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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

 

 

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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. 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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