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?