PHOTO: Wild's Harding featured in 'Heroic Inspirations' card from Upper Deck

Minnesota Wild goaltender Josh Harding was the recipient of the 2013 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for his perseverance through a battle with multiple sclerosis. On Thursday, Upper Deck announced that Harding will be further honored with a “Heroic Inspirations” collectible trading card.

From the official press release (via the Wild's official website):

The goal of the card is to give people suffering from MS hope and to raise awareness for Josh Harding’s charity; Harding’s Hope (hardingshope.org). To start the campaign, Upper Deck has inserted 25 of the cards into packs of the 2014-15 NHL O-Pee-Chee series. Harding included his signature and an inscription on these cards, “My inspiration is my father.” Harding has signed and inscribed other versions of the card with some of his other inspirations. These additional autographed and inscribed cards will be available with a donation to the charity through the Harding’s Hope website at the start of the 2014-15 NHL® season.

“I’m excited for Upper Deck to join my team to raise awareness for Multiple Sclerosis and to raise funds for people living with MS,” said Josh Harding. “The more I learn about MS, the more I realize how important it is to have a team. The point of adding inscriptions to the cards is to share that you cannot fight MS alone, you need to look for inspiration from your team. I’m hopeful that by sharing some of my inspirations on these new Upper Deck cards, I can help others stay positive and find inspiration.”

By all accounts, Harding is feeling good and set to battle for the starting job in Minnesota this season, providing further inspiration for everyone following his story.