Roenick appeared in “Go On” this week

Matthew Perry and Jeremy Roenick
Former NHL superstar Jeremy Roenick (right) made a guest appearance on the TV show “Go On” earlier this week. (NBC/Universal)

Jeremy Roenick, one of my favorite former Blackhawks’ players, had a small guest role on the new TV show “Go On” this past Tuesday. The sitcom is about a smug sports radio show host named Ryan King, played by Matthew Perry. However, King lost his wife and is attending group therapy sessions to cope. (Yes, this is a comedy.)

In this week’s episode, King is invited to play in Jeremy Roenick’s weekly pickup hockey game. I won’t tell you anything else about the episode because you might want to watch it online. However, I will spoil the best line:

“Yo, Roenick! Get back on ‘D,’ princess!”

As a longtime hockey fan, it is awesome to see a hockey player–one of my heroes, no less–appear on a TV show. Whenever an athlete guest stars on a show in the U.S., it is always a baseball, football or basketball player. Nice that hockey is finally starting to get its due here south of the border.

If you want to see the episode, you can watch it at NBC’s website.

Did anyone else see this week’s episode of “Go On?” What did you think of it and/or Roenick’s acting?

2011-12 Deutsche Eishockey Liga Pack Rip #1

2011-12 DEL WrapperMy good buddy Phil has supported Puck Junk since I launched the site in 2007. He’s not really a hockey fan per se, but he was always willing to proofread my articles, and he’s always good for a game of NHL ’94 on the SNES. Phil has lived in Cologne, Germany for the past two years, and brought me some German Hockey Cards last time he visited Chicago.

These “playercards,” as they are called on the wrapper, are from the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), which is the top-tier professional league in Germany. Each pack has 6 cards. You probably haven’t heard of most of these guys–but that’s OK, because I haven’t either.


#24 – Constantin Braun – Berlin Polar Bears
Braun is a defenseman and was a 6th round draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2006.


#117 – Thomas Holzmann – Iserlohn Roosters
Holzmann seems to be a fringe player. A look at his stats on HockeyDB shows that he bounces between the DEL and the second-tier league in Germany.


#10 – Greg Moore – Augsburger Panther
Hey! A name I can pronounce! Greg Moore is an American who was drafted by the Calgary Flames in 2003. He played 10 games in the NHL–6 for the New York Rangers and 4 for the Columbus Blue Jackets–and spent most of his pro career in the American Hockey League. Last year was his first in the DEL, where he finished 4th in team scoring.


#146 – Danijel Kovacic – Krefeld Penguins
Danijel does not play a lot of games for the Krefeld Penguins–a team that uses an insane cartoon bird on their logo. The photo on the front shows some great action of Danijel about to trap the puck.


#115 – Jassen Cullimore- Iserlohn Roosters
I know this guy! I think we all remember Jassen Cullimore during his 15-plus seasons in the NHL. He played in 51 out of 52 games for the Iserlohn Roosters in the 2011-12 season, which was his first year in Europe.


#67 – Thomas Oppenheimer – Hamburg Freezers
Oppenheimer is currently in his 7th season in the DEL. You know…if they got rid of the advertisements, that Hamburg Freezers jersey would be totally awesome (and not just mostly awesome).

What I like about these cards
The design on the front is very clean, with the player name, number, position, team logo and league logo all nicely arranged at the bottom of the card. Since the players’ uniforms are so cluttered with ads, it was a wise move to design a card that is decidedly un-cluttered.

I also like the backs of the cards. You get a helmet-less photograph of the player, vitals and 5 lines of statistics. Such a nice, simple, effective use of space.

If Upper Deck Victory was designed as good as this set, I’d be a fan of Victory.

What I don’t like about these cards
The card number is very small and not very noticeable–it is buried in the lower right corner on the card back, if anyone is looking for it. Should I ever put a set of these together, it is gonna be murder sorting them out.

So, what do you think of these cards?

Card of the Week: Season On Ice

2005 Topps Chronicles #TC8 – On Ice

2005 Topps Chronicles #TC8 - On IceIn 2005, Topps released a set of trading cards called The Topps Chronicles. Each week during the 2005 calendar year, you could buy an exclusive card directly from the Topps’ website for $4.75. The cards were printed on plastic and had a shiny chromium finish.

The Topps Chronicles wasn’t so much a sports/non-sports hybrid set as it was a set about current events. Each card would focus on an event deemed by Topps to be the biggest news of the previous week. Some cards featured entertainment or political news, while other cards were about sports. This card, entitled “On Ice,” discusses the cancellation of the 2004-05 NHL season.

