Sunday Night Product Preview - Heroes and Prospects

The NHL All-Star game just ended and with that, my self-imposed break from posting. Actually, it was self-imposed because I was extremely lazy this week.  Now it’s time to get back behind the wheel and drive this thing home. There should be plenty of posts spanning all sports to keep y’all somewhat entertained throughout the week.  Or, at the very least, kill five minutes of your work day.

First up, we’ll start up with a product preview.  I might not have the funds to buy any new product, but that doesn’t mean I can’t let you know what is out there.  Up for preview today the 2011-12 version of ITG’s Heroes and Prospects set.   I’ve lamented the fact that In The Game doesn’t hold an NHL license in the past.  By focusing on prospects and players in the junior leagues they can skip over that handicap and produce what I think is the best product in their portfolio

Heroes and Prospects has a simple 200 card base set and a plethora of inserts and autographs of younger players, many of whom have yet to make their impact on the NHL.  This year’s base set is broken up into a couple of different categories:

-          Heroes – 7 cards featuring NHL players that have graduated from the junior leagues ranging from Tony Amonte to Red Kelly

-          International – ITG cherry picked 3 international prospects and gave them cards. If you’re a fan of Adam Larsson, Mika Zibanejad or Vladimir Tarsenko be sure to pick up their cards from this set

-          CHL Prospects/Rookies – The best players in the CHL are on display here.  Think Dougie Hamilton, Malcolm Subban, potential #1 pick Nail Yakupov, etc

-          AHL Prospects/Rookies – Same as above just featuring players in the AHL such as Nazem Kadri, Kyle Palmieri and Brayden Schenn.

-          AHL/CHL Grads – This subset is composed of current NHL’s in their minor league uniforms.  So if you wanted a card of Ryan Miller as a Rochester American or Logan Couture as an Ottawa 67 this is where you would find one.

-          Tribute Card – Four cards dedicated to players that passed away this year (Luc Bourdon, Rick Rypien, Derek Boogaard, and Wade Belak).

Since I know some Lightning fans are reading this by accident, let me answer your number one question.  There are two Lightning prospects in this set.

Card 41 – Vladislav Namestnikov

Card 141- Carter Ashton

Namestnikov also gets an autograph card in this set whereas Ashton is featured in a non-memorabilia subset with his father Brent. The “Family Ties” subset doesn’t have a Michael Gross/Michael J Fox card, but it does celebrate the family tradition that runs throughout the history of hockey. So if you’re a Subban fan feel free to pick up the card featuring P.K., Malcolm and Jordan. Former Lightning goaltender Sean Burke also has a card with his son Brendan.

In searching for Lightning players in this set I’ve noticed that most of the prospects for the team are already skating in Norfolk (Ashton, Tyler Johnson, Dustin Tokarski), overseas (Nikita Kucherov, Nikita Nesterov) or are in college (Alex Killorn, James Mullin). That leaves some slim pickings for a set like this.

Design-wise the base cards are pretty simple.  Normally it’s an action shot of the player in his junior or minor league uniform against a non-descript background.  This year’s set seems to have a gold background with the a close-up of the players face while a blue strip down the left hand side bears the team name.  The players name and position are centered along the bottom of the card in white. 

ITG hasn’t listed their insert sets that feature memorabilia, but from the sell sheet it looks like there will be plenty to choose from. Single swatches to quad switches are littered throughout the set. Perhaps my favorite will be the “Net Prospects” which feature large pieces of uniforms from up-and-coming goalies.  What can I say, I like puck stoppers.

Based on some of the pre-sell information it does look like ITG will be welcoming Gordie Howe back into the fold. Mr. Hockey’s exclusive contract with Upper Deck has expired so it appears his autograph and memorabilia cards will be appearing in ITG and Panini brands this year.

Yes Please! Photo lifted from Canada Card World

The release date is set for 2/23/12 and online retailers show a price of about $78 per box.  Each box will feature 18 packs with 9 cards in each pack.  For $80 a collector can expect to pull about 6 hits from each box.  Keep in mind ITG considers their non-memorabilia inserts as a “hit”. It usually breaks down to 2 autographs, 2 relics and 2 other inserts.

This set tends to skew towards player collectors and prospectors. The autographs and relic cards tend to be a little cheaper on the secondary market than their licensed NHL counterparts so if you’re looking to pick up an affordable auto of a young player this is a good place to start.

A Box Break of Heroic (and Prospectian) Proportions

The question that this box break poses is - “When is a prospect no longer a prospect?” For some funny money on eBay I picked up a box of ITG’s 2008-09 Heroes and Prospects. Spurred on by a couple of breaks from fellow bloggers I decided to take my chances and rip some wax.

Normally, I shy away from non-major league cards. I think a lot of it stems from psychological scars left over from a couple of years of prospect speculating that failed miserably (anyone for some Rick Asodarian cards?). Also, the little amount of money that I’ve invested in cards this year has been geared more towards player collecting than anything else. So why break form? Well I missed the beautiful sound of ripping foil or mylar or whatever cards come wrapped in these days.

