3 ways NHL, NHLPA can make it up to us

I am glad that NHL hockey is back. However, what leaves a bad taste in my mouth is that the League and the Players’ Association were basically fighting over my money.

Not just my money–but your money too. The money of everyone and anyone who goes to a game, watches a game on TV, wears a jersey or even buys a pack of hockey cards.

The more I think of that, the more I am appalled.

Thus, both the NHL and the NHLPA should make it up to us, the fans. Without us, do you think Alex Ovechkin would make $8 million per year? He’d make far less in a sport like lacrosse or Arena League football, where the fan base and revenue streams are both lower.

True, some fans will remain bitter and never watch the NHL again, while others will eventually come around. But some fans will go away for a while. To begin the healing process, the NHL and the NHLPA need to give back to fans in the following three ways:

1. Reduce ticket prices for season ticket holders during this “half season”
Usually, season ticket holders pay for their tickets–or at least put a deposit down–over the summer. I am not sure what teams, if any, refunded money to ticketholders during the lockout, but they probably strung fans along, hanging onto their money and earning interest on it while fans got nothing in return. Even though it cuts into their revenue, teams should discount the price of tickets for the season ticket holders who patiently waited. Season ticket holders are the main stream of revenue for a hockey team, so teams would be wise to endear themselves to these deep-pocketed fans.

2. Make NHL Center Ice free during this “half season”
Over the past 4 seasons, I’ve grown to love the Center Ice package, where I get every NHL game that is broadcast (not counting local Blackhawks’ games). It has made me more of an overall fan of the NHL. But the price has slowly crept up, from roughly $150 in 2008 to just over $170 in 2011. No doubt, the NHL will pro-rate that cost for the 2012-13 “half season”–but why not make it free for us repeat subscribers? At this point, I could easily live life “just” watching Blackhawks games on my local channels, and not bury myself in front of the TV every single night to watch hockey. The NHL should “give” me what I’ve allegedly been missing this year, in hopes that I plunk down my $170 next year.

3. Give a hockey stick and jersey to every kid under 10
In order for the NHL to increase its revenue, it has to increase its fan base. Why not “grow” some new fans by giving a jersey and hockey stick to every kid they can? Little kids don’t care about the lockout, and putting a stick in their hands or a jersey on their back could make them a fan for life. The NHL might not win back some of its old fans, so they should try to start developing some new ones. Both the NHL and the NHLPA should shoulder the cost on this one, as it would be an expensive endeavor with no short-term benefit. But who knows–some of these kids might be old enough to buy tickets by the time the next lockout rolls around.

All three ways of giving back to the fans is a money-losing proposition for the league and its players. Reducing ticket prices this season for season ticket holders and giving Center Ice away for free this season to repeat subscribers would just add to the financial loss from the lockout. And giving a hockey stick and/or jersey to the future generation would cut into that already-reduced revenue for 2012-13.

But at the same time, it would elevate fans to the status of partner. The NHL and the NHLPA cannot thrive without us. Both entities know it. Now it is time for them to show it.

Custom Cards: Paul McIntosh

Paul McIntosh is a former NHL defenseman. He played 48 regular season games and 2 playoff games between 1974-75 and 1975-76 for the Buffalo Sabres.

But he never got an NHL trading card.

I don’t know Mr. McIntosh personally, but we share a mutual acquaintance who volunteered my graphic design skills to create a card for him. The only pictures Mr. McIntosh had were two black-and-white team issue photos.

Since cards from the 1970s used color photos, I decided to not use an old Topps design. It just wouldn’t have looked right to use a black-and-white picture. (Had that portrait photo been in color, then it would have looked perfect on a 1974-75 Topps design.)

Instead, I decided to tint the photos, pulling a shade of blue from the Buffalo Sabres logo. Since color borders always look odd on black-and-white pictures, I opted for no borders, and used a simple “hockey stick” design for the player’s name.

While I could have used a color photo found on the internet, our intentions were to have this card printed out professionally for Mr. McIntosh to give to his family and friends.

The back of the card has Mr. McIntosh’s biographical information and his NHL stats.

After designing the card, I had copies of it printed by a company called My Custom Hockey Trading Cards. For $59, plus shipping, you can get 150 cards printed that are as good as Upper Deck in quality. Cards are printed full-bleed, full color and have glossy UV coating on both sides. (True, I am an advertising partner with My Custom Hockey Trading Cards, but only because they do great work.)

After having the cards printed, my friend gave the cards to Mr. McIntosh, who lives in Buffalo but works as a scout for the Dallas Stars. He was happy to finally get a trading card showing him with the Sabres.

