Hockey Card of the Day – Stanley Cup Playoffs Edition

Since I pick the “Hockey Card of the Day,” I make the rules. I do not care that Nashville lost tonight. Today’s card of the day is the 2005-06 SP Authentic Pekka Rinne. The Blackhawks won and the game went into the third overtime. However, the talk of the day was Rinne’s outstanding performance, particularly in the overtime periods.

The most desirable rookies of most hockey players are their ones from “The Cup” and their Upper Deck Young Guns rookie. Rinne didn’t have either. If you have collected cards for awhile, you know that you can never go wrong with SP Authentic.

Rinne only has ten rookie cards (you can see them all here). His rookies are the same year as Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin, so the cheapest route is to look for singles, as opposed to boxes.

The Nashville goaltender stopped 45-of-48 shots on the night, but it’s not that numbers that made the performance impressive. Without captain and one of the league’s best defensemen Shea Weber in front of him, Rinne stifled good opportunity after good Chicago opportunity. If you saw the game and are unbiased, you can’t deny that it was a truly amazing performance.

LINK (with VIDEO): OT Becomes the “Pekka Rinne Show” (complete with wardrobe malfunction)

There’s little doubt that not only is Rinne one of the best goaltenders in the league, but also one of least appreciated by collectors. Playing in the hockey hotbed that is Nashville will do that.