Gun to head, I am rooting for the Kings only because their AHL affiliate the Manchester Monarchs are about 45 minutes away. But honestly, I could not care less. The day after the Bruins got eliminated, I had my TV shut off for the summer and haven’t watched a lick of hockey since. But congrats to Dave, Dawgbones, Neil, and Michael. May the odds ever be in your favor.

Let’s talk cards, shall we? Or more specifically, let’s talk about cards that are probably no interest to about 90% of my readers.

I was at my LCS yesterday with my uncle (we are both collectors) and noticed a new product on the shelf: Topps 2012 U.S. Olympics Team & Olympic Hopefuls. So, I am not a big Olympics guy, but I was bored, had a few bones to spend, and bought a couple of packs. My uncle, a much bigger Olympics fan than myself, also bought some and ended up giving me all of them, which is something he usually does. Anyways, let me say this about the cards: they are beautiful. The design is nice, the images of the athletes are a sort of photo-paint job, and Topps did a good job capturing emotion. The set is only 100 cards and features three parallels: bronze, silver, and gold. Bronze are one per pack, silver one per two, and gold one per three. There are some insert sets, which I’ll get to as well as autographs and memorabilia.

First, all the base cards including the parallels:

See? Beautiful, right? Some names I know, others I have no clue, but I think I might actually watch a bit of the Games this Summer and be on the lookout for some of these athletes.

Oh, here is what the backs look like:

Pretty basic design with a nice little write up. Nicely done.

I pulled three different inserts. One is from the subset Olympic Heritage and falls 1:8…

I guess each card represents a specific event. Now I know that Hungary has the most medals in water polo; who knew?!

Next is a set called London 2012 Olympic Games Venues, which is 1:12…

Not much to look at here but I have to think the other cards in this set are a bit more…visually pleasing.

Lastly is the set Opening Ceremony which falls at 1:24…

Ugh, the Nazi games. Funny how Topps makes no reference to this AT ALL.

So there you have it. I really like this set and with all the cards my uncle gave to me, I am tempted to build it. If anyone has any for trade or wants any for their set, please let me know.

1998-99 Bowman CHL #150

I always had a soft sport for Andrew Peters despite him playing for the Buffalo Sabres. I think it was a combination of his old-time boxing stance, general good nature, and his beating and bloodying of Donald Brashear that made me a fan of his. He was the sort of player who knew his roll and embraced it with open arms.

Peters’ road to the NHL started i the OHL where he was a seventeen year old left winger for the Oshawa Generals. During his first season (97-98), he would immediately step into his role as enforcer, dropping the gloves a whopping 33 times in 60 games while racking up 220 penalty minutes. While his fight card for that season was a virtual who’s-who of career minor league journeymen, future NHL tough guy Matt Carkner squared off against Peters. In addition to his fisticuffs, he would tally eleven goals and seven assists.

1998-99 Bowman CHL #150

He would be drafted that summer by the Buffalo Sabres with the 34th pick in the second round. He was taken ahead of guys like Brad Richards, Erik Cole, Brian Gionta, and some dude named Pavel Datsyuk. Building upon his first year with the Generals, Peters would follow that with a fourteen goal, ten assist season while cutting down his PIMs to 137. His fights were still up there at 24 and included a bout against Brian McGrattan.

During the next season (99-00), Peters would wear the sweater of the Kitchener Rangers for a total of  42 games, his fewest to date. His scoring dipped, as can be expected, to just six goals and thirteen assists. More surprising is his major decline in PIMs (95) and fights (7); I can find no reason for this drop, but I have to assume he was still as tough as ever.

1998-99 Bowman CHL Autographs Blue #A33

The next season would see Peters make the leap to the AHL and the Rochester Americans, the farm team for the Buffalo Sabres. Over the course of the next two seasons in Rochester, Andrew would reclaim his role as enforcer. In 116 games, Peters would total 506 penalty minutes and fight 44 times, while scoring only four goals and helping out on five others; stats of a true tough guy! During that second year, he would lead the AHL in PIMs with 388 and go toe-to-toe against players like Dennis Bonvie, Shawn Thornton, Matt Carkner, Eric Godard, and Darcy Hordichuk.

