Maria Rooth

2002 Sports Illustrated for Kids card #127 – Maria Rooth

2002 Sports Illustrated for Kids card #127 - Maria RoothWhile sifting through a stack of cards from Sports Illustrated for Kids recently, I found this odd little piece of cardboard. It is unusual I n that it is a card of a collegiate hockey player. No wait – a collegiate woman hockey player. Hold the phone – a Swedish woman collegiate hockey player who is also an Olympic hero: Maria Rooth. Continue reading “Maria Rooth”

Jim Craig: An American Hockey Hero

1980-81 Topps #22: Jim Craig

1980-81 Topps card #22 - Jim CraigNext month is the 30th anniversary of the United States’ biggest Olympic triumph – and one of the biggest upsets in sports history: the Miracle on Ice. During the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY, American goaltender Jim Craig helped the U.S. beat the ridiculously-talented Soviet hockey team. Craig stopped 36 of 39 shots, and the U.S. hung on to win the semifinal game 4-3. Two nights later, Craig and company beat Finland 4-2. It was the first time since 1960 that the United States would win a gold medal in Olympic ice hockey. Continue reading “Jim Craig: An American Hockey Hero”

Card of the Week: Captain Cammi

1993-94 Classic Pro Prospects card #248 – Cammi Granato

1993-94 Classic Pro Prospects card #248 - Cammi GranatoFor the next two months, the Card of the Week will feature a card of a past Olympic hero, starting with Cammi Granato. She was the team captain of the 1998 U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey Team. It was the first time that women’s hockey was a medal sport at the Olympics, and the U.S. team beat Canada in the final game to win the gold. Continue reading “Card of the Week: Captain Cammi”

2009-10 MVP pack

I purchased a pack of 2009-10 Upper Deck MVP hockey cards the other day. $1.99 (plus tax) gets you 8 cards. That’s pretty good, considering that a pack of Fleer Ultra only nets you 5 cards for that price, while an 8-card pack of Upper Deck costs $1 more at $2.99. Fittingly, last year’s Stanley Cup MVP Evgeni Malkin is on the MVP card wrapper. Anyway, on to the cards!!!

Card #248, Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames – Getting “iggy” with it. A good way to start off this pack. Not only is the guy a superstar, but he’s an Olympian too. 2010 will be his third Olympic tournament.

Card #176, Keith Ballard, Florida Panthers – Hey Keith, watch that stick!
Card #200, Loui Eriksson, Dallas Stars – Eriksson will represent Sweden in the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Card #156, Marek Zidlicky, Minnesota Wild –  Zidlicky will also appear in the Olympics this year, playing for the Czech Republic.
Card #275, Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins –  Bergeron currently leads the Bruins in scoring. Oh yeah, he’ll be in the Olympics too, playing for Team Canada.
Card #63, Jordan Staal, Pittsburgh Penguins – Man, there are some great cards in this pack!
Card #132, Shea Weber, Nashville Predators – Another guy who will play for Canada in the 2010 Olympics, Weber is one of my favorite defensemen of today.
Card #325, Alexander Sulzer, Nashville Predators – MVP Rookies are seeded 1 in every 2 packs. Believe it or not, Sulzer will be in the Olympics too, for the German team.

Overall, this was a pretty sweet pack. Some superstars and some Olympians, and a rookie card.

My biggest problem with Upper Deck MVP is the shiny foil silver facsimile autograph on the front of each card. I collect autograph cards TTM, but I don’t like getting MVP cards signed because they already have a pre-printed ‘graph on it…and that just looks silly when you get a real autograph on it.

I can also do without all the other shiny stuff. The Upper Deck logo in the corner I can live with, but the MVP logo should have been smaller. Instead, that garish blob of silver becomes the first thing your eye notices.

But believe it or not, I still like these cards. They’re pretty good looking (for MVP, anyway). Hey, at least Upper Deck retired that shield-type design that they used every year since 2006.