The front of the card has a photo illustration of a chain and a lock–emblazoned with the NHL logo–obstructing our view of the ice at Madison Square Garden. Not the most subtle point, but perhaps better than a picture of Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman picketing in front of Maple Leaf Gardens.

2005 Topps Chronicles #TC8 - On Ice (back)The back shows a Chicago Blackhawks’ ticket sign and gives more information about what went down that fateful day in February 2005:

The 2004-05 NHL season became the first in any major American sport to go completely unplayed when Commissioner Gary Bettman cancelled it on February 16. Despite s aeries of last-ditch meetings and concessions on both sides, the NHL and its Players Association could not agree on a new collective bargaining agreement that would provide the “cost certainty” the owners believed to be necessary to proceed.

Did you hear that? The NHL was the first major American sport to cancel an entire season. Suck it, Major League Baseball!

I also like the fact that Topps told it like it was, calling those final meetings “last ditch” and not some wussy euphemism like “11th hour.” Trying to salvage the season in February,  when it is all but over, is truly a last ditch effort.

Topps’ license to make hockey cards expired in 2004. Technically, this is the last hockey card they ever made, though it is from a non-hockey set of cards.

2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Hockey Pack Rip

Even though I love everything about the new O-Pee-Chee set, I have yet to take the plunge and buy a whole box. Part of me really wants to buy a whole case, but in order to do that I need to accumulate a bit of disposable income (well, more than a bit actually). The summer months were rough for me financially, but now that I am teaching again (yay Fall semester!) I should have some funds to buy at least a few boxes next month.

In the meantime, I purchased a hobby pack to tide me over. It was not the pack to end all packs, but it was still a darn good pack. No, I did not get a Gretzky autograph or some 1-in-6400 deckle edge insert card.

Still, I think I got my money’s worth.

5 Base Cards

Let’s see…one Red Wing, one Flame, one Predator and two Sharks. Nice–none of those silly Eastern Conference teams!

1 Retro Parallel

One big reason that I am NOT buying retail packs is because you get a Retro Parallel in every other retail pack.. In hobby packs, the Retros are one per pack. Getting a Retro here is no big deal–because you are supposed to get one–but I enjoy the card nonetheless.

1 Rainbow Parallel

I can do without the Rainbow Parallels. These fall 1 in every 4 packs.

1 Sticker

Am I the only one who wishes that the sticker design was instead the base card design? I think the stickers look fabulous–a combination of old OPC hockey and old Topps baseball. Stickers happen at a rate of 1 in every 3 packs, so I think I did pretty good getting a 1-in-4 card and a 1-in-3 card in the same pack.


Contest Update
Twelve hockey card collectors have participated in the One-Card Challenge so far. As of this writing, Captain Canuck is narrowly in the lead with 5 points. Kazi is in 2nd place with 4 points, and Dave H is in 3rd with 3 points.

But it is still anyone’s game! There are 13 days left until the end of the contest. Give a card–or receive a card–to complete a set and get a point in the standings. Give me a card (hint, hint) and get TWO points in the standings.

Rules for the contest and a list of what “last cards” are needed can be seen here.

(And Jimmy, I have emailed you about that Arturs Irbe card you have for me–twice in fact.)

Review: 1997-98 Springfield Falcons

Nice design, two future stars, make for a worthwhile set

1997-987 Springfield Falcons - Shane Doan Not everyone who laces ’em up in the minors will make it to the NHL, but it is always cool to see the players who do at a point in their career before they become famous. For me, a minor league team set is worth picking up if it has just one player in it who goes on to NHL stardom.

The 1997-98 Springfield Falcons team set  features cards of not one, but two players who would go onto NHL stardom–Shane Doan and Daniel Briere. And the design isn’t the usual over-designed nonsense of the late 1990s. Continue reading “Review: 1997-98 Springfield Falcons”

Card of the Week: Mixed Messages

1978-79 O-Pee Chee #119 – Tom Edur
1978-79 O-Pee-Chee #119 - Tom Edur

O-Pee-Chee always tried to make their hockey cards as up-to-date as possible back in the 1970s and 1980s.. When a player was traded, the card company would communicate this fact on the front of the card. Sometimes they would have the photograph altered, and sometimes they’d add a line of text explaining the player’s  whereabouts. On the 1978-79 O-Pee-Chee card of Tom Edur, it gave two contradictory explanations of the former Penguin’s current status.

Near the bottom-right corner of the card, it states “Now with Blues.” This is reinforced by the fact that the Pittsburgh Penguins logo and team name have been replaced by that of the St. Louis Blues.

But in the lower-left corner, the card simultaneously states “Retired from active playing.”

