Panini Dominion Brass Bonanza - Ray Ferraro

Time for the 8th card in my Brass Bonanza set, we're nearing the end here. Today's card is none other than Ray Ferraro:

Ray is another fitting choice for this set in my opinion. Great looking signature as well, uniform number is always a nice touch. The Whalers organization drafted Ferraro in the 5th round (88th overall) of the 1982 entry draft. He spent 7 seasons in Hartford, scoring 157 goals, 194 assists, and 351 points in his 442 career games with the Whalers. His most successful season with the team was 1988-89, when he would appear in every game and top the 40-goal plateau for the first of two times in his career. The Whalers did what they always seemed to do with actual talent though, and dealt him away at the beginning of the 1990-91 season for this guy:

This was a classic crap Whalers trade. If you're like me you remember Crossman more for his time with the Philadelphia Flyers than the Hartford Whalers.

Maybe that's because he would play just 41 relatively uneventful games with Hartford before they dealt him away to Detroit in February of that very same 90-91 season. The return was this guy:

Houda would stick around with Hartford for the rest of the 1990-91 season as well as the next two full seasons.

He was a stellar -19 in the 1992-93 season. He was dealt to Los Angeles just 7 games into the 1993-94 season for Marc Potvin:

Why is Marc in a Red Wings uniform here? Because they had just dumped him off on the Kings the season before the Kings convinced the Whalers to take him. Anyway, after an impressive 2 goals and 3 assists in 51 games with Hartford, Marc became a free agent and signed with Boston for the 1994-95 season. For the Whalers, it was the end of the horrific Islanders/Red Wings/Kings Ray Ferraro trade debacle. Another outstanding job by Hartford's front office.

Meanwhile, what did Ferraro go on to do?

He had some great seasons with the Islanders, including his second 40-goal season in 1991-92 (he also had 40 assists that year for a career high 80 points). In 1992-93 he had a hell of a playoff run with 13 goals and 20 points in 18 games. Two of his goals were overtime game-winners against the Washington Capitals, and he assisted on the series-winning game 7 overtime goal against Pittsburgh as well. He'd score 238 regular season points in an Islanders uniform.

After spending most of a season with the Rangers, he'd go on to play with the Kings for three more seasons, the Thrashers for three seasons, and even a handful of games with the St. Louis Blues to end his career.

All said and done, Ray would finish with 408 goals, 490 assists, and 898 points in 1,258 career games. As I said, a fitting choice for this set, if for no other reason than the fact that this card symbolizes Hartford's notoriously bad trades.

My Set:

#2 - Brendan Shanahan (#'d/24)
#3 - Keith Primeau (#'d/50)
#4 - Nick Fotiu (#'d/50)
#5 - Paul Coffey (#'d/50)
#6 - Ray Ferraro (#'d/50)
#7 - Tiger Williams (#'d/50)
#8 - Daryl Reaugh (#'d/50)

#9 - Ron Francis (#'d/50)