Peters would get a small sip of the big show the following season as he skated in four pre-season games for the Sabres. Hoping to impress the parent club, he dropped the mitts four times, but was sent back to Rochester for another year of seasoning. While not quite equaling the previous season, Peters would score three goals with no assists while putting up 233 PIMs and squaring off nineteen times.

1998-99 Bowman CHL Autographs Blue #A33

The following year was Peters’ big break. He would make the team out of camp and suit up for 42 games, replacing legendary Sabre tough guy Rob Ray. Over the course of the season, Peters would only score two goals with no assists, but everyone, including himself, knew that was not his role. Thirty-six times Peters would drop the gloves in order to give his team a spark, defend a teammate, or just entertain the hometown fans. His first regular season fight in the NHL came on October 11th, 2003 against the New York Islanders. Andrew Peters found a willing dance partner in tough guy Eric Godard and the two went at it. Either because of nerves or simply because he was over-matched, Godard got a solid victory over the rookie. Undeterred by the loss and wanting to prove his mettle, Peters would square off against Eric Cairns later in the same game. While not an overly thrilling tilt, Peters hung in there and proved to the Sabres organization that he was willing to throw ‘em.

About a month later, Peters would be in his first memorable battle against Francis Lessard of the Atlanta Thrashers. About halfway through the first, the two went toe-to-toe, with Peters landing the better of the shots. The best fight of that season, though, came on December 13th against the Minnesota Wild, with Andrew coming out on the losing end in a big way. Squaring up in his signature boxing pose against 6’5″ Matt Johnson, Peters was rocked early and then nearly knocked out. Being the tough customer that he is, Peters would bounce back during the second half of the season and put in solid efforts against Tie Domi, Rob Ray, Donald Brashear, and Todd Fedoruk. He finished the year with 151 PIMs.

Topps Pristine Gold Refractor Die Cuts #174 /33

The NHL labor dispute forced the cancellation of  the 04-05 season, but the following season saw Peters still withe Sabres. His toughness was appreciated by the club and the fans as he would spend the next four seasons with Buffalo. Over 158 games, he would score only two goals and assist on three others, but his willingness to fight remained steady. While he would never come close to his rookie campaign of 36 fights, he would man up 61 times. One of his most common opponents was Brian McGrattan, then of the Ottawa Senators. During the 04-05 season, they would go at it four times, with Peters scoring an overwhelming win on February 4th. A well placed shot right on the nose stunned and bloodied McGratton and, abiding by the tough guy code, Peters called for the refs to step in and get McGrattan some medical attention. Some other highlights from those years included a toe-to-toe bout against Darcy Hordichuk, the aforementioned Brashear bout, a spirited scrap against Ottawa goaltender Ray Emery, and an entertaining go around with Andre Roy.

Topps Pristine Gold Refractor Die Cuts #174 /33

Peters would sign with the New Jersey Devils at the start of the 09-10 season and play in just 29 games. While he did not record a point during his time with Jersey, he did earn himself 93 PIMs and fought eleven times. This would turn out to be his last year in the NHL and he would go out with a late bout knockdown of Jody Shelley on March 25th. He was waived following the season but signed by the Florida Panthers for the 10-11 season. He played during the pre-season but was traded to the Vancouver Canucks for Darcy Hordichuk. He was then immediately loaned to his old AHL club the Rochester Americans where he played in two games and recorded two penalty minutes. After breaking curfew with the club, he was released and instead of reporting to the Manitoba Moose, Andrew Peters announced his retirement on February 8th, 2011 at the age of thirty. He career numbers: 229 games, 3 goals, 7 assists, 650 PIMs, and 113 fights.

Andrew Peters’ career was not without come controversy, though. He has admitted to using steroids early in his career but had stopped after the FDA banned them in 2004. He was suspended one game for punching Colton Orr from the bench. During a game against the Maple Leafs, he imitated a golf swing directed towards Wade Belak, a gesture not appreciated by the Toronto faithful. And long before Alexandre Burrows was biting fingers, Peters was on the receiving end of a chomp by Jarrko Ruutu. 

