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

Some Satire for Saturday

I found two funny, hockey-related satirical articles recently.

This one, from The Onion, makes fun of penalties in hockey and Brendan Shannahan.

NHL’s Critics Find No Evidence That Penalty Box Reforms Players

The second article is from a website called E-mails from an Asshole. Here, the guy pretends to be a minor league hockey player who wants to coach a youth team–this one is a bit off color, and may offend some readers:

Special Skaters

I hope at least one of you found these funny (or at least the Penalty Box Reform article).

Tomorrow, I will post a mega-update of some vintage cards.

2011-12 Upper Deck Series 1 – Box Break #1

I love Upper Deck brand hockey cards as much as I love criticizing Upper Deck the company. Heck, maybe I like Upper Deck brand cards even more. This set of cards has been one of the few things the card company has gotten right consistently for the past two decades.

I went to a card show recently and bought 3 boxes of 2011-12 Upper Deck Series One. Here are the results of my first box: Continue reading “2011-12 Upper Deck Series 1 – Box Break #1”

In Memory of…

1970-71 O-Pee-Chee card #231 – Terry Sawchuk

1970-71 O-Pee-Chee card #231 - Terry SawchukWhen a player changes teams, card makers always found a way to respond. Current companies like Upper Deck and Panini will get a very recent photo that shows the player with his new squad, while back in the day Topps and O-Pee-Chee would alter the photo to “change” the player’s uniform–or at the very least mention the trade somewhere on the card. But how do card companies respond when a player passes away? This heavy topic is almost always avoided by card makers. There have been a few notable exceptions, like this tribute card of Terry Sawchuk released by O-Pee-Chee in their 1970-71 set. Continue reading “In Memory of…”

Vintage Pickups: Two 1963-64 Topps Cards

Although I’m not really chasing after the 1963-64 Topps Hockey set, I couldn’t pass up these two cards. I paid $8 for the pair. Not bad for almost-50-year-old cardboard.

Here are scans of the back. These cards were in damn good shape for their age. No stains or creasing, just some soft corners.

More vintage goodness to come.

1957-58 Topps #6 – Larry Regan

I bought a lot of vintage hockey cards at the show last weekend. It’s been almost a full year since I last added a card to my 1957-58 Topps set. Larry Regan is my 14th card, bringing me one step closer to completing this 66-card set.

The front has a light crease and the corners are soft.

But the price? A whopping three-and-a-half bucks.

Set completion as of 11-25-2011:
14 out of 66 cards = 21.2%

Photo Purchases

I have a weakness for 8″x10″ photos.

No, they aren’t collectible, nor are they “worth” anything.

But there is something so immersive about their relatively large size (compared to hockey cards), their ease of storage (just throw ’em in a binder) and their endless varieties. Whenever I see a dealer who sells photos, I try and find offbeat images that I don’t see everyday.

Here are some 8″x10″ goodies I got…a while ago. I meant to put these up sooner, but they’ve been in a pile of stuff on my floor the past 3 months. Either way, enjoy these pics! Continue reading “Photo Purchases”