Hockey Card Stories Review

           Hey everyone,
I recently posted a review on Hockey Card Stories on my book reading blog, Micah Reads Books, and it'd be great if you could check it out, and maybe follow that blog as well! Check out the post here.

Thanks for reading, and keep updated for more hockey card posts!

Instagram Account

            Hey everyone, I have decided to join the hockey card collecting community on Instagram, and I'll be looking to sell and trade some of my cards. It is called canuckskeepersandkipper and feel free to check it out!
Thanks for reading and keep updated for more hockey card posts!

Tim Horton's Pack Update

           So Tim Horton's is selling hockey cards now. A decent price, 2 bucks for 1 pack of 3 cards, however the insert to base ratio is excellent, as I have gotten an insert in each of the three packs I've gotten.

I've gotten 2 Shining Futures and one Season Highlight, all of players who had great seasons last year, plus a Roberto Luongo base card, my first of him as a new Panther.

Thanks for reading and keep updated for more hockey card posts!

On This Day in Hockey: 1979

October 14, 1979

Wayne Gretzky scored his first NHL goal. It was a power-play goal with 69 seconds left in the game to give Edmonton a 4-4 tie with Vancouver. Gretzky actually fanned on his backhand shot, but the puck dribbled between the legs of goalie Glen Hanlon.

         Yesterday, Connor McDavid scored his first career NHL goal. One day off of Wayne Gretzky's first goal day. On October 15th, 1989, Wayne Gretzky passed Gordie Howe for the most points in a career. Today in 1970, Wayne Gretzky scored his first goal. It was the first of many, 894 to be exact. 

After "The Trade", Gretzky broke the goal-scoring record and got his 2000th point with the LA Kings.

I'm not sure how much I need to say about The Great One. He finished his incredible career with 2857 points, including 1963 assists. 

Hey, let's not forget the guy who started this whole thing: Glen Hanlon. The Canucks goalie who let in Gretzky's "weak" first goal. Let's read about Hanlon on the back of this card:

Okay, so he's Detroit's best goalie... Vancouver draft pick... allowed Gretzky's first goal....Oh and look at that!

"I created a monster." Well that is one of the best quotes I have seen on a hockey card. Poor Glen Hanlon.

Thanks for reading and keep updated for more hockey card posts!

Hockey Card Stories #6: The Unknowns

           In this Hockey Card Stories Post, I need someone to tell me the stories, because I have no idea. The cards in this blog post have shadowed backstories. Their situation is a mystery to me, and if anyone can figure it out, let me know, because these cards are strange. I was not necessarily the first owner, so I really have no clue.

WILLIE MITCHELL OPC PARALLEL PARALLEL?

As far as I know, I actually am the original owner of these cards, but there is some print error on the one on the right. There are small black markings all over the card, and if you reflect the light right, they almost expand, and it looks like ink running down the card. A strange parallel to a parallel.

TINY INACCURATE CHECKLIST?

This Esso NHL All-Star Collection Jacques Laperriere has some false information on the checklist on the back. This is the only Esso card I have in my entire collection. According to the checklist, I have Pierre Pilote, Norm Ullman, Ed Giacomin, Bernie Parent, Serge Savard, Mike Bossy, Lanny McDonald, Rick Middleton, Al MacInnis, and Paul Coffey. I have none of these cards, and I did not mark down the checklist.

REALLY ZOOMED-OUT CARD?

This looks like someone took an eraser in Corel Print House to the picture and then slapped it on a hockey card. I've seen some bad airbrushes in my time. But this, just erasing a whole part of the picture and then zooming out on it is just ridiculous. Also, this card was from 95-96, so most bad airbrush jobs should have been eliminated. So weird.

THE WORST DIE-CUT CARDS IN HISTORY?

