During his first full season in 2008-09, Okposo stepped up his game with 39 points in 65 games. So far this season, Okposo has scored 10 points in his first 14 games. That's a lot of career points for a player who just turned 21 and has not had much of a supporting cast. Now with more media coverage on the New York Islanders, fans are beginning to see this shooting machine with the nifty moves.



As mentioned above, Kyle Okposo is no stranger to being a dominant player as he won the USHL Rookie of the Year, USHL Clark Cup Playoffs MVP, and was a USHL First All-Star Team in 2006 as a 17 year old.

His focal Upper Deck NHL rookie card was his Young Guns RC (#229) which appeared in 2008-09 Upper Deck Series One which is available at Canada Card World

Rookie Update - John Tavares

With fourteen games under his belt, John Tavares is definitely getting off the gate much faster than Steven Stamkos did last season. Tavares has 5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points and is slowly gaining chemistry with Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey. This three-some should make the Islanders relevant again, especially as the Islanders start adding more support and skill.



Here's a handy list of his cards available so far in the 2009-10 season:

09 Fall Expo Upper Deck Priority Signings Autograph
09/10 NHL UD Black Auto'd Rookie Letterman Exchange Card #73
09/10 NHL Ultra Rookies Exchange Card #201
09/10 NHL UD Series 1 Young Guns #201

Upper Deck Releases 2009-10 NHL UD Black Rookie Letterman Exchange Checklist

The 2009-10 NHL season is turning out many special young players.
Here is the checklist of redemptions from this season's 09-10 UD Black hockey.



2009/10 NHL UD Black Autographed Rookie Letterman Exchange Cards
73 John Tavares
74 Matt Duchene
75 Victor Hedman
76 Evander Kane
77 James Van Riemsdyk
78 Jonas Gustavsson
79 Logan Couture
80 Brad Marchand
81 Tyler Myers
82 Jamie Benn
83 Colin Wilson
84 Michael Del Zotto
85 Viktor Stalberg
86 Michael Grabner
87 Tyler Bozak
88 Erik Karlsson
89 Matt Gilroy
90 Ryan O'Reilly
91 Dmitry Kulikov
92 Sergei Shirokov
93 Cody Franson

The UD Black Letterman Redemption cards are all sequentially numbered to only 99 copies and will be autographed. Upper Deck expects to send these cards to collectors in late February 2010.

Upper Deck Releases 2009-10 NHL Fleer Ultra Rookie Exchange Checklist

If you were lucky enough to pull a Fleer Ultra Rookie Redemption card, we now know who exactly you pulled.
It's a great rookie class this season so it's hard to go wrong.



2009/10 NHL Ultra Rookies Exchange Cards
201 John Tavares
202 Matt Duchene
203 Victor Hedman
204 Evander Kane
205 James Van Riemsdyk
206 Jonas Gustavsson
207 Jamie Benn
208 Erik Karlsson
209 Tyler Myers
210 Ryan O'Reilly
211 Matt Gilroy
212 Michael Del Zotto
213 Viktor Stalberg
214 Tyler Bozak
215 Sergei Shirokov
216 Colin Wilson
217 Benn Ferriero
218 Michael Grabner
219 Dmitry Kulikov
220 Cody Franson

Upper Deck expects the Fleer Ultra cards to be completed in early February 2010.

UD Series One 2009-10 Young Guns Checklist

Well speak of the devil and the devil appears. Hot off the press from Upper Deck's Facebook group:
Here are all of the rookies in 09/10 NHL UD Series 1 ...

Young Guns

201 John Tavares
202 Victor Hedman
203 Matt Duchene
204 Ville Leino
205 Evander Kane
206 Michael Del Zotto
207 James Van Riemsdyk
208 Viktor Stalberg
209 Sergei Shirokov
210 Erik Karlsson
211 Dmitry Kulikov
212 Jamie Benn
213 Ryan O'Reilly
214 Tyler Myers
215 Jason Demers
216 Jay Rosehill
217 Brian Salcido
218 Luca Caputi
219 Spencer Machacek
220 Yannick Weber
221 Artem Anisimov
222 Ivan Vishnevskiy
223 Riku Helenius
224 Peter Regin
225 Antti Niemi
226 Byron Bitz
227 John Negrin
228 Ray Macias
229 Taylor Chorney
230 Mika Pyorala
231 Alec Martinez
232 Grant Lewis
233 Cal O'Reilly
234 Jesse Joensuu
235 Michal Neuvirth
236 John Scott
237 Benn Ferriero
238 Teemu Laakso
239 Jhonas Enroth
240 Matt Beleskey
241 T.J. Galiardi
242 Kris Chucko
243 James Wright
244 Joel Rechlicz
245 Matt Pelech
246 Christian Hanson
247 Matt Hendricks
248 Mike Santorelli
249 Frazer McLaren

Upper Deck Series One 2009-10 will be available in a few weeks at Canada Card World

UD Series One 2009-10 Young Guns - Partial List

With the release of Upper Deck Series One 2009-10 only a few weeks away, collectors are anxiously awaiting the release of which rookies will be included in the always popular Young Gun subset. Although not a complete list, Upper Deck released this information on their Facebook page:

Here's the key information you need to know about rookies in 2009/10 NHL UD1: One of the most-anticipated rookie classes in NHL history has arrived and 2009-10 Upper Deck Series One has it covered! From Islanders super-rookie John Tavares, to Colorado’s two-way sensation Matt Duchene, to Tampa Bay’s defenseman-extraordinaire Victor Hedman, this year’s Young Guns rookie subset is loaded with future hockey icons. Other standout RCs include 2009 Canadian World Junior Team standouts Evander Kane (Atlanta), Jamie Benn (Dallas) and Tyler Myers (Buffalo), as well as former first-round draft picks James Van Riemsdyk (Philadelphia), Erik Karlsson (Ottawa), and Michael Del Zotto (NY Rangers).

