Dan Kesa Autographed Card

In keeping with my month of tough guys or tough teams, I thought I'd go with the local player the Vancouver Canucks chose 95th overall in 1991, Dragan "Dan" Kesa.

Though his NHL stats line doesn't read like an enforcer's at 66 PIMs in 139 games with four teams over four seasons in a seven-year span, his statistics in Juniors tell another story:

From Hockeydb.com

Yes, those are Milan Lucic-like numbers, which is fitting considering he's Lucic's uncle.

After mostly toiling in the minor leagues for over a decade - including a 77-point season with the IHL's Detroit Vipers in 1997-98 - he took his talents to Russia (Avantgard Omsk, one assist in 9 games in2001-02) and Austria (Vienna Capitals, 20 points in 27 games in 2002-03).

Here's a card he signed in blue sharpie:

That's card #116 from Classic's 1993-94 Pro Hockey Prospects set, showing him wearing the Hamilton Canucks' black (away) uniform.