Because I’m starting to get into the Christmas spirit, I thought this bizarre piece of cardboard would be the perfect card to induct into the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame. I didn’t know where this card came from so I did a little research.

And then I saw this…

No way I was going to let this little beauty slip through my fingers, oh no, and so I switched gears. I continued down the list of thumbnails from the 2010-11 Panini Pinnacle set only to discover that it is virtually a cornucopia of crap that couldn’t be ignored any longer.

So, without further ado, my Christmas gift to all of you… the induction of the entire damn Panini Pinnacle set! While not nearly as bad as those awful Be a Player sets from the mid-1990s, this one features an incredible collection of awkward poses, cheesecake shots, inexplainable shenanigans and downright violent behaviour caught on camera

So let’s get started, shall we?

The cards in this set vary in different degrees of whimsical and weird.

We’ve got Dustin Brown wearing some sort of stray cat. Very nice of the guy to be looking out for our feline friends.

And here’s Marc Savard pretending to be Santa Claus. You can even see his naughty-and-nice list in the background.

And here’s Nicklas Backstrom doing the weirdest freakin’ soccer move ever.

Those cards are all cheesy and fun-loving. They don’t at all belong amongst the rest of the set, which are mostly action shots, but at least it isn’t a bunch of players riding around on golf carts and putting at the 18th hole.

The rest of the set, however, has undoubtedly the greatest collection of graphically violent hockey cards ever seen. Just check these out…

Here’s Ville Leino doing his best Georges St. Pierre impression… if GSP were allowed to carry a long graphite weapon into the Octagon.

And here’s Magnus Paajarvi looking not-at-all guilty of trying to mug Tom Wandell.

And Michael Del Zotto… Holy s#!tballs! Look at that knee! Now THAT is a GSP impression. Check the cold, evil look in his eyes! Sweet Lord, this dude might be the Antichrist! I mean, his knee is up in the dude’s face, and said dude is standing up! I couldn’t get my knee up over my thigh even if I tried, and yet Mikey here can do it in full equipment and heavy skates while on ice.

At least Del Zotto had the courtesy of just shoving a hard plastic-covered in someone’s face. Tyler Ennis here likes sticking sharp metal-bladed skates in the stomach of an unfortunate member of the Blue Jackets.

And here we have Tyler Bozak doing unspeakable things to this member of the Florida Panthers.

Wow, that is some violent imagery. Seriously, I have no idea where that Florida’s guy’s head is.

But don’t let it all this competitive violence deter you from picking up this set though. There’s plenty of other whimsical shots to tickle your funny bone.

For instance, here’s Chris Pronger and Daniel Briere doing their impressions of Andre the Giant and Billy Barty wearing Phildelphia Flyer uniforms.

And Joe Thornton showing us that you’re never too old to break wind in an opponent’s face. The Leafs are gonna love that playful streak, Joe!

And Jeff Carter looking like he’d rather be getting a root canal.

And Matthew Lombardi with his Oscars date, or his sister, I’m not sure. Riveting!

Oh, and Jack Johnson also walking down the re… uh purple carpet. How exciting! But wait, there’s so much more!

Here’s Ryan Getzlaf giving some PeeWee goalie some pointers. Always a community leader, that guy.

And we’ve got Jay Bouwmeester realizing he really shouldn’t have eaten that questionable looking burrito before the game.

David Steckel doing whatever the hell this is…

And Joe Pavelski doing… oh, I give up!

Well, we’ve had a lot of fun here today. We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, we’ve learned to avoid funny-tasting burritos and how to clobber another human being six ways ’til Sunday. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a great way to end a most unusual 2020.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!