[irbefan4life]

I figured that with the four pieces that just came in for the museum, it would be sort of a whitewash to show them all at once. I'd get the "this is my favorite" post, and while I don't really get all nitpicky with that, the whole idea with this project is for every player, regardless of NHL impact, to be appreciated equally. Getting to the NHL for some of the lesser known guys is just as difficult, if not more difficult, than for anybody else so to say they suck or they are a pylon is ignorant.

So without further ado, the first of the quartet. But before I shot the piece...you know the drill by now:

Gerald Coleman, born April 3, 1985 in Napierville, Illinois started hockey at the age of eight and was a young player with the NHL's diversity program which aims to assist kids with economic disadvantage to play hockey. Working his way up the OHL's London Knights, the Tampa Bay Lightning eventually realized his potential and ended up drafting Gerald 224th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, making Coleman the first ever participant of the Diversity Program to be drafted into the NHL.

He finished off his junior career, and then joined the Springfield Falcons of the AHL for the 2005-06 season, his first professional one. Then it happened. In that first year, after being called up to back up John Grahame, he made his debut on November 11, 2005 playing in all of period three and letting in one goal on four shots. He was once again called up in mid-March to the big club after Sean Burke was injured. On March 20, 2006, he got his second and final opportunity in the NHL. He replaced John Grahame against the Florida Panthers and stopped 12 of 13 shots in a 6-5 OT loss.

After he was sent back down to the minors, Coleman never played another regular season NHL game again, though he did at various points belong to the Ducks, Devils, and Blues, playing in pre-season games for some of them. However, he has only ever played in the AHL and ECHL since 2005-06. In his two career NHL games, Coleman recorded an 0-0-1 record with a 2.79GAA, and a 0.882% save average.

The piece on display today was worn by Coleman as a back-up in his second call-up to the big club. He wore this as a back-up goalie to Grahame on March 17, 19, 23, and 25 before being sent down to the minors. There is some light puck marks on the left sleeve, a little scratch on the front crest, and some minor piling on the front. Though it never saw officially recorded game action, it was worn in pre-game warmups and on the bench, so it remains a part of NHL history of yet another of the short NHL careers of the game.

Front:



Some imperfections on the front crest:



Some marks on the front left sleeve:



Rear:



Set Tag (also has Meigray, but everyone sees those oh so often)