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| Received On: 03/08/2021 |
My first return in March came from NBA superstar Dwight Howard.
Howard was already one of the top tier basketball prospects in the country before he was drafted first overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2004 NBA Player Draft. Then he embarked on what's been a pretty incredible career as he was immediately one of the top players in the game and became of the brightest stars in basketball. As of March 2021 Howard has been an NBA Champion, an eight time All Star, a five time All NBA First Team, three time defensive player of the year, slam dunk champion and has an incredibly long list of other achievements that he's piled up so far in his career. Even though he's now 35 he's still incredibly talented and most important of all jacked as fuck. Long live Dwight.
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| Received On: 03/15/2021 |
Next up is a return from former New York Ranger and current Detroit Redwing, Vladislav Namestnikov. Namestnikov was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the 2011 NHL Player Draft. The Russia-native played in the Ontario Hockey League to develop before he made his NHL debut in 2012. He was yo-yo'd up and down a bit before finally finding more NHL playing time around the 2014-15 season, after which he'd go on to find a lot of success playing along a host of talented forwards the Lightning had come to assemble. Eventually he was traded to the Rangers in the J.T. Miller trade, a move which was yielded mixed results for both teams, Namestnikov was eventually traded away and found himself traded to to Ottawa and Colorado before landing in Detroit. A good landing spot for him to just try and recoup some confidence and hone his craft.
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| Received On: 03/15/2021 |
Here's a return from another Red Wing, Bobby Ryan.
Ryan was originally drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the 2005 NHL Player Draft. The New Jersey native spent a few seasons in the OHL and AHL but eventually made his NHL debut in the 2007-08 season. He'd go on to be a very good player as he immediately became the Ducks' first rookie to ever record a hat trick and broke the team's point record as a rookie. After several good years in Anaheim he was traded to the Ottawa Senators where he was immediately hurt but bounced back en route to a contract extension and his first All Star appearance, then his performance started to dip and then came a never-ending onslaught about rumors that the Sens would eventually move his contract to save payroll (rumors of packaging him with Erik Karlsson to get his contract off the books were rampant) but the Sens evenetually waived/bought him out and Ryan signed with the Red Wings as a free agent. Since then he's been able to take advantage of a team focused more on development than competing by regaining some form and playing some of the best hockey he's played in years.
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| Received On: 03/17/2021 |
Next up are a couple of returns from former Rangers alt-captain, Marc Staal. I've wanted these cards signed for a long time and I'm pretty psyched that the perfect opportunity finally showed up.
Staal was originally drafted by the New York Rangers in the first round of the 2005 NHL Player Draft. Prior to that the Ontario-native had spent some time in the OHL as a Sudbury Wolf. After a little more time putting up pretty decorated results in the OHL Staal finally made his NHL debut in the 2007-08 season. This started a 13 year run where Staal was a reliable and the go-to defenseman for the Rangers. Although he was only an All Star once during that tenure he was a good defenseman and a fan favorite for nearly a decade. Putting up good results and helping the team en route to multiple championship runs (although those never quite ended how people had hoped). Staal was eventually traded to the Detroit Redwings in September of 2020, giving a Redwings roster full of young up-and-comers and people looking to re-establish themselves some much needed veteran leadership.
Also one other thing about Staal is that he and his three other brothers Eric, Jordan and Jared have all played in the NHL. Usually for the Hurricanes (future Carolina Hurricane Marc Staal?).
And those were my returns this past month. Big thanks to Mr. Howard, Namestnikov, Ryan and Staal for the awesome autographs.
And as always thank you (the readers) for stopping by. Take care.
2021 TTM Count: 13
Sources:
*https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/howardw01.html
*https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/n/namesvl01.html
*https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/r/ryanbo01.html
*https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/s/staalma01.html