Alright. Now don’t even tell me you didn’t once think the Buffalo Sabres missed a perfect marketing scheme by neglecting to issue Miroslav Satan uniform number 6.

Or 666!

Or maybe he should have been drafted by the, dare I say, New Jersey Devils?

The Devils certainly had their opportunities to draft the talented winger back in 1993. And like the Devils, many teams are kicking themselves for letting this guy go all the way to the 111^th pick. But when the Edmonton Oilers selected Satan, the organization probably didn’t know how good this kid really was.

Satan was born in Topolcany, Czechoslovakia on October 22, 1974 and quickly became a star player in his home country. In 1991-92, Satan played junior hockey for Topolcany and netted 30 goals in 31 contests. He played a smattering of games for VTJ Topolcany, a second-division Czech League team and held is own, scoring three points, two way of the goal, over nine contests.

The next year, Satan moved up to the top division in the Czech League, playing for Dukla Trencin. Satan’s numbers were not up to par with his ability as he went 11-6-17 in 38 games. But in 1993-94, Miroslav Satan finally made it big. Still with Dukla Trencin, Satan banged home 32 goals and added 16 assists over the course of 30 games. However, Satan garnered quite a bit of attention on the world stage when he scored nine goals in eight contests while representing Slovakia in the 1994 Olympic Games.

Having been selected by the NHL’s Oilers a year earlier, Satan was finally assigned to Cape Breton, Edmonton’s AHL affiliate, in the 1994-95 campaign. Satan scored 40 points in just 25 contests including 24 goals, proving that he was ready for big-time North American professional hockey.

Satan spent his first two NHL seasons mainly with the Edmonton Oilers, scoring 35 goals 63 points over the course of 126 contests. In March 1997, Buffalo acquired Stan from Edmonton, giving up Barrie Moore and Craig Millar.

Looks like Buffalo got the best of that deal.

Satan finished up his second NHL season by appearing in 12 Sabres contests, scoring eight goals and adding two assists. In his first full season with Buffalo, Satan did not disappoint, tallying 22 goals and 46 points over 79 games. Satan was a factor on the power play as well, scoring nine times with the man advantage. In 1998-99, Satan pieced together a spectacular 40-goal campaign, which included 13 power play tallies, as well as scoring 66 total points.

While unable to reach the 40-goal plateau since then, Satan has been nothing short of stellar. In his last three seasons, all with Buffalo, Satan has accumulated goal totals of 33, 29, and 37. There aren’t many left-wingers putting up those numbers in the NHL, which just goes to underscore how gifted a player Satan is. His fifteen power play goals last season are impressive, but his five shorthanded goals may be the most telling statistic of them all. He’s simply a threat to score in any game situation.

So why haven’t hockey card collectors warmed up to Satan? Probably the number one reason is where the winger plays. Buffalo has never been "hobby central" and players who spend much of their careers as a Sabre don’t often enjoy the same hobby success of similar-type of players in New York City or Detroit.

Secondly, there are not a lot of Satan cards that stand out as "must have" cards. His rookie cards are very inexpensive and easy to find. After all, his most expensive rookie offering is the 1995-96 SP #52, which is valued at just $8.00. And most of Satan’s rookie cards can be had for a buck or two. But perhaps that is all the more reason to seek out some of his cards. There may not be a tremendous upside to them right now, but with player movement being what it is these days, you never know where this guy may end up later on in his career.

And a final reason to own some of Satan’s rookie cards? If you want a collection of rookie cards of the game’s best players, it’s kind of hard to leave this guy out. He’s only 28 years old, which means he has a lot more hockey (and a lot more goals) in him. Perhaps he will one day earn an etch on Lord Stanley’s Cup. But don’t bet that it will be with Buffalo.