Upper Deck released its latest series of hockey cards on November 18. Entitled 2020-21 Upper Deck Series 1, the set is highlighted by Alexis Lafreniere’s Young Guns rookie card. But it also features a furry friend Capitals fans love.
Captain, the Washington Capitals’ adopted team pup, has a rookie card in the set, too.
Well, sort of.
2020-21 @UpperDeckSports Series 1 Hockey Variations Suit Up 👔 https://t.co/utaGEnimvZ pic.twitter.com/5qey6IY1Z4
— Beckett Media (@beckettmedia) November 19, 2020
Captain is featured a card with Alex Ovechkin in the Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey Variations set. According to Beckett, the variations are alternate takes on the base cards and there’s a clear theme. The variation cards, which are a short print, show players before or after games wearing suits or dress clothes.
Ovechkin’s base card shows him winding up for a slap shot while his short-print variation card has him in a suit holding a tiny Captain at the Capitals’ red carpet event. It marked Captain’s first day as the Capitals’ team dog. John Carlson is featured in the Variations set as well.
Captain has gone on to capture Capitals fans’ hearts everywhere as he was voted the NHL’s Best Dog at season’s end last year and was given a “14/10 an honor to pet” rating from Dog Rates. The honor from Upper Deck comes as Captain is set to leave the Capitals soon and be placed with a veteran or a first responder that has disabilities.
Other highlights of the Upper Deck set include Alex Alexeyev and Vitek Vanecek who are in their first NHL hockey cards ever.
For hockey card collectors, 20-21 UD Series 1 dropped today. Even though they haven't made NHL debuts yet, exceptions were made to allow players in bubble to have a card, so @TheHersheyBears favorites @Alexeyev04 and @vitacz15 have featured Young Guns cards in the set. #HBH pic.twitter.com/ay0snDS6Mg
— Zack Fisch (@zackfisch) November 18, 2020
