Christmas Between the Pipes

The good and generous blogger Douglas from Buckstore Cards hit me up with a most amazing PWE shortly before Santa slid down the chimney.  And, if I might add, Douglas came pretty darn close to out-doing the big guy in red and white suit!

The card you see above was far and away the highlight of the mailing.  My very first New York Rangers jersey card, and it's of the greatest goalie in team history.  No, that isn't a misprint. I love Lundqvist as much as the next guy, but Richter was the best big-game goalie ever to wear the Rangers sweater.

Believe it or not, my favorite aspect of this "Between the Pipes" card is the photo selection.  Sure, the obvious choice would have been to select a photo of Richter in his Lady Liberty mask.  But, the plain white helmet with the cage brings me back to my early days of sports fandom, when I first fell in love with the Blueshirts in the late '80s/early '90s.  So, on sentimental value alone, I dig this pic.

Lots more was included in Douglas' PWE, by the way...

A nice array of NYR cards, including a pair of my favorite current Ranger--Mats Zuccarello.  I don't like making excuses for my teams, but not having Zucc in the ECF last year put a real crimp in New York's bid for back-to-back conference titles.

Also, I'm a fan of the Panini stickers of Drury and Hank.  I've always loved stickers and sticker books. I clamored for them when I was growing up.  Makes me wonder why I've strayed from them as an adult.

Another card of my favorite non-Ranger, Gabriel Landeskog.  Douglas has hooked me up with plenty of cool cards of the Avs' captain over the past year or so.  Pretty amazing job of the photographer to capture the bending of the stick mid-shot.

Probably the one and only time in this blog's history you'll see a post Kosar-era Browns card pictured.  But, the guy's last name is Gabriel, so that kinda qualifies for the Gabriel collection.  Also, as grinchy as I am about latter day football cards, I kinda like what Panini has done with the Select brand.  Not a bad looking card, I must admit.

Can't thank you enough for this great Christmastime delivery, Douglas!  Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to you and your family!

MK