wvu_class_of_2001

So, I think I am going to use this blog to help document the fun in starting my Andrew Shaw collection.

For a little background, I was a Hawks fan when I was a kid. I started getting into hockey in Junior High. Growing up in Morgantown, West Virginia, an hour south of Pittsburgh during the height of the Pens 90s dominance, pretty much everyone was a Pens fan in my school. Well, anyone that was into hockey.

My parents bought me a stereo for Christmas of seventh grade and somehow, after about 8 at night, I could get WMVP out of Chicago. Listening to the amazing team of Pat Foley and Dale Tallon call games, I immediately fell in love with the Hawks. Don't get me wrong, I loved all the players and still, to this day, remember so many of the players from those early-mid 90s teams: Chelios, Steve Smith, Eddie Belfour, Jeff Hackett, Eric Weinrich, Tony Amonte, Sergei Krivokrassov, Dirk Graham, Steve Larmer, Michel Goulet, Patrick Puolin and toward the end of my Fanhood #1, Eric Daze.

Jeremy Roenick was my first favorite Hockey player. I loved the whole team, don't get my wrong, but JR was the man! I might have been classified as a Supercollector of JR product back then. Obviously it was different, as there were few, if any, serial numbered cards, no jerseys, auto, etc and also no eBay yet. I did have the JR Starting Lineups, which if you collected those back in the day was big. For awhile, the secondary prices on Hockey SLUs was ridiculous and I was a kid. My parents bought me a CCM Hawks jersey (that I still have), the Starter Pullover coat that even in the 90s was an almost $100 coat, I had the hats...I pretty much had it all.

As time went on, JR was traded, Eric Daze (who then was 'the man") couldn't stay healthy, I got older, went to college, cared more about alcohol and women and the Hawks just fell by the wayside.

Fast forward from the late 90s until now, and here we are. I was excited to hear when the Hawks won the Cup, but I still hadn't gotten back into hockey. I'd watch a little bit of the Playoffs if there was nothing else I wanted to watch, but that was the extent of it. This past fall (2011) I decided to start watching Hawks games. Living in Indianapolis now, I didn't even realize I could see them on CSN. Once I did, I started tuning in. Patrick Kane is the guy that caught my eye.

I can't recall at the moment who it was against, but early in the season he made some sort of spinarooni, 360 degree backhand pass that led to a goal. I was a Kaner fan from that moment. Even growing up a Hawks fan, I was still a fan of Adam Oates and other passing, playmaking centers, which is what I was seeing out of Kane. So, he became the man.

Then, this Andrew Shaw kid got called up. Goal in his first NHL game! Nice! None in the next few, but then goals in four games in a row! Awesome! Somewhere in there, the #ShawFacts thing got started and the Shawzer became my new guy. Hell, I bought two shirts online: one red that just says #ShawFacts and one that says "Beards grow a playoff Shaw #Shawfacts." All of this along with being the only Hawk with the cajones to stay in front of the goal this season, and he's the new man!

I wasn't even really doing cards at the time and never thought of looking on feeBay for anything. Come to find, he had no NHL cards anyway.

Fast forward to a couple months ago, a breakup with a girlfriend and I started getting back into cards. Still, no Shaw cards. Then, finally, UDS2 came out and the Shaw YG Canvas card hits.

SIDENOTE: Why the hell is there only a Canvas and no regular for him? ™™™?

I posted in show and tell all about what happened with me getting this card and here it is, copied and pasted:


"The pride of my newly restarted hockey collection - my Andrew Shaw YG Canvas

As a kid growing up in West Virginia in the early-mid 90s, anybody that liked hockey was a Pens fan, other than me. I could actually get WMVP out of Chicago and listened to the Blackhawks calls by Pat Foley and Dale Tallon almost religiously. Collected cards (JR was THE MAN!) but eventually got rid of most all I had and kept no hockey all all.

Rediscovered my love for the Hawks this season as I live in Indy and get Comcast Chicago. Well, I've taken a liking to Patrick Kane and Andrew Shaw. I'm sure #ShawFacts had a little something to do with that. Hell, I bought two tees: one that just says "#ShawFacts" and the other that says "Beards grow playoff Shaws #ShawFacts."

I'd been searching eBay and SCF for a Shaw Canvas YG (why the hell does he only have a Canvas) and someone always either beat me to it or outbid me at the last second.

Three weeks ago I bought a box of Press Pass football at a card show. I took the second box down, hating to move the post its with the price. Bemoaning to the seller that I never pull anything, I start ripping in. I know the odds were long, but all I wanted was an Andrew Luck auto. His dad played football at and is the AD at my alma mater so I've been a fan from his first day at Stanford. I get to the next to last pack...pissed because I've only pulled five autos (you get six) and thinking that I was going to get screwed. NOPE! Pulled an Andrew Luck auto #d of 99.

Three days later, I pull a Danica Patrick auto $d of 25 from two packs I open and a Gastav Nyquist YG #d 9/10 from four packs.

I figure "what the hell, I'm on a hot streak" and buy from the same dealer the second box down of UDS3 Hockey. The guys know about my hot streak and we keep joking maybe I will get that elusive Shaw card. Obviously if I want the card, I should just buy it, as we know the odds of pulling it. I suck at math but we know they aren't good. We're joking as I rip in, I'm not taking it serious and about halfway through the box, damned if there isn't that Andrew Shaw Canvas staring right at me! I don't think I was even excited, but just absolutely stupefied! The card I wanted...the YG Canvas that are 1:48....and that's just for any rookie...

It's one thing to buy it on eBay. To me, it's worth so much more to be able to tell this story. You can debate day and night if eBay is good for the hobby or not, but there is something it can't do - give you a story like this! "


Since then, I've acquired the other cards of his I can find from the Minors and as of now, have five unique cards and just an hour or so ago, bought a 2009-10 Niagara IceDogs team set off feeBay that has his last minor league card that I know of, that I don't have. I picked up a second Canvas YG for like $15 BIN on feeBay. They're going for $25-30 so I thought I'd snatch it for cheap. Now, the only card he has that I don't have is the SPx Ice rookie that was released this week. Hoping to pick off one of those soon.

Sadly, the card serial #d with his number 65 went off earlier this week. I planned to sneak in at the last moment, but somehow I missed it. I think it was due to work. It's a shame because I think that would have been awesome. I guess my collection will do without.

Anyway, I plan to use this just to document this colection so I can read back later and relive these awesome memories!