All said, though, Andrew Peters was an entertaining fighter. He may not have won a ton of fights, or stayed on his feet for a bulk of them, but he was always willing to go. His classic stance was fun to look at and he seemed like a good-natured guy. During his off-seasons and in retirement, Peters has been active in charity work. He has raised money for a variety of organizations and continues to do so. I leave you with this funny clip:

There will probably be posts in the future about the Hockey Hall of Pretty Good/Fame that includes induction classes or something. For now, though, it’s done. Thank you to everyone who read the entire series, made comments, and voted. It was fun to research and write and I hope you enjoyed reading it.

Enough about that; let me get to the real reason for this post…

I was in my LCS the other day and he had just gotten in the new Panini schlop, Donruss Elite. Since he had nothing else I wanted to buy and I had a $10 bill burning a hole in my pocket, I figured, “Hey, what the heck?” and bought a pack for $7. What follows is one of the worst and most uninspired releases in quite a long time.

Where to start? How about the price for what you get? $7 gets you a whopping five cards which works out to $1.40 a card. If anyone wants to pay me $1.40 a card, please email me.

Next, let’s look at the design. Well, it wouldn’t be a Panini product if there wasn’t copious amounts of foil and they don’t skimp here. The entire card is foil. It’s a lot shinier in person, almost like a mirror, and picks up fingerprints like a champ. Awesome. Next, is the most basic of design ever. It is something out of the early 90′s, only the photography on early 90′s stuff was WAY better than this garbage.

But wait, maybe the back will be really awesome? Nope. Really Panini, you couldn’t give us a different photo on the back? Or even complete stats? The little blurbs are completely random and are totally uninteresting. Total flop.

I don’t know the inserts or autos or whatever, but I doubt they can save this horrible (and typical) effort from Panini. Consider this my attempt to save you $7 a pack; learn from my mistake and stay far, FAR away. I am so over Panini and their utterly garbage releases, so much so that I am officially taking their blog off of my blogroll.

Look at me taking a stand!

Moving on, here is the latest contest update:

Congratulations to those who are still alive. Lots of “upsets” in Round 1; will it continue?

By the way, for those of you wondering what my thoughts are on the Bruins’ first round exit: I’m okay with it. I thought the team defended the Cup well and they have nothing to hang their heads about. It was a hard fought series with no real controversy/bad calls and so I have little to be angry about. I will say, though, that not enough was made about Adam McQuaid’s injury that sidelined him the entire series. Same goes for Horton, but hey, injuries happen.

Last but not least, here is the second pack of 1991-92 Upper Deck Series 1 (Pt. 1 here). Enjoy? Sure, why not.

Stu Barnes was a 4th overall pick who had a decent career in the NHL, playing for five different teams over the course of sixteen years. He currently is part owner of the Tri-City Americans with former teammate Olaf Kolzig.

HOF-JO!

Looks like poor Benoit Hogue is getting worked over by Rod Buskas. And who the heck is Rod Buskas?! Anyways, did you know that Hogue had three straight 30+ goal seasons? Or that he has his named engraved on the Stanley Cup?

Easy with that flashy mask, Mike! Interesting that he has a home and an away mask; I’m not sure I’ve seen that before.

GUH! James Patrick strikes again! This is my fourth junk wax two-pack break and this is my third James Patrick card. I have unwillingly become a James Patrick supercollector!

I have mixed feelings about Steve Chiasson. On one hand, it is sad that he died at a relatively early age and left behind a wife and three children. On the other hand, his blood alcohol was three times the legal limit when he crashed his truck, so my sympathy is somewhat lacking. For me, the only “good” thing was that he didn’t take out anyone else in the accident. Ugh, this is depressing.

Elvis’ son.

Wait a second, Ray Sheppard once scored 52 goals in a season?!  AND he had five other 30+ goal seasons?! I am humbled.

Hands down the best card in the pack. You are looking at a very young Doug Weight, Steven Rice, and Tony Amonte. There is a lot going on here. First off, they are all wearing different shorts. Y’got your sweatshorts (always a solid look), your mesh shorts (with boxers hanging out), and of course the jorts (jean shorts). If that is not enough, check out those reflective (possibly) Ray Bans on Weight while Rice pulls off the power move of hanging his shades from his collar. The smiles on their faces are downright hysterical and WHY ARE THEY IN THE OCEAN?!

