Happy New Year, Puck Junk readers! With 2021 barely a week old, now is a good time to take a look back at Puck Junk’s most-read articles of 2020. As the saying goes, if you haven’t seen these before, then they are new to you.
1. The 15 Best Hockey Cards from 1989-90
Published on April 15, 2020
Coincidentally, the top article on this list is also a list. Puck Junk’s most-read story from 2020 was a list of the best hockey cards from 30 years ago. The pandemic had a lot to do with that, as many former collectors rediscovered their card collections and started Googling “best hockey cards from the 1990s.” Glad I could be there for them.
2. The Third Annual Puck Junk Awards
Published on November 4, 2020
A.K.A. 7 NHL Awards We Need Right Now — and yes, we DO need these awards, because someone should get rewarded for getting traded the most times in a season, being the player that everyone wants to punch in the face, or being the player that everyone is afraid of getting punched in the face by.
3. How to Get a David Ayres Rookie Card
Published on March 2, 2020
After emergency backup goaltender David Ayres made headlines, Upper Deck made a hockey card of him. Card collectors and non-collectors alike flocked to this article to learn how they could have their own coveted David Ayres rookie card.
4. The Time My Hockey Teammate Quit…in the Middle of a Game!
Published on March 16, 2020
Perhaps the strangest “beer league” hockey game I ever played in was when one of my own teammates got up and quit in the middle of a game.
5. Release the Kraken! We Crack Wise at Seattle’s NHL Team Identity
Published on July 24, 2020
Naturally, the writers at Puck Junk had to share their opinions, elation and disappointment about the new Seattle NHL team’s nickname, color scheme and logo.
6. Do You Know What You’re Missing On E-Pack?
Published on January 10, 2020
Larry Berman breaks down the ins and outs of buying and trading hockey cards on Upper Deck’s digital platform.
7. What if…the Quebec Nordiques Drafted Denis Savard?
Published on June 11, 2020
Denis Savard is one of the greatest Chicago Blackhawks of all time. But what if the Quebec Nordiques had the chance to draft him? Believe it or not, it very well could have happened.
8. The Puck Junk Bad Hockey Card Hall of Fame: Class of 2020
Published on December 16, 2020
Another 10 terrible hockey trading cards were enshrined into the Puck Junk Bad Hockey Card Hall of Fame in 2020. (That Anders Hedberg card gives me nightmares, man.)
9. Custom Card: 1978-79 Topps Bobby Orr
Published on May 11, 2020
No true hockey fan wants to see a photo of Bobby Orr in a Blackhawks uniform, but quite a few wanted to see what a “good” final card for Number Four should have looked like.
10. The Day I was Paid to Play Hockey
Published on April 16, 2020
A film company in Chicago needed hockey players for a TV commercial. They were so desperate that they paid an ankle-bender like me to play some shinny. But being a hockey player for a TV commercial is not as fun as it sounds.
11. Re-Imagining the 1995 NHL Entry Draft
Published on October 5, 2020
In an alternate universe, Jarome Iginla was drafted first overall by the Ottawa Senators in 1995. Find out where Wade Redden, Shane Doan, and Mikka Kiprusoff ended up in this fantasy do-over of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft.
12. No Stanley For Old Men: 2020 Edition
Published on August 13, 2020
A rundown of the oldest player on each playoff-bound NHL team in 2020 — and why we are rooting for each of them to finally win the Stanley Cup.
13. Hockey Road Trip Across the Carolinas
Published on February 12, 2020
Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard went on an epic hockey road trip, seeing three games in three nights in three different leagues across two states.
14. Best of the Worst: 2020-21 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey
Published on December 8, 2020
Jim Howard’s semi-annual roasting of the worst photos used on Upper Deck hockey cards. Spoiler alert: he did not like the “Portraits” cards.
15. The Quest for Khabibulin
Published on April 14, 2020
Super collector Daniel Gilchrist tells his story about tracking down all 24 Nikolai Khabibulin logo patch cards from the Edmonton Oilers set.
Thank you to everyone who visits this website and contributes to its success. Let’s all hope 2021 is a much better year than 2020!
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Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk. ■
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