No, these three cards are not die-cut. They are merely the result of the horrible cutting of a 1990 Kraft Dinner box. Whoever cut these cards out needs to know how to handle a pair of scissors. This is always the risk of getting cards from cereal boxes and things like that; there's always the risk of ending up with an absolutely brutal card.

MY FIRST AUTO CARD?

If this autograph is indeed legitimate, this will have been my first autographed card. However, I have no proof that this is the authentic autograph of Chris Hawes. It certainly looks real. I picked this up (I think) from some person who was giving away boxes of assorted cards, and this was in one. Chris Hawes wasn't the greatest player though, so if this is a real auto, it's not worth much.

Thanks for reading! If you can explain these cards, please do so! Keep updated for more hockey card posts!

Best Goalie Masks: Buffalo Sabres

         Once again, I face the problem of choosing between two very similar masks, and it may only be the quality of card that determined the winner. The best goalie mask of the Buffalo Sabres is...

 

92-93 TOM DRAPER

Never heard of Tom Draper? Neither did I, but this mask should make him well-known to some folk. It flows so well with the jersey and especially the rest of his equipment. The symmetry of the mask, as well as the modernistic look, separate this mask from the runner-up.

 

HONOURABLE MENTION:

91-92 DAREN PUPPA



This mask, as previously stated, is quite similar to Draper's, but the out of place bison on top ruins the symmetry which is consistent everywhere else. However, because it is so similar to Draper's, this mask is still great. It may be the quality of the photo that gives it a second-place finish.

 

Thanks for reading, and keep updated for more hockey card posts!

Pack Update

      Recently ordered some cards from a Scholastic book order... no big hits but these are the ones that were pretty good.

90-91 Upper Deck Mike Ricci RC-A very unflattering picture, but a good RC of a good player.

91-92 Pro Set French Nicklas Lidstrom-An unflattering name misspelling, but a nice RC, and I understand the Pro Set French is worth a bit more than English, which is nice because I already have the English version.

11-12 Panini Contenders Matt Duchene-A nice base card of Duchene.

10-11 Heroes and Prospects Joe Colborne RC-A rookie card before his NHL rookie year.

10-11 Heroes and Prospects Eric Tangredi-Another good AHL prospect card.

Thanks for reading, and keep updated for more hockey card posts! 

Amazing Pack Update!!!

          I was not expecting my top five priciest cards list to be changed so quickly... A friend of mine today gave me four amazing cards! I also picked up one 15-16 Tim Horton's collector's series pack, with one good card in it.

5 out of 7 cards I got today are going straight to cases. We have: A 12-13 Upper Deck Game Jerseys Gilbert Perreault and Jordan Staal, a 79-80 Topps Vancouver Canucks checklist, graded at 6.5, an 06-07 SP Game Used Edition Authentic Fabrics Dual Patch Naslund/Luongo 12/25, graded at 9-that's a mouthful- and finally a Tim Horton's Carey Price Season Highlight Checklist. An awesome haul. I'd be speechless, but these are too awesome to stay quiet about.

Thanks for reading, and keep updated for more hockey card posts!

On This Day in Hockey: 1999

October 2, 1999

Boston's Ray Bourque scored his 386th career goal, making him the highest-scoring defenseman in NHL history.

There's no doubt that Raymond Bourque is one of the greatest defenseman in NHL history. He holds the defensman's record for most goals, assists, and points in a career. He also holds the record for most consecutive All-Star games, with 19. In those games he won 8 shooting accuracy competitions. He won five Norris Trophies. He actually holds the record for most career shots on goal, even though he is a defenseman. He's actually nearly 1000 shots ahead of the next leading shooter, Marcel Dionne. Phil Esposito thought Bourque was so good, that he "un-retired" his number 7 in order for Bourque to wear it. However, Bourque, in a move of class, gave Espo back the 7 and took 77, which was later also retired by the Bruins.

In one of the most famous stories in the NHL, Bourque played his last game as a player and promptly was handed the Stanley Cup by Colorado captain Joe Sakic, after literally waiting his whole career for it.

