We have a winner! But let's do the detective work.
Okay, we start with that rogue #2. As pointed out, the only Devils who wore a #2 in this time period are Bob Sauve and Martin Brodeur. Sauve is too soon for this photo as he retired before Randy Cunneyworth became a Whaler. So that points to Martin Brodeur.
Except...Brodeur didn't play a game until at least 2 months after this card was issued. But that doesn't necessarily rule him out. The photo could come from the pre-season. But what eliminates him is the equipment. Brodeur did not wear Vaughn pads or use a Louisville stick at this point in his career. No other photos from this period match for him.
But we still gained a clue - could this photo be from the pre-season? It sure looks like Cunneyworth doesn't have the 75th anniversary patch on his jersey, although it would be partially obscured by his glove. Ironically, the answer to this question comes later in the set! Observe:
1991-92 Pro Set - [Base] #547 - Scott Niedermayer
Courtesy of COMC.com
Scott Neidermayer is wearing #48, a number he never wore in a regulation game. But evidently he did in the pre-season. And look who's behind him: Number #29. And now we have a huge clue: we can see his mask. And that mask we can identify as belonging to
Craig Billington.
The trick here is that Billington always wore #1...except in this training camp. Sean Burke was a holdout, and Burke wore #1. When it became clear Burke wasn't coming back, Billington reclaimed his number. See this photo to match the mask, stick, and pads:
1991-92 Parkhurst - [Base] - French #320 - Craig Billington
Courtesy of COMC.com
You'll notice Billington's Vaughns have a streak of blue in them. This is likely because he spent the previous season with the Canadian National team and the 1990-91 color scheme included blue.
Congrats to mclean_m!