First impressions are good. I like the use of bold colors for the background. It does lend kind of a retro feel to the whole set. There isn’t much info on the back, basic bio and draft information along with a quick blurb about the player.

The cards are glossy and have a nice hefty feel to them, and I think would look nice signed in black sharpie.

Without further adieu here we go!


The Lightning cards:




There is no Vincent Lecavalier in the checklist so I can’t continue my streak of not pulling any Vinny cards. As a Bolts fan I couldn’t ask for more than Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman. Hopeful Case magnet Vladimir Mihalik shows up as does the biggest surprise of the team this year - Teddy Purcell. Not too many fans saw 17 goals and 31 assists coming from the talented young winger this year.


The Prospects:




John Tavares, PK Subban, and Taylor Hall highlight an impressive collection of the next generation of stars in the league. While these cards don’t hold the value of true rookie cards like Upper Deck’s Young Guns, they are nice pieces to have in the collection. For around $30 a box, they are definitely among the most affordable to collect as well.

Please allow me a moment to expound on my thoughts of young Mr. Subban. I like him, I really do. He has personality, he plays with an edge and he’s talented. Does he have some maturing to do? Yup, but why hold that against him? He’ll learn (and probably get his lunch handed to him a few times along the way) and he’ll probably end up being one of the best defensemen in the league in the next few years.



The Heroes:




I guess we have to forgive ITG for breaking the unwritten “athletes aren’t heroes” rule that has been in effect since 9/11. After all, “Heroes and Currently Established Stars” doesn’t have the same ring to it.

A smattering of established players are littered throughout the checklist (including players that didn’t even skate in the major junior leagues). Here you see a sample with Peter Forsberg, Chris Osgood, Alex Ovechkin and the ageless one Teemu Selanne. The picture used for the Osgood card made me laugh out loud while I was busting the packs. He looks like he was posing for a JC Penny’s family portrait.


The Back:




See not a lot of info, but bright pretty colors. Ahhh pretty colors.


The Inserts:




Luke Schenn 2008 Draft Picks and Mitch Wahl Memorial Cup Winners. Ehhh. Moving along.


The Autos:




Ivan Vishnevskiy and Angelo Esposito. Not exactly the best choices available, but two autographs with local ties. Vishnevskiy is part of the Blackhawks organization after coming over from Atlanta in the summer and Esposito is skating with the Chicago Wolves these days. More on him in a bit.

The filler:




Each pack had a thick filler card worth 1 redemption point. The redemption period has long since expired, but I wanted to mention these simply because the logos of some of the major junior teams are pretty cool. Look at that bear, he’s so ANGRY!

The Hit:




Angelo Esposito Selects Silver version #’d 7 out of 9. I am so intrigued by this card for so many reasons:

1. Three swatches from three events. First is the ADT Canada-Russia Challenge, then the Top Prospects Game and finally from Team Canada.

2. It’s hand numbered on the back and one of the lowest numbered cards I’ve pulled from a pack.

3. The stitching on the ADT jersey is so thick that it actually pushes the cardboard up a bit in that area. I don’t know why, but I find that awesome.

Finally, it’s from Angelo Esposito. For those not familiar he was a former junior stud who was drafted by the Penguins in the first round of the 2007 draft. He was also the centerpiece of the deal that brought the Penguins Marion Hossa and Pascal Dupuis.

However, since the trade he’s suffered two major knee injuries and hasn’t been able to replicate the success he had in juniors. Five minutes of research show that he’s currently playing for the Chicago Wolves (the Thrashers minor league affiliate) and has racked up 13 points in 52 games.

Is it too early to call him a bust? After all he’s had three years to make it to the NHL and he hasn’t even come close. Looking at some of the scouting reports it appears that he plays a bit soft and tends to drift through games despite possessing elite level skills. Having had to endure two major knee injuries so early in his career can’t help either.

On the other hand he’s only 22 years old, so maybe he still has time to put it all together. Heck, Martin St Louis was 25 when he finally got his break with the Lightning so there is still time. Prospects can mature at different times in their career, maybe he’s just a late bloomer.

So can he still be considered a prospect? Maybe, not a top-level prospect like a Crosby or Ovechkin, but he could still achieve decent things in the NHL. Now, if we’re having this conversation again in 4 years, maybe the prospect days for young Mr. Esposito may be behind him.

Oddly enough this is the first card I’ve ever pulled where I don’t have a clue what the value is. Searching eBay, Beckett Marketplace and the web has turned up nothing. For all I know the card is worth a nickel or it’s worth 50 loonies. I honestly have no clue whatsoever. So that adds to the intrigue.

Final Thoughts:

Much like the 2010-11 Score box I busted last year, this was a fun box to break. No expectations, no elaborate parallels to chase made it easy to enjoy looking at the cards and I'm pretty sure I got the wole 100 card base set. Unlike most of the recent products I’ve busted in the last year there were about 15 duplicates which I think I might send out for TTM’s.


If you are a hockey fan and are looking for something a little different, pick up a box. You should find it for around $30 bucks and you get 24 packs with 5 cards in each pack. Not sure what the exact hit rates are, but I think it should be about 2 auto’s a box and one or two relic cards.