2009-10 Upper Deck Hockey box break

A few days back at a card show, I purchased a box of 2009-10 Upper Deck Hockey. Here is what got:

169 Base Cards: Thankfully, I did not get any duplicates. This gives me about 85% of a complete base set.

6 Young Guns: Artem Amisimov, Jamie Benn, Dimitry Kulikov, Matt Pelech, Sergei Shirokov and James Van Riemsdyk. Other than Van Riemsdyk, a disappointing lot. Sure, we all want a Tavares rookie card, but I would have been happy with an Anti Niemi YG.

And now, onto the inserts that most of us don’t want anyway:

2 All World Team: Pekka Rinne and Patrick Kane. Looks like every hockey card set is going to have some sort of quasi-tie-in with the Olympics.

2 Draft Day Gems: Pekka Rinne and Theoren Fleury. What, is Rinne in every insert set?

2 Faces of the Franchise: Joe Thornton and Ales Hemsky. WHY?????????? What makes these any different than the typical “Hometown Heroes” inserts?
1 Top Guns: Thomas Vanek. Another useless insert set….
 
1 Season Highlight: Evgeni Malkin. Yawn.
2 Martin Brodeur Hockey Heroes: Looks like New Jersey’s “fat goalie” (as Sean Avery called him) gets his own insert set. 

1 Limited-to-100 Parallel: Dimitry Kulikov, numbered 069/100. Great…now I got the regular and parallel versions of this guy.

 
 2 UD Game Jersey: Jason Pominville and Jason Spezza. Two jersey cards of two Jasons. As much as I detest jersey cards, I am glad that the swatches at least match the uniforms the players are wearing.
Overall, I like Upper Deck brand-cards, but can do without the inserts . None of them really “grab” me, though the Draft Day Gems insert set is an interesting idea. It is lame that you get only 6 Young Guns in a box, but 10 insert cards. No one buys Upper Deck in hopes of getting a Pekka Rinne All-World Team  insert card. Maybe that will all change if someone else gets a license to do hockey cards next season.


Review: 2009 National Hockey Card Day

15 cards of Canada’s most beloved players

2009 National Hockey Card Day #11 - Wayne GretzkyGiven away in 5-card foil packs on February 21, 2009, the National Hockey Card Day set by Upper Deck focused on some of Canada’s most beloved players. Packs were handed out, free of charge, at card shops, Toys R’ Us, and Wal-Mart stores across Canada as an effort to increase interest in hockey card collecting. This is similar to Free Comic Book Day, when numerous comic books – made especially for the event – are given away at comic shops across the U.S. The 2009 National Hockey Card Day set has 15 cards: 5 are of rookies, 5 of popular current superstars and 5 of retired greats. Continue reading “Review: 2009 National Hockey Card Day”

Road Rash Roenick

1996-97 Leaf Limited card #86 – Jeremy Roenick

1996-97 Leaf Limited card #86 - Jeremy Roenick During the summer of 1996, the Chicago Blackhawks made one of their worst trades in the decade – hell, in their history – when they sent fan-favorite Jeremy Roenick to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for Alexi Zhamnov, Craig Mills and a first round draft pick. As a result, the Blackhawks became a downright abysmal team for the next 12 years. Another downside was this cheesy, tacky card of Roenick straddling a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Note the manly tassels hanging from the handlebars. Continue reading “Road Rash Roenick”

Fantastic Fowl

1991-92 Kellogg’s Card #24 – Cornelius Rooster

1991-92 Kellogg's Card #24 - Cornelius Rooster During the 1991-92 season, a set of 24 hockey cards was issued in specially-marked boxes of Corn Flakes cereal. Superstars found in the set included Steve Yzerman, Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic, Brett Hull…and Cornelius Rooster. Though small in stature, the Corn Flakes’ famous mascot overshadows them all, putting up numbers that would make even The Golden Brett jealous. Continue reading “Fantastic Fowl”