What happened? Did their proofreader call in sick that day? Continue reading “Card of the Week: Mixed Messages”

Review: 2012 L.A. Kings Stanley Cup Giveaway Set

2011-12 L.A. Kings Stanley Cup Finals #4 - Dustin BrownThe special hockey card treatment Stanley Cup-winning teams have gotten in recent years makes this Blackhawks’ fan jealous.The ‘Hawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010, but no commemorative sets or arena giveaways marked the occasion. A year later, the Boston Bruins got their own 30-card commemorative set, while Los Angeles Kings fans received this 6-card giveaway during the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals.

Wow…Kings’ fans got to go to a Stanley Cup Finals game AND got a special set of hockey cards. The only thing that would make that scenario better is free nachos at the concession stand.

The cards are printed on thinner stock than normal Upper Deck hockey cards. They are devoid of gloss or foil. For a freebie, though, that really does not matter.

2011-12 L.A. Kings Stanley Cup Finals - Sealed Set
The set came sealed in a cellophane wrapper.

Player Selection
Six cards of the Kings’ best players during the first two rounds of the playoffs are in this set.  The players included are Anze Kopitar, Mike Richards, Jonathan Quick, Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty and a second card of Dustin Brown. So, while this isn’t a comprehensive team set, each card has relevance.

Front Design – 3 out of 5
The design of these cards is a bit confusing. The cards have a Stanley Cup Final logo on the front, but the photos used are either from Round 1 or Round 2 of the playoffs, and not the finals.

Also confusing is that the last card in the set–the second card of team captain Dustin Brown–lacks the Stanley Cup Final logo and the little black diamonds, and instead says “Stanley Cup Memorable Moments.”

2011-12 L.A. Kings Stanley Cup Finals #6 - Dustin Brown
Card #6 does not have the Stanley Cup Finals logo on it.

Why the last card looks different is anyone’s guess. My theory is that all the cards were originally supposed to say “Stanley Cup Memorable Moments,” but a decision was made to use the Finals logo instead.Given the fact that this set was produced rather hastily, I think the last card somehow got overlooked during production.

Back Design / Stats & Info – 3 out of 5
The design of the back of cards 1 to 5 looks very sharp. The white text against the black background is very easy to read, and explains a particular feat the pictured player accomplished in the playoffs. Below that are the player’s stats for the 2011-12 regular season and their career totals. Season stats seem unnecessary here, as the focus of this set is the playoffs.

2011-12 L.A. Kings Stanley Cup Finals #4 - Dustin Brown (back) 2011-12 L.A. Kings Stanley Cup Finals #6 - Dustin Brown (back)The last card is a mess, though–black text superimposed over a gray background with the Stanley Cup ghosted behind it. It is an unnecessarily complicated design that is hard to read.

Final Rating: 3 out of 5The set is a unique collectable for Kings fans who like hockey cards. Putting the Stanley Cup Final logo on cards that were given out at the Finals–but actually have nothing to do with the Finals–is a bit of a misguided design choice.

BONUS
Here are images of the entire set.

2011-12 L.A. Kings Stanley Cup Finals #1 - Anze KopitarSC-1 – Anze Kopitar – Kopitar is included because he scored 2 goals in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals. (back)

2011-12 L.A. Kings Stanley Cup Finals #2 - Mike RichardsSC-2 – Mike Richards – He had a Gordie Howe Hat Trick in Game 3 of the Western Conference Semis, scoring the game-winning goal. (back)

SC-3 – Jonathan Quick – The Kings ace netminder had a shutout against the Vancouver Canucks in Game 3 of the first round. (back)

2011-12 L.A. Kings Stanley Cup Finals #4 - Dustin BrownSC-4 – Dustin Brown – Scored the game-winning–and series-clinching–goal against the St. Louis Blues in Game 4 of the second round. (back)

SC-5 – Drew Doughty – Doughty had 1 goal and 2 assists in the third game of the Western Conference Semifinals. (back)

SC-6 – Dustin Brown – Brown scored 2 shorthanded goals against the Vancouver Canucks in Game 2 of the first round. (back)

2012-13 O-Pee-Chee “Fat Box” break

2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Fat BoxWhat the heck is this? I found it at my local Target, but have never seen anything like it before. It has a hang tab, but it’s not a fat pack. We all know what fat packs look like–they’re tall, they’re fat, they have a lot of cards and they cost five bucks.

No, my friends, this is a FAT BOX. For $9.99, you get 42 2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Hockey cards. That’s not really a bargain, considering that two fat packs (at $10) would yield you 64 cards. This equates to about half of a blaster box, in both price and quantity of cards.