Upper Deck co-founder, CEO Richard P. McWilliam dies unexpectedly

Upper Deck co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Richard P. McWilliam died unexpectedly in his home in Rancho Santa Fe, CA on Saturday, January 5. He was 59 years old, and leaves behind one of the largest trading card companies.

McWilliam was the subject of the book Card Sharks (1995), and was a polarizing figure in the trading card industry.

Upper Deck became a leader in the trading card industry almost overnight because of their quality production values. McWilliam was integral in securing the financing to produce their inaugural set of baseball cards. Under his leadership, Upper Deck also grew the market for autographed memorabilia with their “Authenticated” line of signed merchandise.

On the other hand, McWilliam was at the helm for some of Upper Deck’s biggest controversies. The company was sued by Major League Baseball for trademark infringement, and by Konami for reprinting/counterfeiting their own Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards.

Regardless, McWilliam helped the trading card industry grow into the mufti-million dollar industry it is today.

Hockey is back. Should I care?

The National Hockey League and the NHL Players’ Association finally came to an agreement in the wee hours of Sunday morning, after an epic, 16-hour negotiation marathon.

Am I glad that the NHL will have a 2012-13 season.

Yes.

But would I care if they cancelled the season outright?

Nope.

I did not care when the NHL cancelled their 2004-05 season–partially because the Chicago Blackhawks were so abysmal back then. Frankly, I was more upset from the 1994-95 lockout, but that’s another story.

Hockey is a big hobby of mine, but I always find a way to occupy my time. If not the NHL, then the AHL, movies, cartoons, comic books.

We live in an age where entertainment is not in short supply.

I actually find it hard understanding fans who said that they are done with the NHL, or that they feel angered or betrayed by the lockout.

I don’t feel betrayed. The NHL and the NHLPA butt heads every few years, then they work things out and the sport improves.

I love watching NHL games. I enjoy watching the players, and going to a game when finances allow. But if that’s removed from the picture, I just find other stuff to do with my free time.

And frankly, I’ve enjoyed the extra free time I’ve had by not having a hockey season.

We all knew the NHL would be back. It was just a matter of when.

So now we have a half-season, or 48-game season, or whatever. No Winter Classic. No All-Star Game.

But at least we still get the playoffs, right?

Review: 1993-94 Stadium Club All-Stars

46 greats from the ’93 All-Star Game

The 44th NHL All-Star Game, held at Montreal Forum on February 6 of 1993, was the end of an era for the league’s annual best-vs-best game. This was the last time the Wales Conference and Campbell Conference would square off; next season, they were renamed the Eastern Conference and Western Conferences, respectively. It was also the last time the All-Star Game uniforms would feature the familiar black, white and orange palette that had been the game’s color scheme since 1973.

1993-94 Stadium Club All-Stars - Mario Lemieux — Mario Lemieux

The 1993-94 Stadium Club Hockey set featured a striking, 23-card insert set dedicated to the 1993 All-Star Game. The cards were seeded 1 in every 24 packs of Series One. One side of each card had a portrait of a Campbell Conference All-Star; the other side, his Wales Conference counterpart. Its combination of great players, good portraits and a timeless design makes for a cool insert set worth owning. Continue reading “Review: 1993-94 Stadium Club All-Stars”

Custom Cards: 2007-08 O-Pee-Chee Jeremy Roenick & Curtis Joseph

Those of you who follow this website are probably familiar with my Autograph Blog. But few of you probably knew about my now-former Custom Hockey Card blog.

Yep, I had a custom hockey card blog. And I hadn’t updated it in 2 years, so I decided it was time to let that one go. If only all webmasters were so conscientious and would clean up cyberspace by deleting their abandoned blogs.

Anyway, I’m still going to make custom cards. And I am going to show off some of the cards I made in the past. Here are two customs from the 2007-08 O-Pee-Chee set.

Curtis Joseph appeared in 9 games for the Calgary Flames in 2007-08. All of his cards from that season picture him with his previous team, the Phoenix Coyotes. The following year, he’d play for the Toronto Maple Leafs. No cards were made of Joseph with the Flames, so I made a custom using the 2007-08 O-Pee-Chee set. It’s not the greatest looking set, but it is easy enough to spoof. I used this card to fill in a gap in my Career in Cards article about Joseph.

