inspired by John Tavares
Team Canada
2006
New York Islanders
2009
Toronto Maple Leafs
2018
this is the extremely rare set of Tavares hockey cards Willy C. Collection started with... ten cards commemorating the amazing Record Breaking Season John Tavares had in 2006-07
as a 16 year old playing for the Oshawa Generals... these are some of the earliest cards John Tavares signed as a young emerging Hockey Superstar
there are ten different autographed cards numbered 1 of 9 and each card also has a 1 of 1 Gold version
below are six of the ten 1 of 1 Gold version cards
the 2018-19 season saw John Tavares play all 82 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs and he finished third in the league with a career high 47 goals... the 2019-20 season started with Tavares being named the 25th captain in franchise history
the 2019-20 NHL season was like no other with Covid bringing the regular season to an end at 70 games. The Leafs finished 36-25-9 and lost game 5 to the Columbus Blue Jackets of the qualifying round to miss the playoffs
the 2020-21 regular season was reduced to 56 games because of Covid and the Canadian teams only played against each other in the North Division. Toronto won the division with a 35-14-7 record and finished 6th overall in the NHL... Auston Matthews won the Rocket Richard Trophy with a league best 41 goals
the 2021 playoffs would see Toronto vs Montreal for the first time in forty years… however, Toronto’s first round struggles continued and the Maple Leafs lost games five, six, and seven to end their most promising season since 1967
the 2021-22 regular season would see the Leafs set a franchise record 115 points and finish 4th overall. Auston Matthews would set the Toronto scoring record with 60 goals and led the league while winning another Rocket Richard Trophy... he also won the Hart Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award
the 2022 Playoffs... Toronto would face the two time defending Stanley Cup Champs in round 1. The Leafs won game one 5-0 and then traded wins up until game 6 where they were up 3-2 in games and had Tampa Bay facing elimination... trailing 2-1 with less than a minute to go in the 2nd period... Tavares scored 2 goals 26 seconds apart to put Toronto up 3-2 heading into the 3rd. Two suspect third period penalties put the Leafs down two men and Tampa tied the game. They then scored in overtime to force game 7. In game seven, a game tying goal by Tavares was called back on another suspect call and Tampa went on to advance with a 2-1 win
the 2022-23 regular season saw Toronto finish tied for 4th overall with 111 points on a 50-21-11 record... John Tavares finished the season with 80 points on 36 goals and 44 assists
the 2023 playoffs would see Toronto face Tampa Bay again... in game two, Tavares scored the first playoff hat trick by a Maple Leaf since 2003. He then scored the overtime winner in game 6 to eliminate Tampa and Toronto won it's first playoff round since 2004. The Leafs were eliminated by Florida in game 5 of the second round, while the Panthers went on to the Stanley Cup final
Nov 30, 2023... It was the Kraken in town... Mitch Marner scored a hat trick while wearing the full fishbowl visor to put Toronto up 3-1... then Seattle came back to force overtime... however it was Mitch Marner coming through as the shootout winner and the Leafs won the game 4-3. After 21 games, the Leafs are 12-6-3... John Tavares has 20 points on 7 goals and 13 assists
Willy C. Collection
This website was started shortly after John Tavares signed his $77 million dollar contract to come play Hockey where he grew up dreaming of playing... the Toronto Maple Leafs.
For the record, my real name is not Willy... I'm just a life long fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who has followed the career of Tavares, since before he was in the NHL.
I remember first watching Tavares play Hockey in the OHL in 2006... reminded me of when Lindros dominated the OHL.
The 2006-07 OHL season with the Oshawa Generals... Tavares scores 72 goals and breaks the record held by Wayne Gretzky, for most goals scored by a 16 year old.
January 25, 2007... Tavares scores 7 points (4G+3A) in a 9-6 win over the Windsor Spitfires... including his 50th goal in just 44 games.
The 2008-09 season finds Tavares traded to the London Knights... where he notches 50 points in 24 games.
The 2009 World Juniors... Team Canada wins Gold and Tavares was named MVP after scoring 15 points (8G+7A) in 6 games.
To this day... the 215 goals scored by John Tavares in the OHL, is still the most goals ever scored in OHL history.
Willy C. Collection started with 2 cards from the Ten of Ten 2006-07 ITG Heroes and Prospects John Tavares Record Breaking Season set of cards.
Since the first game John Tavares played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, I have posted a new card almost every game since the 2018-19 season... however, during in the 2023-24 season, cards being posted will be mostly home games.
stay tuned...
Willy C. Collection
computer2print at ymail.com
416 316 1233