Pfft, a Canadien.

In my mind, Tony is best friends with Reggie Miller and they continually try to convince each other that they were better pro athletes than their sisters. And fail.

We end with former Bruin Tom Fergus. Tom Fergus, everyone. Tom Fergus.

Their 2010-11 Donruss hockey product had an insert called Tough Times which celebrated the tough guys of the NHL. This particular set focused on guys from the 80s and included players like Jay Miller, Lyndon Byers, Joey Kocur and some others. They also made an on-card signed version of each card numbered to 250. As is the case nowadays, there were redemptions for a handful of the players. Being a collect of all things hockey fights, I naturally wanted to build both versions of the set. I picked up four of the redemption cards: Lyndon Byers, Joey Kocur, Torrie Robertson, and Dave Brown. I received the Byers and Kocur cards eventually, although it did take awhile. The Robertson and Brown say in my account, unfilled, first for 6 months, then a year, then over a year…until late last week.

In my mailbox were two bubble mailers from Panani, each with one of my Tough Time redemptions, only they were of Robertson or Brown. Instead, they were these:

Wait, what? These guys were not even in the set!

So apparently Panini could not get signed cards of Dave Brown or Torrie Robertson, so instead of replacing them with some other signed cards, they created new cards to fill in. I don’t think I have ever heard of this before, have any of you? There are, to my knowledge, no unsigned versions of these cards, so they only exist in signed form. So now there are two Tough Times sets with different players.

This isn’t even what I want to complain about. I’d more than happy to receive hard signed cards of two enforcers instead of some junk cards as replacements. I have two problems with these cards:

1. Gord Donnelly is a fitting replacement for Torrie Robertson. However, Donnelly never played for the Dallas Stars in the 80s; he was a Nordique and a Jet during that time and only played for the Stars during the 94-95 season.

2. The serial number for the other Tough Times autographs are at the bottom of the back of the card, in that little brownish box, not at the top.

I’ve said it once, but I’ll say it again: Panini overlooks the details SO MANY TIMES that its gotten to the point of comical. How hard would have it been to use a picture of Donnelly in a Nords or Jets jersey? And most importantly, WHY COULDN’T YOU PUT THE SERIAL NUMBER WHERE IT IS SUPPOSE TO GO?! HOW HARD IS THIS?

Seriously, someone should be fired for this. Collectors are picky; they like consistency in their sets, so why toss the serial number is some weird place when the other cards all have them in the same spot?

Time and time again, Panini overlooks the details and then their cards look like utter garbage because of it. Panini, you just need to GO AWAY AND NEVER COME BACK! Go back to Europe and produce soccer cards and use all the foil and sticker autos you want. Stop pretending like you give a damn about collectors and leave. Seriously, leave!

In related news, I picked this up at my LCS…

Ehhhh, what are you gonna do?

I also picked this up…

Only the finest in German engineering. The Bruins staved off elimination today in overtime and head back to Boston for Game 7 on Wednesday. I may have to throw up a mega PJ-JO post to bring the B’s a win.

In other card news, I bought a handful of packs of Topps’ 2012 Gypsy Queen because I’m an idiot and a sucker. I hadn’t read a lot on this product for this year, so I went in sort of blind.

I bought five packs in all and here is a quick run down of what I got.

The cards are thick stock and the painted effect looks real nice. There are plenty of old timers mixed in with current players. There are also SP variations of some cards; I think the Schmidt is one of them. The backs look old timey and give a brief write-up.

There is a mini in each pack and as you can see, there are parallels. The Latos is a sepia parallel numbered to 99 and there are also Straight Cut and Gypsy Queen back variations. Yeah yeah yeah.

This is a sort of interesting insert set; dudes sliding.

There is also this insert set, Moonshots. This was probably my favorite card of them all because I was, and am, an Albert Belle fan. I need to see if there is a Belle auto in this set…

Speaking of which, I did pull two hits, if you want to really call them that.