What intrigued me about this is that it promises 1 Marquee Legends Gold card, which I think you can only get in these particular fat boxes.

The 42 cards came wrapped in a cellophane wrapper. Here is what this “fat box” got me:

39 Base Cards

2012-13 O-Pee-Chee #285 - Daniel CarcilloOther blogs have already posted their own review of this set. I’ll withhold doing a review until I have the complete set. But my overall impression is positive–at least for the card fronts. The photos on many of the cards are action-oriented. And the O-Pee-Chee logo is a whisper–as it should be–and not a yell.

Here are a few more base cards that had appealing photographs.

2012-13 O-Pee-Chee #394 - Zach Parise l2012-13 O-Pee-Chee #317 - Wayne Simmonds l2012-13 O-Pee-Chee #78 - Dion Phaneuf l2012-13 O-Pee-Chee #49 - Andrew Ladd

1 Marquee Rookies

l2012-13 O-Pee-Chee #577 - Tyler CumaYAY! A “leftover rookie.” Tyler Cuma played 1 game last year for the Minnesota Mild, er, Wild, going scoreless but getting 2 penalty minutes.

1 Sticker

l2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Stickers #S-81 - Patrick MarleauHow about that? I got a Marquee Rookie (seeded 1:2) and a Sticker (seeded 1:8) in the same fat box. I like the design of these stickers better than the base set–they look like a cross between the 1982-83 O-Pee-Chee cards and 1975 Topps Baseball cards.

1 Marquee Legend Gold

l2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Marquee Legends Gold #G3 - Patrick RoyFor some reason, I thought that a “Gold” card would be like a gold foil card, or be somewhat shiny. This just replaces the tan ink on the borders with gold ink. While Patrick Roy was an amazing player, this card really isn’t reason enough to buy these fat boxes.

I am still debating if I am going to buy boxes and try to build this set, or if I am going to just buy it outright.I really want all of the stickers, and I want to build the Retro Set, so packs would be the way to go. Buying a set wouldn’t be much more than $120 or so, but I’d still want the retros and stickers, too.

What are your thoughts? Are you building this year’s O-Pee-Chee set? What about the insert sets?


Check out the One-Card Challenge contest, running from now until the end of September.

Card of the Week: My Newest Antique

1933-34 World Wide Gum Ice Kings #5 – Earl Robinson

I’ve collected hockey cards for over 20 years and never saw an original “Ice Kings” card until recently, when I found this one at a show for $20. Granted, you don’t just go to a card show and say “I’ll think I’ll buy some Ice Kings cards today,” unless you mean the ones of the Donruss variety.

But when a dealer showed this card to me…I hesitated. While I’ve never seen an Ice King in person, this card was in such terrible shape, I had to think if I really wanted to spend $20 on such a crummy-looking card.

Then I remembered some advice my Aunt Gayle once gave me when I was a kid–if you go to a card show, try to get something you won’t find anywhere else. Not counting the interwebs, I have never seen a card from this set.

Thus, I decided to buy this card of Montreal Maroons right wing Earl Robinson. It has clearly seen better days–those days being the 1933-34 season, when some kid bought a pack of World Wide Gum and got this card with it.

Some might say this card was abused. I say it was loved. The crease running vertically down the middle signifies that it was folded in half—-maybe to put in a pocket when taken to school, or tucked it in a sleeve to keep a teacher from confiscating it. It was folded so it could be put somewhere. Whoever owned this card circa 1934 wasn’t thinking of future value–they were thinking of keeping it safe.

Either that, or they were just clumsy.

The back of the card doesn’t look much better.

Did someone–GASP!–glue this card somewhere? Again, the owner of this card 75 years ago wasn’t thinking of maintaining its collectibility; they were thinking of putting it in a place they could see it, where it would make them happy. Maybe it was glued to their bedroom wall or in a scrapbook with pictures of other Montreal Maroons players.

The glue and paper loss makes the text hard to read, so I’ve transcribed it the best I could:

Earl began as a juvenile with the North Branch of the Montreal Y.M.C.A. only 13 years ago. He rose steadily, playing with the Strathcona High Squad, followed by the Royal Juniors, the Royal Bank and the Victorias. He turned “pro.” in 1927 with Philadelphia, came to the Maroons in 1928 and aside from a few trips to Windsor, has remained there since. He is 26 and weighs 153 pounds.

The season after this card was issued, Robinson led the Maroons in scoring, and the Maroons won their second and last Stanley Cup championship. Robinson also played for the last-ever Maroons squad in 1937-38

Condition-wise, this card is one of the poorest in my collection. It is also one of (but not the) oldest cards that I own. But it might be another 20 yeas before I come across another Ice King. 

Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk