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

The Fourth Annual Puck Junk Awards

A.K.A. 7 Awards the NHL Should Give

Each year, the NHL gives out awards to celebrate the best goalie, defenseman, coach, and all-around player, among others. But I’ve always found their awards lacking. Yes, scoring more goals — or allowing less goals — than your competitor wins the game, but hockey is about much more than that. 

So, back in 2018 I created the Puck Junk Awards to give props to the NHL’s biggest surprise player, toughest son-of-a-gun, and the guy that everyone hates, among others. And this year, Puck Junk Podcast cohost Tim Parish chipped in his two cents on who should win these awards that we wish were real. 

So, without further ado, here are your winners of the 2021 Puck Junk Awards!

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Puck Junk Podcast: The Duncan Keith Trade 

Episode #96: July 13, 2021

Sal Barry and Tim Parish talk about longtime Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith getting traded to the Edmonton Oilers, and give their opinions about the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, Vladimir Tarasenko wanting out of St. Louis, and the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft. Then they shift their focus to trading cards and discuss National Hockey Card Day, Upper Deck Extended Series Hockey, and the upcoming National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago. It’s an hour-forty of hockey goodness. 

Show Notes, Links, and Images: 
Oilers acquire star defenseman Duncan Keith from Blackhawks (ESPN)
What Haters Get Wrong about the Vegas Golden Knights (Puck Junk)
Topps Now Hockey Sticker print runs (Topps)
National Hockey Card Day images and retailer list (Upper Deck)
National Hockey Card Day trade group (Facebook)
National Sports Collectors Convention website

Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Podcast opening and closing music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.

Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.

Love hockey? Join the Puck Junk Facebook Group and subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube. 

Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■

1990-91 NHL Season Preview: A Special Advertising Supplement

If you subscribed to cable television in the 1980s and 1990s, you no doubt remember the monthly cable guide that was mailed to your home. Those thick, black-and-white magazines, usually printed on cheap newsprint-type paper, would list out everything that was scheduled to air on cable TV that month. When I was a kid, I would go through it page-by-page — hell, I’d study the thing like there was going to be a test about it — and note what hockey games were being televised that month. 

Back in October of 1990, my monthly cable guide  included this special, pull-out “1990-91 NHL Season Preview Special Advertising Supplement.” Measuring 5″ by 7-1/4″, it is an eight-page, full-color booklet printed on magazine paper instead of the typical newsprint. It has two hockey articles, some random trivia, and the burning questions for the season. 

This “advertising supplement” seems like the thing that most people would have read once and thrown away, and not carefully preserved for 30 years like I did. 

But I think we established that I am not like “most people,” and have saved some of the most random “puck junk” over the years. So, let’s take a look at what the big stories were prior to the 1990-91 NHL season. 

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2020-21 Upper Deck NHL Star Rookies Box Set Checklist & Review

While at my local Target store the other day, I decided to take a look at the trading card aisle, knowing full well that Target was currently not selling sports cards. But maybe I’d get lucky and find some top loaders or penny sleeves or — hey now, what’s this?

Yes! My local Target had a few of the 2020-21 Upper Deck NHL Star Rookies Box Sets in stock for $20 each. The set contains “one 25-card rookie set per box,” plus one in every 20 sets has an autographed card. 

Autograph or not. I was pretty happy to find this because I haven’t seen any sports cards at Target since May, and $20 for 25 cards seems like a bargain nowadays. And I’ve always been a sucker for boxed sets that focus on a particular subject — in this case, hockey rookies — and that I could just buy and be done with. 

So, let’s take a look and see what goodness $20 will bring me. 

Continue reading “2020-21 Upper Deck NHL Star Rookies Box Set Checklist & Review”

Re-imagining the 1991 NHL Entry Draft

Thirty years ago was the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. First-overall pick Eric Lindros was by far considered the best player available in the draft — a can’t-miss prospect who would be the next Wayne Gretzky. 

In fact, Lindros was called “The Next One” since he was 14 years old. And who could argue? He was 6’4″ and 230 pounds. He scored 149 points in just 57 games during his last season of major junior hockey. Lindros was a dominant force that could control the game. So, it wasn’t any surprise when the Quebec Nordiques selected Lindros with the first-overall pick. 

But was Lindros really the best player in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft? Would NHL scouts and GMs spend a first-overall pick on The Big E, or someone else, knowing then what we know now?

So, let’s imagine that we could re-do the first round of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. Let’s set our Wayback Machines to June 22, 1991, pack an iPad with Hockey DB and Hockey Reference already bookmarked — we’ll worry about finding a WiFi hot spot when we get there — and see how the first round of the 1991 Draft would have played out in our alternate timeline.

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Puck Junk Podcast: Upcoming Hockey Cards for 2021

Episode #95: June 17, 2021

Sal Barry and Tim Parish discuss upcoming hockey releases, such as 2020-21 Upper Deck Extended Series, plus the 2021-22 O-Pee-Chee, MVP, Upper Deck Series One and Topps Sticker sets. They also talk about this weekend’s upcoming Sport Card Expo Virtual Edition and the hockey autograph guests at this summer’s National Sports Collectors Convention. It’s 90 minutes of hockey goodness! 

Show Notes, Links, and Images: 
Join the Puck Junk Facebook Group here.
Register to attend the Sport Card Expo Virtual Edition (link)
41st National Sports Collectors Convention website (link)
Chicago Sports Spectacular website (link)
Dallas Sport Card Show website (link)
Topps Now Hockey Sticker Archive (Topps)
Dunkin’ Donuts commercial with bubble hockey guys (YouTube)
Interview with Billy Celio of Upper Deck (Puck Junk)
Images and details about 2021-22 MVP (Beckett)
Images and details about 2021-22 O-Pee-Chee (Beckett)
Images and details about 2021-22 Upper Deck Series 1 (Beckett)
State Farm commercial with Andre Dawson (iSpot.tv)

Pictures of the upcoming 2021-22 Topps Hockey Sticker Collection

The Young Guns design for 2021-22 that some collectors are criticizing:

The Gritty “Gaming” card that will be in 2021-22 MVP Hockey:

Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Podcast opening and closing music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.

Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.

Love hockey? Join the Puck Junk Facebook Group and subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube. 

Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■

The 35 Best Hockey Cards from 1990-91

Hockey cards exploded in popularity during the 1990-91 season. Baseball, football and basketball cards had steadily gained momentum during the 1980s. In 1990, it was hockey’s turn. Upper Deck, Score and Pro Set joined incumbents Topps and O-Pee-Chee to release hockey card sets that season. This resulted in an arms race between the five companies, who tried to outdo each other and make cards of the best prospects and hottest rookies before their competitors did. 

As a result, a slew of great rookie cards were issued that year. The 1990-91 NHL season had arguably the best rookie class of any year for hockey card collectors. The NHL rookie of the year winners from 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1994 all had rookie cards made during the 1990-91 season. And over a dozen future Hall of Fame players had rookie cards in ’90-91. 

The downside was that most hockey cards from 1990-91 were produced in such vast amounts that it is considered the start of the “Junk Wax Era” for hockey cards. 

Yet not all hockey cards issued during the 1990-91 season are worthless. In addition to some great rookie cards, there are also some hidden gems and a legendary chase card. Plus, any card on this list with a high PSA or BGS grade can fetch a premium on the secondary market. 

But graded or ungraded, these are the 35 best hockey cards from 1990-91 that every hockey card collector should own. 

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Puck Junk Podcast: Interview with Gregg Kohn, VP of Product Development at Leaf Trading Cards

Episode #94: June 10, 2021

Have you ever wondered what it is like to work for a trading card company and make decisions that influence the product that end up in collectors’ hands? This week, Sal Barry and Tim Parish talk with Gregg Kohn, Vice President of Product Development at Leaf Trading Cards, and a former executive with Upper Deck. Gregg talks about working on current sets like Lumber Kings and Pearl Hockey, and reveals many new details about the upcoming Pro Set Memories Hockey card set. 

Show Notes, Links, and Images: 
The two books that Gregg refers to are “Hockey  Night Fever” and “The California Golden Seals” (review of the Seals book here).
Follow Gregg Kohn on Twitter @scoobycub
Review of the film “The Love Guru” (Puck Junk)
The 1999 Upper Deck Century Legends Ken Dryden card (Puck Junk)
Review: 1991-92 Pro Set Platinum Hockey (Puck Junk)

Images of upcoming hockey cards by Leaf Trading Cards: 

Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Podcast opening and closing music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.

Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.

Love hockey? Join the Puck Junk Facebook Group and subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube. 

Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■

Puck Junk Podcast: 1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier Hockey

Part 3 of the ’90-91 Retrospective Series
Episode #93: June 4, 2021

Thirty years ago was the “Hockey Card Explosion,” when hockey cards skyrocketed in popularity as several new companies entered the market during the 1990-91 season. In the third part of this special podcast series, Sal Barry and Tim Parish take a long look at the 1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier Hockey set, which was the most-valuable and arguably the most-popular set from that season. 

Show Notes, Links, and Images:
Write us a review at Apple Podcasts (link)
1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier Hockey Checklist (Trading Card DB)
Every 1990-91 Hockey Card Set Ranked (Puck Junk)

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier Hockey Card Images 

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier #38 – Wayne Gretzky

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier #38 – Wayne Gretzky (back)

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier #63 – Mario Lemieux

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier #63 – Mario Lemieux (back)

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier #6 – Rob Blake (Rookie Card)

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier #30– Sergei Fedorov (Rookie Card)

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier #50 – Jaromir Jagr (Rookie Card)

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier #51 – Curtis Joseph (Rookie Card)

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier #71 – Mark Messier

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier #74 – Mike Modano (Rookie Card)

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier #76 – Andy Moog

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier #100– Jeremy Roenick (Rookie Card)

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier #103 – Denis Savard

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier #114 – Mats Sundin (Rookie Card)

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier #126– Mike Vernon

1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier Wrapper

Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Podcast opening and closing music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.

Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.

Love hockey? Join the Puck Junk Facebook Group and subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube. 

Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■

Review: The Mighty Ducks Game Changers, Season 1, Episode 10

“State of Play” is the 10th and final episode in the first season of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, and it delivers what viewers have been expecting all along: a rematch between the Don’t Bothers and the Mighty Ducks. It does this with some plot twists and — to quote Coach Orion from the third Mighty Ducks film — a few “little duck tricks.” 

NOTE: This review contains minor spoilers. 

Continue reading “Review: The Mighty Ducks Game Changers, Season 1, Episode 10”