NHL Rookies Get Artsy for Panini America’s Unique 2011 Toronto Fall Expo Sketch Cards

You heard it here first: If this newest class of NHL rookies doesn’t cut it in the league for some crazy reason, there’s always the world of fine art. Indeed, as you’ll soon see, many of the top young prospects in the game are as impressive with a Sharpie in their hands as they are with a stick.

And beginning Friday at the 2011 Toronto Fall Expo, we’re going to put some of their fine work on display for the collecting world to see.

We discovered firsthand during the 2011 NHLPA Rookie Showcase in August just how creative these kids could be by presenting the 26 youngsters in attendance with a handful of blank white cards and told them, using our best manners, “sketch something.”

The likes of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Gabriel Landeskog, Cody Eakin and Blake Geoffrion did not disappoint, dazzling us with hand-crafted masterpieces depicting their NHL aspirations, their hobbies and even their favorite pregame meal (in the case of Landeskog). They also signed the back of each masterpiece, creating some of the most entertaining, personality-revealing hockey cards you’ve ever seen. (But don’t take our word for it. Check out the preview gallery below.)

A small handful of these original sketch cards will be available to collectors for the first time starting Friday during Panini America’s 2011 Toronto Fall Expo wrapper-redemption program.

But if you’re not lucky enough to pull, say, a Nugent-Hopkins original this weekend, don’t worry. We’ll be releasing these beauties throughout the season, so stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance for details on future exhibits.