I remember where I was when I found out. My lady, a couple of friends and myself were at the horse races at Lone Star Park. We were sitting outside having a drink when the notification came onto my phone.
I wasn’t upset that the Blackhawks traded away Patrick Sharp. The team had to make some moves in order to get under the salary cap.
I can even excuse that the two players Chicago received back (Trevor Daley and Ryan Garbutt) were gone by the trade deadline. I like Daley and wanted to see him play well for the Blackhawks.
What made me mad was the the Blackhawks had to give up Stephen Johns. It’s amazing that Chicago won the Stanley Cup, since they were essentially playing with just four defensemen. Johns was not only one of the Hawks’ best prospects, he was likely to be called up for the playoffs until suffering a broken hand. I was disappointed that I had to “wait until next season” to see him. I never imagined that I’d see him in another sweater.
The only saving grace was that at least he was traded to Dallas. The lady is a Stars fan, I live in Fort Worth and we watch a lot of games. Once he was called up, I took a look on eBay to see if he had any cards. There was one seller that had a couple of these, so I grabbed them both.
I won’t be starting a player collection or anything, but I will grab a few rookies and autos over time. So far, he has played quite well. If he’s not a Hawk, at least he’s a Star.
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