Thanks for reading! Keep updated for more hockey card posts!

Top Five Hockey Card Prices!

       So I recently picked up the September Beckett Hockey magazine, and I decided to look up every single one of my cards. Needless to say, not all of the cards were in the magazine. However, I was able to find prices for around 280 of my cards, and I have compiled the top five prices here.

#1: 13-14 Upper Deck Canvas Dougie Hamilton YG RC-$25.00

This is my highest-priced card, and definitely one of my best pulls out of a pack. It is in near-mint-mint condition, and is a nice canvas Young Gun card.

#2: 12-13 Artifacts Tundra Tandems M. Brodeur/R. Luongo-$20.00

As seen previously on this blog, I got this card after ordering it from eBay for a total price of $10.60: whatta steal! Definitely staying in my PC.

#3: 12-13 Between the Pipes Goaliegraphs Gilles Meloche-$15.00

Another one of my best pulls from a pack, this was only my third autograph card. Nice mask too!

T-#4: 09-10 Upper Deck Hedman/Tavares/Duchene CL & 09-10 Upper Deck Michael Grabner YG RC-$12.00

These two cards are both worth 12 bucks, but the checklist is definitely better condition, as the Grabner has been written on and crinkled. It is one of the priciest checklists I've ever seen.

T-#5: 11-12 Upper Deck Victory Cody Hodgson RC & 99-00 Upper Deck Daniel Sedin YG RC-#10.00

Both of these cards are worth ten dollars in mint condition, however the Hodgson is in better condition due to the fact that it is much newer (the Sedin is my oldest card that is over $8). These are both a nice collection to my PC.

Thanks for reading and keep updated for more hockey card posts!

On This Day In Hockey: 1972

September 28, 1972
Paul Henderson scored with 34 seconds left in the game to give Team Canada a 6-5 win over the Soviet Union. Canada won the eight-game series four games to three with one tie. Henderson scored the winning goal in each of the last three games.

In one of the most memorable moments in Canadian hockey history, Canada won the legendary Summit Series, with Paul Henderson becoming an instant hero with 3 game winners. However, Paul Henderson wasn't what you would call a star. He was a good player for the Maple Leafs, but only a career-high 38 goal season got him a spot on the roster. Henderson ended up playing on a line with legend Phil Esposito, who eventually set up Henderson's famous goal. As game 8 was entering the last minute of play, Henderson was actually sitting on the bench. He convinced coach Harry Sinden to send him out after Peter Mahovlich came out on a line change. apparently, Henderson "had a feeling" that he could score. Turns out that his feeling was right.

Thanks for watching, and keep updated for more hockey card posts!

Best Goalie Masks: Colorado Avalanche

         Two of Colorado's best goalies of all time go at it in this edition of best goalie masks. The masks featured here are crazily similar, and I had to go into details to pick the winner. Barely edging out one of the greatest goalies of all time in his rookie yer, the best goalie mask for the Colorado Avalanche is...

05-06 PETER BUDAJ

This card may not be in great condition, but it feature's Budaj's mask perfectly. With the scenery of the beautiful rockies on either side, Budaj's mask blends right into the Colorado jersey. Coming from the mountains is an avalanche, and on the chin is Budaj's number. A great mask for one of Colorado's best goalies.

HONOURABLE MENTION:

99-00 PATRICK ROY

With a mask that may well have inspired Budaj's, Roy has nearly the exact same mask. However, the avalanche coming to the front of the mask draws attention from the great mountains on the side, and therefore, Budaj takes home the win. Avalanche aside, this mask is a thing of beauty.

Thanks for reading, and keep updated for more hockey card posts!

First Ever Ebay Mailday!

        Recently, I ordered a card off of eBay and it arrived today after ordering it about a week and a half ago. I got it for a steal of $10.90 CAD, shipping included, while the Beckett value for it is $20. unbelievably, the US price without shipping was $4.99, which is a huge deal. It is an amazing card, and will be a great addition to my PC. It's my third jersey card. Here it is:

12-13 ARTIFACTS TUNDRA TANDEMS MARTIN BRODEUR/ROBERTO LUONGO!!

An amazing steal, and in basically mint condition!

 

 

Thanks for reading, and keep updated for more hockey card posts!

On This Day in Hockey: 1992

September 19, 1992
Eric Lindros made his NHL debut in a preseason exhibition game against the Quebec Nordiques.

Eric Lindros was a Quebec Nordiques draft pick. Before he played a game for them however, he was traded to the New York Rangers. And the Philadelphia Flyers. On the same day. He played for both teams during his career. Confused? I don't blame you.
Eric Lindros was the highest-touted prospect since Wayne Gretzky, receiving the nickname "The Next One". Quebec had the first pick at the '91 draft, but the Lindros family told the Nordiques that they didn't want Eric playing for them. The Nordiques chose him anyway, and Eric reused to report to the team. During the 91-92 season, Lindros played for Canada at the Canada Cup, the World Juniors, and the Olympics, scoring 11 points in 8 games for the Olympic team. Just before the '92 draft, Quebec shipped Lindros off. However, both the Flyers and Rangers thought they had got him. In the end, the Flyers got Lindros in a 6 player, 2 draft pick, 15 million dollar deal. In his first season in Philly, Lindros scored 75 points in 61 games, getting 147 PIM.

Lindros was a great player with Philadelphia, but never played a full season with them. After sitting out the 00-01 season, the Flyers traded Lindros to the Rangers, who finally got the London, Ont. native. He did not do well with the Rangers, and signed with the Maple Leafs. After one season with them, he finished his career with the Stars. He finished his career with 865 points in 760 games, and has been repeatedly snubbed by the HHOF since.

In an interesting point, if the Rangers had gotten Lindros in '92, Peter Forsberg, Ron Hextall, and Mike Ricci would have stayed with the Flyers, while Tony Amonte, Alexei Kovalev, John Vanbiesbrouck, and Doug Weight would have gone to the Nordiques. 

Thanks for reading and keep updated for more hockey card posts!

Best Goalie Masks: Pittsburgh Penguins

        When your team brings to mind movies such as Happy Feet and Surfs Up, It's somewhat hard to come up with a mask that fits with the world's toughest sport (I also give kudos to whoever designed the Penguins logo). However, there are a select few goaltenders for the Penguins franchise who have embraced this challenge and sported some of the best masks that this sport has ever had. The best goalie mask for the Pittsburgh Penguins is:

97-98 PATRICK LALIME

Once again, Lalime takes home the victory for best goalie mask. Well, actually, this one came before the Senators one, technically. Lalime wore this for his first seasons in Pittsburgh, along the way setting the record for most consecutive wins from the start of a career, winning 16 straight, breaking the record set by Ross Brooks, and more notably, Ken Dryden. The mask itself features a penguin breaking out of its shell, which is very much like what Lalime did in his rookie season, breaking out of the minors. Before the days of his Marvin the Martian masks, Lalime embraced the cartoon penguin and donned a mask still talked about today.

HONOURABLE MENTION:

11-12 MARC-ANDRE FLEURY

While Lalime's mask is cartoony and entertaining, Marc-Andre Fleury's is mixing Penguins and flowers and somehow wearing quite a menacing mask. on the right side, there is his classic flower in goalie gear, standing in front of a brick wall. Inscribed on the blocker is the word "flower". Of course, all this flower business is based on the fact that "Fleury" is basically French for "flower". All in all, a good mask.

Thanks for reading, and keep updated for more hockey card posts!

On This Day in Hockey: 1966

        September 10, 1966
Joe Nieuwendyk was born in Oshawa, Ontario. He played 20 seasons in the NHL with five different teams and scored 564 goals.