On the other hand, Jeremy Roenick did not get any cards made of him during the 2007-08 season, save for a few Jersey cards. Roenick said prior to the start of the season that he was going to retire, but San Jose Sharks General Manager (and former teammate of Roenick) Doug Wilson talked him into playing 2 more years with the Sharks. Like Joseph, I also did a Career in Cards article about Roenick, so I needed something to put for that season. J.R. netted his 500th goal in 2007-08, so it is disappointing that he didn’t get any cardboard that year.

An Epic Haul of 1951-52 Parkhurst Cards

Some are Good some are Fair…and one is particularly “Terrible”

I’ve been meaning to “blog about this” for a while. Back in November, I went to a card show near Chicago and met up with fellow bloggers Justin, Tim and fellow ‘Hawks fan Nick. We hung out for a bit, traded cards, then went back to perusing the show floor. I was a few paces behind Justin and Tim when something caught my eye, causing me to drift away from the group. Distracting me was a stack of cards with a small sign reading:

1951-52 Parkhurst Cards $8 and Up

Parkies! Even better–the first-ever Parkies! You’re more likely to see King Kong riding a unicorn around downtown Chicago than you are to find 1951-52 Parkies at a card show in the Windy City.

After some haggling with the dealer, I ended up with 38 cards from the Godfather of Hockey Card Sets.Where else would I be able to get so many cards from this set at once?

These Parkies were not in the greatest shape, but weren’t all that expensive either. Most cost me $10 each–some cost less, some cost more. That may seem pricey for substandard grade cards–but remember, old Parkies are hardly the stuff of garage sales here in the U.S.

The last card in the group is so awesome that I have to show it twice as big:

#56 – Robert “Ted” Lindsay (a.k.a. Terrible Ted Lindsay) RC
I have never seen a Ted Lindsay rookie card before. This one was priced around 25% of “book” because of the crease (which is visible on the front, but strangely not on the back) and the rounded corners.

This is a tough set to put together. I almost never see any of these at card shows in/near Chicago. And with rookie cards of Gordie Howe, Terry Sawchuk and Maurice Richard valued at over $1,000 each, I may never complete this set.

Still, it is cool to finally own a chunk of hockey history, even in a lesser grade. But these are really old cards–let’s see how good we all look at 60 years!

Review: 2012-13 Upper Deck Series One

No season? No problem! Upper Deck shines despite lack of strong rookies

Year-for-year and dollar-for-dollar, Upper Deck is the best hockey set a collector can buy. It’s combination of exciting action photography, broad player selection and desirable rookie cards make this a perennial favorite of causal and serious card collectors. Driving Upper Deck’s immense popularity for the past decade were its short-printed “Young Guns” rookie cards, where collectors can hope to pull a card of one of the top new rookies for the season.

But a work stoppage of the NHL is currently preventing new players from entering the league. Since a player has to appear in one game to appear on a card, how would Upper Deck Series One fare without any of the 2012 draft class? Continue reading “Review: 2012-13 Upper Deck Series One”

Merry Puckmas 2012

Happy Holidays to those of you who read the blog–or just look at the pictures–and to those of you who have traded cards with me and helped my collection grow.

National Hockey Card Day Returns in 2013

Earlier today, Upper Deck announced on their blog that National Hockey Card Day will be back in 2013. NHCD–as the cool kids call it–will take place on February 9 in Canada and on February 16 in the United States.

Five-card packs of special cards will be given out at participating retailers. Like last year, each country will have its own exclusive set of cards–15 different cards found in the packs, and a 16th card that can only be obtained if you make a purchase at the card shop.

Autographed cards will be randomly inserted in NHCD packs, and Upper Deck promises improved collation. The collation was particularly bad in the U.S. for their 2012 NHCD promotion–ten 5-card packs did not yield me even one complete 15-card set–so it is great to hear that Upper Deck is doing something about it.

The Canadian set will feature 15 cards of players suiting up for Team Canada. The bonus card will show Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky playing at the 1987 Canada Cup tournament.

The U.S. set will consist of 15 cards of the best American-born players.The bonus card will feature Kings goalie and 2012 Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Quick hoisting the Stanley Cup. This is a nice parallel to the 2012 US NHCD set; the bonus card was American-born, Conn Smythe winner Tim Thomas with the Cup. (Hopefully, a US-born goalie will win the Conn Smythe Trophy next year to continue this trend).

Considering that we are in the third month of the NHL lockout, this is great news for hockey card collectors. The lockout has resulted in a weak rookie class. less sets overall and lukewarm Ebay sales. Hopefully, this will give hockey card collecting some spark in a season that is all but cancelled.

For more information, check out Upper Deck’s blog and their NHCD Facebook page.

So, who can I count on to get me a Canadian set for 2013? 🙂

All images courtesy of Upper Deck.