Noah Welch

Noah Welch was drafted in the 2001 Entry Draft with the 54th selection in the 2nd Round by the Penguins. It was the first time the Penguins had ever drafted a player from Harvard University (he was the team captain). 

Welch is a guy that doesn't get a lot of airplay in the minds of Penguins fans, at least positively. Why? Well first of all, his debut in the league was kind of overshadowed by another young prospect that also debuted in the 2005-06 season (I won't name names but it rhymes with Crosby) and all other rookies that year were kind of ignored. In his first game on the big club (he had been playing on the Pens AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre and was an All-Star his first year), he did pick up his first NHL point which wasn't too shabby. But, probably the biggest rub to Welsh's "want to forget" start to his NHL career was in the second game vs. Montreal. As Alex Kovalev came around to score, Welch put out his stick in the goalmouth and put one past Marc-Andre Fleury, instead of taking the puck and clearing it along the boards.  He somewhat made up for it later in the game with his first NHL goal but making ESPN's "NOT TOP 10" in only your second game doesn't do many wonders for your career.  

Welch was traded in February of the 2006-07 season to the Panthers (in exchange for Gary Roberts, who last I checked, never scored in his own goal). He went on to play for the Lightning and then two whole games for the Atlanta Thrashers. He officially retired in 2018 after having played the better part of seven seasons in Europe.

This card comes from the 2006-07 In The Game Heroes & Prospects set and features Noah as a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguin. The card is, unfortunately, a sticker auto.