Jan Hejda

I always root for players like Jan Hejda -- guys who aren't heralded, spent their early 20s plugging away in Europe, then take a shot at the NHL. Since the first wave of Eastern Europeans, the results aren't great -- Jiri Dopita was a bust, Petr Cajanek and Jaroslav Balastik had limited success. Jonas Gustavsson might have what it takes, and I think Hejda's done well.

He signed with the Oilers at a rough time -- about the same time Chris Pronger got traded to the Ducks -- and did nice work for them in a season that didn't go too well. Letting him walk after that year was one more mistake for an organization that's made a bunch in recent times. He's now a good piece on the Blue Jackets, a team that I always kinda half-assedly root for because they've been very Czech-friendly over the years, and because they chose a bug wearing a Civil War uniform as their mascot. They're not having a great time this year -- they're going through that "step back" that all promising teams do -- and they're kind of weak up the middle, but I think they're by-and-large headed in the right direction. I hope Hejda's still on the team when they get where they're going.

Another thing I like about Hejda: guy's a fantastic signer. This is probably the fourth or fifth time I've gone to him; he's got a nice signature, he responds quickly, and he often includes a lot of extras (Russian cards and Oilers team issues).

I got this one through the Blue Jackets -- it took just over two weeks all told, not bad at all in the holiday season.

Large and in Charge

Among the reasons I love Roman Turek:

* nickname is "Large"
* repeated Iron Maiden homages in his mask designs
* while he seems to be the subject of general mockery these days (most Czech goalies not named Hasek end up this way), he was a really fantastic goalie for a few years there, when the Blues were always on the verge and never quite making it. His 1999-2000 season was brilliant, and 2000-01 not far behind. And I'd argue that if he were a North American goalie, he would have got a chance to redeem himself for the bad series in the 2001 playoffs (a bad series that followed two great ones, I might add).

Anyway. He's now back in the Czech Republic, and probably happier, with HC Ceske Budejovice. This is an old Ceske puck, from an early-1990s incarnation of the club, TJ Motor Ceske Budejovice. He's signed it "Turek Roman #1" -- the reversal of first and last names is fairly common among Czech players. I got this sucker on eBay, but since Turek's always been a fantastic signer, I imagine getting one of your very own wouldn't be too hard.