Joe Nieuwendyk could be considered a draft-day steal. After all, picking up a future hall-of-famer in the second round, 27th overall is a pretty good deal. However, at the time, it was considered a horrible deal. Calgary traded Kent Nilsson-who had, that previous season, scored 99 points in 77 games-for this 27th pick. It was bad enough that a local newspaper's headline was "Joe Who?" After two more seasons in the minors, Joe finally got the chance to prove himself to the Calgary crowd in 87-88. He scored 92 points in 75 games, running away with the Calder. After his second 51 goal season in 88-89, he helped the Flames to their first Stanley Cup, scoring ten goals in those playoffs.

After great success in Calgary, the Flames shipped him to Dallas for another likely Hall-of-Famer: Jarome Iginla. Nieuwendyk scored 20 goals five times in Dallas, and after a 55 point season, exploded for 21 points in the playoffs to win his second Stanley Cup, along with the Conn Smythe, as six of his 11 goals that postseason were game-winners. 

Midway through the 01-02 season, the Stars moved him to New Jersey. He scored his 500th goal and 1000th point with the Devils, along with winning his third and final Stanley Cup victory in 2003, making him one of only ten players to win a Stanley Cup with three different teams. After stops in Toronto and Florida, Nieuwendyk retired with 564 goals, 562 assists, and 1126 points in 1257 games.

Today is also the birthday of Tim Hunter, a teammate of Nieuwendyk's for the Flames in the 80s.

And finally, happy birthday to Jordan Staal, the third of the Staal brothers.

Thanks for reading! Keep updated for more hockey card posts!

Summer Pack Update Miss

        Somehow I missed adding this card to my summer pack update. I'm not quite sure how you do that, but better late than never!

It's a 13-14 UD Game Jersey Doug Wilson. I picked it up in an assorted pack at Canadian Collector's Club, and yet it somehow escaped me in my Summer Pack Update blog post! But here it is now, in all of its glory.

Thanks for reading, and keep updated for more hockey card posts!

Best Goalie Masks: Toronto Maple Leafs

       Much like the Canadiens, the Toronto Maple Leafs are a storied franchise, with many legendary goalies passing through their ranks, like Jacques Plante, Johnny Bower, Bernie Parent, Turk Broda, Ed Belfour, and, most recently, Curtis Joseph. However, all but two of these goalies played without a mask for the majority of their career, and those two are not in this blog post. The best goalie mask for the Toronto Maple Leafs is:

96-97 FELIX POTVIN

Felix Potvin was a highly-touted draft pick of the Maple Leafs, and he spent a good 6 years of his career there, putting up some of his best numbers. His mask is great, with no definite shape or form in its design, but appealing nonetheless. The colours fit very well with either the home or away jersey, and it is just an all-around nice-looking mask.

HONOURABLE MENTION:

14-15  JONATHAN BERNIER

In the midst of goalie turmoil in Toronto, Jonathan Bernier's mask is, sadly, a high point. The Leafs logo coming out of the cage is a great touch, and the colours merge together, matching perfectly with Toronto's uniform. Bernier's number is on the chin, adding a nice personal touch.

Thanks for reading, and keep updated for more hockey card posts!

On This Day in Hockey: 1994

August 30, 1994
The Montreal Canadiens named Kirk Muller as their new team captain. He became the 20th player in team history to wear the 'C' for the Canadiens.

This may seem like a boring event that Eric Zwieg had to come up with just to fill in the summer dates in his book, but there is an interesting story behind it. Kirk Muller was the heart and soul for the New Jersey Devils in the 80s, serving as captain there as well, but when he was traded to Montreal in 1991, he became a fan favourite in Montreal. O-Pee Chee thought he represented the franchise enough that they made him one of the Canadiens' cover players for the OPC Premier '92 line.