Um, okay.

Overall, it’s a nice looking product and it really makes me wish Topps could make hockey cards again. If anyone wants any of these or any of the other base cards I got, let me know; they’re yours.

Lastly, voting closed for right wingers and no one made it into my HOF. Mike Gartner got the most votes with 12 (48%) but was well short of the 60% needed. Don’t forget to vote for defencemen and goalies.

If you ever wondered who’d be sitting in on the skins in that great band up in the sky, it wouldn’t be John Bonham or Keith Moon. No sir, it’d be Levon.

Play it loud, brotha!

Now, the (not always) masked men…

Okay, enough about the Hockey Hall of Fame and all that jazz; let’s rip a pack of 90s era junk!

I’ve done a card-by-card rip of some 90s junk before. First there were two packs of 1991-92 O-Pee-Chee (pt. 1/pt. 2). After that were two packs of 1990-91 Upper Deck, their inaugural year in hockey (pt. 1/pt. 2). Then there was 1994-95 Pinnacle (pt. 1/pt. 2)Now we return with 1991-92 Upper Deck Series 1.

The 91-92 set consists of 700 cards, released in two series. Series 1 had 500 cards while Series 2 had 200 cards; there was also a French version. There were a few different inserts and subsets including  the Award Winner Holograms, IIHF World Junior Championship players, and Canada Cup participants. There are also a ton of rookies including future Hall of Famers Dominik Hasek, Peter Forsberg, Nicklas Lindstrom, and Teemu Selanne. Other rookies include Glen Murray, Nikolai Khabibulin, Alexei Kovalev, Keith Tkachuk, and Doug Weight. The big chase/insert is the Brett Hull Heroes subset. This was a nine-card subset, but the crown jewel was the autographed checklist card, limited to 2,500 hand numbered copies. Did I get one? We’ll see…

Awwwww yeah! First card is of enforcer Enrico Ciccone! My hopes are high for this pack. While not exactly a tough sounding name, Enrico could throw ‘em. One thing I like about this set is that Upper Deck used two different photos for the front and back. And not just a little photo on the back, but a nearly full sized photo. I wish this was more commonplace today. Ah well.

This is one of the cards from the Canada Cup subset. Janne had a brief NHL career including three separate stints with the Devils (two regular season and one playoff series). Nearly his entire career (20 years!) were spent playing in Finland, where he won a bunch of different awards.

Not much on Glynn other than he was part of the deal with Brendan Shanahan that brought Paul Coffey and Keith Primeau to Hartford. Is that the Blues logo on the puck?!

A number one draft pick and 500+ goal scorer? Nice! Did you know that he played for Canada’s Little League team in the Little League World Series in 1982?

According to legendsofhockey.net, “prior to his injury [Bureau] was considered in the upper echelon of defensive centres in the NHL.” Wait, what?! Really?! Also, is that Hasek flopping around on the front? I’m calling this an unofficial Hasek rookie and listing it on eBay with a BIN of $7.99.

HELMETLESS-JO! We all know Craig was the last NHLer to go lidless, but did you know he has four Stanley Cups under his belt? You probably did, actually. What I didn’t know was that he actually started his career with the Bruins. Huh.

Oh Glen Wesley…

Best. Card. Ever.

Bruins hot pack! Galley was a pretty solid blueliner throughout his career, even putting up 70 points in a season. Whoa!

Plavsic and I have something in common: we both spent a year at UNH, him playing for the Wildcats and me basically failing out. Anyways, I love the back of this card. Will you accept a collect call from “HEYMOMTHISISADRIENANDIJUSTWONAMEDAL”. I’m not sure what medal he is sporting here, but Adrien was a member of Team Canada in the 1992 Winter Olympics who won the silver.

Interesting shot on the front as Volek battles an unidentified Penguin. Interesting because during the next season, Volek would score an OT winner in Game 7 of the second round matchup versus Pittsburgh, preventing them from winning three straight Stanley Cups.

Before there was Zdeno Chara there was Zdeno Ciger. He recorded a 31 goal season in 95-96 and then left the NHL for six seasons before returning for one last skate for the Rangers and Lightning.