You can look for 'The Monster', Jonas Gustavsson in UD Series 2.

Upper Deck Series One 2009-10 will be available in a few weeks at Canada Card World

ITG Ultimate 9 Checklist Released

In The Game has released the checklist for ITG Ultimate Edition 9 which is set to be released on November 10, 2009.



ITG Ultimate 9th Edition Checklist

Production of this year's product has been reduced to just 1,500 boxes containing 7,500 packs. That means there will only be 22,500 cards in the entire print run of ITG Ultimate 9th Edition.



Not only does this product contain many future stars like John Tavares and Hall of Famers like Mario Lemieux and Vladislav Tretiak but it also contains cut signatures of some of the most infamous names in the game including Tim Horton, Ching Johnson, Art Ross, Turk Broda, Terry Sawchuk, Hap Day, Ace Bailey, Bill Durnan, Toe Blake, Punch Imlach, Harold Ballard, James Norris, Conn Smythe, Foster Hewitt, Jack Adams, and King Clancy.

Please contact Canada Card World if you're interested in one of the hottest releases in years.

Product Preview - 2009-10 UD NHL Artifacts

On October 27th, 2009, Upper Deck will unleash 2009-10 UD NHL Artifacts to the card collecting world. This will be the first mid-to-high end product released this season. Artifacts will be comprised of a 100 card base set along with short-printed Legends, Rookies, and Rookie Exchange cards. These exchange cards will be your first opporunity to collect Tavares, Hedman, Duchene, etc.



Each box will contain 10 packs. Included in the packs will be, on average, 3 memorablia cards, 2 rookie cards, 1 rookie exchange card, and often, in the past, I've received one autograph card as well. Besides these hits, you'll also receive various short-printed versions of cards. The hits are many, however for the player collector, this set is either a nightmare or the ultimate challenge depending on your viewpoint. Some players can have upwards of 20 or more cards in this set. However, this means more hits and more opportunity for great hits to the box breaker.



UD Artifacts 2009-10 is out soon and is available for pre-sale at Canada Card World

Branded NHL UD Rookie Shoot

Brought to you by The Score, Branded goes behind the scenes of the Upper Deck NHL rookie card shoot in Mississauga, Ontario. The potential future stars of the game discuss their collecting history and their favourite poses.

Who to Collect - Victor Hedman

Drafted 2nd overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, standing 6'6 and 230 lbs., and already playing 25 minutes a night in the NHL at the age of 18, Victor Hedman is a phenom in the truest sense. After much decision-making over who to choose 1st overall, the Islanders selected John Tavares leaving the Tampa Bay Lightning with the pleasure of selecting the franchise defenseman who plays in a style reminiscent of Chris Pronger and Nicklas Lidstrom.



In terms of collecting, Victor Hedman is what some might regard as a 'tough call'. Although he is a top draft pick and has loads of talent, the hobby rarely gives the credit which is due to young defensemen or defensemen period. Many are moderately collected but even the best defensemen of the past few years rarely reach the level of flashy forwards or phenoms between the pipes. Hedman will have a massive following overseas... but Tampa Bay is not a hockey hotbed. There are many negatives and positives to consider when collecting Hedman or defensemen in general. In the grand scheme, I believe his cards will be on the same level as Dion Phaneuf when he entered the NHL in 2005-06. It's up to Victor Hedman and collectors to prove me wrong.

Hedman has appeared in previous releases of In The Game Ultimate and Heroes and Prospects, however his first NHLPA sanctioned hockey card releases will be available at Canada Card World

Who to Collect - John Tavares

In the NHL this season, fans will be catching Johnny Fever as they watch the New York Islanders young star light up the score board. If fans aren't catching the fever, they'll be hoping to catch some John Tavares 2009-10 NHL rookie cards from various Upper Deck NHL products. Whether it's low-end, middle-tier, or high-end, collectors will be craving this young stars hockey cards.



John Tavares was selected 1st overall in the July 2009 NHL Entry Draft after a career in the OHL which saw him break numerous offensive records including one held previously by Wayne Gretzky. Now that he has appeared in his first NHL game, one that saw him record one goal and one assist, Upper Deck will be able to showcase him in their winter line-up. The early favourite for Rookie of the Year, John Tavares should create a buzz similar to that created in 2005-06 when we saw Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby set the hobby on fire.

Tavares has appeared in previous releases of In The Game Ultimate, Superlative, and Heroes and Prospects, however these will be his first NHLPA sanctioned hockey card releases.