1990-91 Upper Deck card #325 – Jason Herter
Jason Herter had one NHL trading card, but technically was not supposed to. Continue reading “Ever Heard of Herter?”
Card of the Week
My Quest to Own a Tony O Rookie Card
1969-70 O-Pee-Chee #138: Tony Esposito
One thing that most of us know by now is, you can’t try to be cool – you either are or you aren’t…although many of us still try to be. Four decades ago, hockey cards didn’t “try” to be cool – they just were.
Take for instance this rookie card of Hall of Fame goaltender Tony Esposito, and you will see what I mean. Continue reading “My Quest to Own a Tony O Rookie Card”
Hard Work Brings Success
1991-92 Pinnacle #398 – Jim Kyte
Despite playing over 10 years in the National Hockey League, former defenseman Jim Kyte was not featured on a lot of hockey cards. However, his accomplishment as the first legally deaf hockey player in the National Hockey League made him an inspiration to hearing-impaired athletes, and merited him a few special subset cards that spoke about his handicap. One such card is from the 1991-92 Pinnacle Hockey set. Continue reading “Hard Work Brings Success”
Hockey Might-Have-Been
1992 Pinnacle Baseball card #594 – Tom Glavine
This week’s Card of the Week is actually a baseball card – with a twist!
The 1992 Pinnacle Baseball set had a card of ace Atlanta Braves pitcher Tom Glavineskating on ice, stick in hand. You see, in high school, Glavine was talented at baseball and hockey. Upon graduation in 1984, he was chosen in both the NHL and MLB drafts, Continue reading “Hockey Might-Have-Been”
Black ‘n’ Belushi
1991-92 Pro Set Platinum Card #300 – James Belushi, Celebrity Captain
In 1991, the National Hockey League celebrated its 75th Anniversary. The Original Six teams wore throwback jerseys, harkening back to the 1920s. Another part of this celebration was that each of the 22 teams had its own “Celebrity Captain”. Some teams named former players as their Celebrity Captain – such as Terry O’ Reilly (Boston) and Maurice Richard (Montreal). Other teams chose instead to name a personality or actor as their captain. For the Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago-born actor and Second City alum James Belushi served as the team’s Celebrity Captain. Continue reading “Black ‘n’ Belushi”
Card of the Week: Kodak Moment
1987-88 OPC Leaders #14 – Glen Hanlon
We’ve all had to live down an embarrassing photo at least once in our lifetime. These “Kodak moments” we’ve had to endure were usually the byproduct of too much alcohol or a lousy haircut. My eight grade class photo was forever ruined by a bad case of “bed head.” Later on in college, a friend and I got drunk one night, and stumbled around my dorm room, knocking into things, while my roommate got photos of our buffoonery. Not much you can do about that, just laugh it off. Besides, it’s not like our own embarrassing photographs get printed in the thousands, and distributed in packs of hockey cards like this little gem of Red Wings goalie Glen Hanlon. Continue reading “Card of the Week: Kodak Moment”
Card of the Week: Return to Sender
1983-84 O-Pee-Chee #131 – Ken Solheim
Look at the back of this card of Ken Solheim, and you will see that he was traded from the Minnesota North Stars to the Detroit Red Wings near the end of the 1982-83 season.
Flip the card over to the front, and you’ll notice that Solheim’s North Stars uniform has been airbrushed over, so as to look like a Red Wings uniform.
However, the card still has a North Stars name and logo at the top, as well as an annoying little bit of text that reads “Now with Minnesota”.
Now with Minnesota? And yet, Solheim’s North Stars jersey has been painted over to look like a Red Wings jersey. What’s going on here? What team is he on? Continue reading “Card of the Week: Return to Sender”
A One Horse Open Skate
1990 7th Inning Sketch OHL Promotional Christmas Card
Crashing through the snow…
In a one horse open skate…
In December of 1990, I received a different kind of Christmas card. This card measured 2 1/2″ by 3 1/2″, and showed Santa Claus abandoning his familiar red sleigh in lieu of a giant hockey skate. (Could you call it an ice skleight?) Continue reading “A One Horse Open Skate”
Distorted Defenseman
1972-73 Topps #87: Keith Magnuson
Considering that the 1972-73 Topps Hockey set was comprised mainly of posed shots – with a few grainy game-action photos here and there – this stands out as the strangest card from that set…and quite possibly the 1970s. I mean, what could possibly top this distorted photograph of hockey tough guy Keith Magnuson? Continue reading “Distorted Defenseman”
Card of the Week: Don’t Mess With Messier
1990-91 Score Canadian Mark Messier – Promo Card
From around 1990 to the early 2000s, trading card companies would release promo cards to dealers and distributors, to show off what a new card set would look like, to hype the upcoming set, and hopefully increase orders for the cards.
In the late summer of 1990, trading card manufacturer Score issued several such promo cards for their 1990-91 Score Hockey set. The promo cards were almost identical to the actual cards that were issued in the set a few months later.
But not this card.
Continue reading “Card of the Week: Don’t Mess With Messier”