Is it too late to fill this out and send it in.

There ya go, a pack of junk from the junk era. Stay tuned for part 2.

Thank you to everyone who has voted and/or entered the contest. I’ll get to the contest in a bit, but first I wanted to talk about the Hockey Hall of Pretty Good.

I’ve officially closed the poll for centers and although no one got the required 67% to make it, Stastny was OH SO CLOSE with 63%, which is, in my opinion, close enough. So congratulations to Peter Stastny for making it in. The next next closest was Milt Schmidt with 33% of the vote. While it breaks my heart to see ol’ Milt get left out, the committee has spoken.

One poll closes, another opens. This time its defencemen. Here are your candidates:

I’m dropping the vote percentage for induction to 60%, so make your vote count and you remember, you can vote for more than one player. Lastly, don’t forget to vote for the wingers; those polls will be closing soonish.

Now let’s talk contest. I entered the teams and randomized three times.

Here are the teams…

First randomization…

Second randomization…

And the third and final randomization…

So here is how is shook out…

I tried to rig it so Cap’n Canuck got the Bruins and DFG got the Flyers, but I’m too honest.

Good luck to everyone (and GO SHANE!) and I’ll post prize stuff later…

Thank you to everyone who has voted so far in my polls. The “center” poll will close in a few day and the “left winger” poll will close shortly after that. Now we have to move onto the right wingers. Up for consideration:

Go do your research and vote. Remember, it takes 67% of the vote to get in.

Moving on. I have a folder on my desktop of cards I’ve scanned but have not posted about. It is sort of my backup folder for when I don’t get anything new for a while. Well, since I wanted to talk about more than just my Hall of Pretty Good series, I dug into the “Break In Case Of Emergency” folder and found this beauty…

Lorne “Gump” Worsley, that of pomaded side-part fame. The doughy and everyman looking goalie who smoked between periods and played without a mask into the 1970s was a fan favorite and one of the NHL’s greatest “characters.”

Born in Montreal, Worsley enjoyed success early on in his amateur career, posting winning records and pretty good GAAs in a variety of leagues. Playing for the St. Paul Saints of the USHL, he was named top rookie and best goalie. He followed that with a stint in the PCHL playing netminder for the Saskatoon Quakers, posting a 33-19-14 record. His stock was rising and it was only a matter of time before he would get his shot in the NHL.

Worsley was signed by the New York Rangers for the 1952-53 season and would play in fifty games, replacing the injured Chuck Rayner. The team success that Worsley enjoyed in the minors was hard to come by in the NHL. To put it mildly, the Rangers were terrible. During Gump’s rookie season, the team would win just seventeen games. Of those, Worsley would be in goal for thirteen of them. Despite a season record of 13-29-8 and a GAA of 3.06, the league saw great potential in the newcomer and would award him the Calder Trophy. After asking for a $500 pay increase following the season, the Rangers sent Gump to the Vancouver Canucks of the WHL. During his stint here he was named MVP and led the team to a championship.

The Gumper would return to the Rangers the following season and embark on a twenty year career. From 1954 through 1963, Worsley minded the New York net. Over that span, he would post a 191-242-93 record, finish with a winning record only twice, and lead the league in losses three times. The stats, however, have less to do with his play and more to do with the terrible teams New York put out on the ice.

After the ’62-’63 season, Worsley was traded, along with Dave Balon, Leon Rochefort, and Len Ronson to Montreal for Jacques Plante, Don Marhsall, and Phil Goyette. Thus began the transformation from lovable, talented goalie on a dreadful team to lovable, talented goalie on a powerhouse team. Early in the ’63-’64 season, Gump hurt his knee and played the remainder of the year for the Quebec Aces, getting back into playing shape and turning in a terrific season. Starting the following season with the Aces, Worsley joined the Habs halfway through and helped lead them to their first Stanley Cup in four seasons. Over the next four seasons with the Canadiens, Gump would win two Vezina Trophies and help win three more Stanley Cups.