 Then in the summer of 1994, Muller was named captain of one of the most storied franchises in the NHL. The 20th captain, no less. Muller loved Montreal, but his time as captain was short, as 33 games into the 94-95 season, Muller was traded to the New York Islanders. He didn't support the trade, and even considered skipping out on Islanders games. He never played a full season for the Isles, and after stops in Toronto and Florida, ended his career on a good note with the Stars.
Muller's glory days were in New Jersey and Montreal, as he hit 94 points twice, setting the record for most points and assists by a Devils player in a game and a most points in a season by a Devils center.

 He scored 30 goals four times in his career and had 4 points for Team Canada at the 1984 Winter Olympics. As Montreal's captain, he scored 19 points in 33 games.
His total career statistics were;
1349 GP
357 G
602 A
959 PTS
1223 PIM

Thanks for reading! Keep updated for more hockey card posts!

Best Goalie Masks #6: Montreal Canadiens

         Perhaps the most storied franchise in hockey history, the Montreal Canadiens have had some legendary goalies pass through. Georges Vezina, Bill Durnan, Gump Worsely, Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy, and, most recently, Carey Price. Of course, if it weren't for Jacques Plante, I probably wouldn't be writing this post at all. However, the mask itself is not exactly appealing, and brings to mind certain horror films. The best goalie mask of the Montreal Canadiens is...

98-99 JOCELYN THIBAULT

While Jacques Plante's mask is a scary classic, Jocelyn Thibault's mask combines the class of Plante's with the modernity of today. It draws similarities to Carey Price's winter classic mask, however, the somewhat disconcerting eyes and ears on Price's mask make Thibault's much more comfortable to look at. With the 'classic mask' design, Thibault's mask wins for me.

HONOURABLE MENTION:

09-10 CAREY PRICE

While his Winter classic mask is kind of creepy, Price struck gold with this mask from his early years in the NHL. With several music and Montreal icons and the great colours, this mask is very well done.

Thanks for reading, and keep updated for more posts!

Mobile Pack Update

Welcome to my first mobile pack update! This entire post was created on my iPod.

I am currently in Winnipeg, and so I had to visit one of their card stores. The one I went to, Cancentral, was chock full of cards, and I spent around 20 dollars on cards alone, and another 5 on a Beckett magazine.

HIGHLIGHTS:

10-11 Panini Rookie of the Year Contenders John Carlson-A great rare rookie insert.

02-03 Topps Heritage Ilya Kovalchuk-A nice first season card.

04-05 Black Diamond Eric Staal-Another nice first season!

05-06 UD Victory Rookie Mikko Koivu-A great RC too!

05-06 UD Ice Marc-Andre Fleury-Another good RC, all 5 of these cards were 25 cents or less.

07-08 Upper Deck Paul Stastny-And the first season cards keep on rolling.

98-99 SpX Finite Radiance 0303/4750 Trevor Linden-I really liked this card when I saw it and 303 is not a bad number.

14-15 Fleer Eddie Lack-another first season...

80-81 O-Pee-Chee Glenn Resch-My first Chico.

All of these cards I got in one 07-08 Heroes and Prospects pack.

Cody Hodgson-He may not be doing all that great, but I like him.

Milan Lucic-On the other hand, Lucic is definitely not my favourite, but he's doing decently.

Drew Doughty-Awesome junior card of a prime NHL defenseman.

Duals Wendel Clark/Colton Gillies-a nice card showing the history of the Blades.

07-08 Between the Pipes The Rival League Gilles Gratton-Not wearing his trademark mask, but still a great card.

02-03 Upper Deck Zdeno Chara-My first Chara on the Sens.

'97 Limited Counterparts Roman Hamrlik/Nicklas Lidstrom-a nice card, but might be annoying when I'm organizing.

A couple of outdated redemption cards.

And finally....

06-07 Flair Showcase Stitches Miikka Kiprusoff!!!!!

My second ever jersey card, and it's a beauty!

Thanks for reading, and keep updated!