ITG Cards

For as long as I can remember, at least one company regularly produced cards of players in their junior uniforms. When I was younger, Classic was the company that produced all of these cards. Recently, In the Game has taken over. Although these cards are technically the first cards produced of these players, they are not generally accepted as rookie cards and therefore are typically not very valuable. However, it's cool to look back 10+ years down the road and see a current star before his NHL days. I opted to purchase a couple of these cards this summer. The first was a Ryan Murphy card that I bought on draft night, just minutes after he was selected. I figured it would be a cool card to show people this summer, before Murphy's true rookie card is released. A few days later, I also decided to buy Jeff Skinner's ITG card, in part because both Skinner and Murphy played for the Kitchner Rangers and I thought the two cards went well together.

Misc. Observations: I like how many of the CHL teams wear a dark colored helmet with their white jerseys. I think this is a nice touch and makes the uniforms stand out more. The Washington Capitals similarly wore red helmets with their white jerseys against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Winter Classic. For the reverse effect, take a look at the United States' Olympic Team, which wore white helmets throughout the tournament, even with their dark blue jerseys.