Halfway through the ’69-’70 season, Gump quit/retired from hockey after a dispute with Montreal management. His sabbatical from hockey was brief as the North Stars agreed to trade for him. He would finish the season in Minnesota posting a 5-1-1 record. Worsley’s remained with Minnesota for the duration of his career, playing in 99 games over the next four seasons and posting a 34-66-23 record. Gump would retired at the end of the ’73-’74 season at the age of 44, looking more like a barber than an NHL pro.

Over 861 games, Gump Worsley posted a 335-352-150 record with 43 shutouts and  a 2.88 GAA. Oh, and he only wore a mask the final six games of his career. He is 10th all-time in games played, 18th in wins, 2nd in losses, and 81st in GAA. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980 and passed away at his home in 2007.

The card above comes from the 2004-05 Upper Deck Legends Classics set and is numbered CS20. It features Worsley in all of his 70′s glory: Maskless and muttonchopped in his green North Stars uniform, standing up and making a save. His signature is small and messy, something I find uncharacteristic of players from his generation, especially those from Quebec.

Lastly, the playoffs are almost among us. Know what that means?

CONTEST!

I’m going to revisit my contest from last year’s playoffs.

So, here is how it goes:

There are 16 teams in the playoffs meaning this contest is limited to the first 16 participants.

Leave a comment with a number, 1-16. That number will correspond with a playoff team that will be randomly generated. Whoever wins the Cup, wins the contest.

Okay, leave a comment with a number and don’t forget to vote in the polls to the right!

I came back with neither and I could have had both. The Dryden was nice except the bottom two corners were just a touch soft (I’m picky) and I know it would have eaten away at me. He had it at $250, said he’d take $220, but I know he would have taken $200. I’m willing to pay the money for a mint copy, so I’ll just wait it out.

A different dealer had a Cournoyer rookie but it was graded and I don’t do graded cards. It came out as a 7 and he wanted $125; the guy next to me offered him $100 and away it went. C’est la vie.

Enough about cards I didn’t get, let’s get to cards I did get!

1977-78 O-Pee-Chee #4 NHL Penalty Minute Leaders

Three vintage tough guys for a $1?  All day, every day. I had to get at least one enforcer card and this gives me three big punchers.

The next batch of cards are all from the WHA. Ever since reading The Rebel League I’ve been fascinated. I could have picked up complete sets, but I want to slowly build all the different years.

First, we have this…

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee #338 John McKenzie

Man, ol’ Pie Face looks like he just fell off the turnip truck. And that Blazers logo; is there anything worse?

Now, I already had this card…

I felt like I needed to get his linemates, so I did…

1974-75 O-Pee-Chee WHA #4 Ulf Nilsson

1974-75 O-Pee-Chee #17 Anders Hedberg

Rookies of 2/3 of one of the most dominating lines in hockey history and all-time WHA greats. These countrymen played four seasons in the WHA and scored 100+ points in each of those campaigns. Nilsson was the premier playmaker and Hedburg was a dominant and gifted scorer. Along with Bobby Hull, they formed one of the greatest hockey lines the game has ever seen. During the ’74-’75 season, this line scored 156 and tallied 206 assists in 221 combined games for an average of 1.64 points per game. Wow.

Next…

1977-78 O-Pee-Chee WHA #25 Mark Howe

HOFer in an Aeros jersey with the New England Whalers harpoon logo on the front! Must have.

This next card is not a WHA card although he did played in the league and was, at one point, the highest paid player…

1970-71 Topps/O-Pee-Chee Sticker Stamps #27 Derek Sanderons

And so my Turk collection grows slightly. Look how clean cut and young he looks.

Those were my small purchases. Now it’s time for the big gun. Going into this show, I had zero intention of getting this card. It was so far off of my radar that it was non-existant. In fact, I don’t think I had ever seen this card before. After the Dryden and Cournoyer fell through, I had to regroup. I looked at a Lafleur rookie, but nixed it. I thought about getting an old Beliveau or Richard, but I have cards of them already. Same goes for Orr. Howe was a possibility but his earlier stuff is SO expensive. I looked and looked and then I found it.

1963-64 Topps #33 Bobby Hull

I’ll just let the card do the talking.

Oh, and don’t forget to vote on the right hand side!