Author: Sal Barry

Sal Barry is the editor and webmaster of Puck Junk. He is a freelance hockey writer, college professor and terrible hockey player. Follow him on Twitter @puckjunk

1991 All-Star Game Program

If you haven’t noticed by now, I have been waxing nostalgic lately about the 1991 NHL All-Star Game. Here is the program that I purchased that weekend. It has been tucked away, bagged and boarded the past 20 years so as to remain in mint to near-mint condition

The front features a generic All-Star goalie standing in front of the Chicago skyline at night. I don’t think it is meant to be any specific goalie, just someone from the “home” team–that being the Campbell Conference.

But the cover quadrupled in coolness when you unfolded it…

Click on the image to see super-sized. 

Yes! Generic All-Star goalie versus Hall of Fame and all-time Blackhawks great Stan Mikita! Even the mightiest generic All-Star goalie is no match for Stan the Man.

The program itself has pictures both the All-Stars and the retired players who participated in the Heroes of Hockey Game. There is also history about the Chicago Blackhawks (for the out-of-towners attending the game) and info about the Skills Competition.

I think I paid $5 for this, which was kind of steep in ’91, considering that a standard program cost $3. I didn’t mind, though. How many times do you go to an All-Star Game? And with league expansion imminent in 1991, I knew that the All-Star Game would not return to Chicago for a very long time.

Maybe another 10 years and Chicago will get its turn again?

1991 All-Star Game Ballot

With the NHL All-Star Game on January 30 just a few weeks away, I’ve started thinking a lot about the one and only All-Star Game I got to go to.

Twenty years ago, I attended the 42nd NHL All-Star Game, which was held at old Chicago Stadium on January 19, 1991.

My Aunt Gayle and Uncle Pat had seasons tickets to the Chicago Blackhawks, and I was lucky to go to a lot of games from 1989 to 1992.

During the first half of the season, you could always find All-Star Game ballots and ballot boxes in the Stadium hallways.

Like every other kid,  I used to vote for my favorite players as much as humanly possible. Hey, it’s hard to stuff the ballot box when you are just 15 years old, and this was before online voting and writing programs to stuff the ballot box for you.

So, who would you have voted for in 1990? 

Click on the ballot to read the names.

Tom Fenton to Get a Real Card

Former collegiate goaltender Tom Fenton–who appeared as an emergency backup goalie for the Phoenix Coyotes last month–is getting his own hockey card. Today, hockey card manufacturer In the Game announced that Fenton will be a part of the 2010-11 Between the Pipes set.

“You’re not going to see him in any other products this season,” stated ITG president Dr. Brian Price in a press release, “so it was important that we do our best to bring his cards to collectors.”

Between the Pipes focuses exclusively on goaltenders, and this year’s set will feature both signed and unsigned cards of Fenton. As ITG does not have an NHL license, they will most likely show Fenton from his playing days with the American International College Yellow Jackets.

As a hockey card collector, I am excited that Fenton is going to get a card. While Fenton’s role as a one-game backup goalie hardly significant in the grander scheme of pro hockey, it is still pretty darn cool.

Besides, do we really need another card of Brodeur, Roy or Luongo, when we can have one of someone who played a small, but interesting role for a night?

Apparently, I’m Quote-Worthy

A few months ago, I subscribed to a magazine called The Want List, which focuses exclusively on hockey cards and memorabilia. Recently, they asked some of their readers to rate what they thought the most influential hockey jerseys were.

I just got the new issue yesterday, and on page 37 I am quoted in The Want List’s 25 Most Influential Hockey Jerseys article.

OK, so it’s not like I wrote the Declaration of Independence or anything. But it is still cool to see my name on paper.

Two issues in, and I’m really enjoying my subscription to The Want List. The majority of it is about hockey cards, but some of it also covers hockey jerseys (obviously), hockey toys, hockey pucks, hockey DVDs…the key word here is hockey.

I’m also learning some new stuff from this mag, too. One article in the new ish was about hockey cards made by the Paterson and Paulin chocolate companies during the 1920s. Admittedly, I don’t know too much about cards from that era.

The Want List is chock-full of hockey card articles. If you are interested in learning more or subscribing to the magazine, check out their website.

Why I love hockey and hate movie sequels

Thursday, I watched the movie Tron Legacy. Never mind that there were 13 perfectly good hockey games on Center Ice last night–I really wanted to see the new Tron flick, and finally had the chance to do so. I loved the original Tron from 1982, and could not wait to see what an updated take on this film would be like.

Well, I hated it.

I probably have not hated a sequel this much since Slap Shot 2: Breaking the Ice. Continue reading “Why I love hockey and hate movie sequels”

Seven 2005-06 Young Guns

I am now 7 cards closer to finishing my 2005-06 Upper Deck Hockey Set. I recently purchased some Young Guns.

The Series 2 Checklist features Alexander Ovechkin and Jeff Carter.

The other 6 cards–while not of superstar players–weren’t too bad either: Eric Nystrom, Keith Ballard, George Parros, Danny Richmond, Brad Richardson and Ryan Whitney.

I still need 29 more 2005-06 Young Guns to complete RC set. I’ve updated my Want List. If you have some extra YGs from that year, I’d like to trade for them.

The Set that Never Ends

This is the set that never ends
Yes it goes on and on my friend
Some people started collecting
Not knowing what it was
And they’ll continue buying it 
Forever just because…

The 2009-10 Champ’s Hockey mini set may very well be impossible to complete. I buy a few, and I need a few more. It’s like the hydra–you cut off a head, and two more grow back in its place. Only in this case, I fill a pocket on a card page, and two more pockets seem to magically empty.

Most normal collectors stuck to only the 100-card base set, then got on their lives. More power to them.

Seriously, what kind of nut would try and put together a short-printed, 480-card mini set that consists of animals, dead presidents / prime ministers, and “Wonders of the World?” Sure, there are rookies and Hall of Famers too. But most of these players can be found in other sets anyway.

Maybe I’m motivated by how hard the Champ’s mini set is to complete? It’s about the journey, not the destination, right?

As you can see from the scan above, I picked up a bunch of Champ’s minis yesterday. 34 to be exact.

Yet, I still need 290 more cards. It’s gonna be a while.

It might never end. 

And for those who are wondering, NO I haven’t finished the 2008-09 Champ’s mini set either.

Santa’s New Sleigh

1992 Upper Deck Christmas card #1 of 10 – Santa’s New Sleigh

1992 Upper Deck Christmas card #1 of 10 - Santa's New Sleigh‘Tis the season to show off awful, Christmas-themed trading cards. This one in particular was part of a 10-card set issued by Upper Deck in 1992. Each card shows Santa Claus and his elves engaged in different sporting activities – baseball, football, basketball and of course, hockey. The dealer that I purchased this set from can’t recollect its exact origin, but believed that Upper Deck sent it to him “back in the day” as a sort of promotional item. Continue reading “Santa’s New Sleigh”

Career in Cards: Chris Chelios

Last week, the Chicago Blackhawks honored former player and legend Chris Chelios with a pregame ceremony. Chelios retired in August, capping off a remarkable 27-year professional career that spanned from 1984 to 2010.

Chelios is my all-time favorite player. A defensive stalwart, he could help offensively too. He was rugged and would fight. Seemingly, there wasn’t anything Chelios couldn’t do…except take a night off. The man never quit, even when he was well into his forties and twice as old as many of the men he was playing against.

Now that Cheli has retired–or more appropriately, now that I have come to grips with his retirement–I thought it would be a good time to take a look back at his career…but with rectangular pieces of cardboard as the visuals.

Get comfortable…this is gonna take a while. Continue reading “Career in Cards: Chris Chelios”