Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
Herb Brooks will forever be remembered best as the coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team that accomplished the “Miracle on Ice” and won a gold medal. He almost won a gold medal as a player, too, with the 1960 Olympic squad. However, it was not meant to be, as explained by this 1991 trading card… Continue reading “Card of the Week: Herb Brooks”
Today we take a look back at the career–in cards–of Hall of Fame right wing Mike Bossy. In 10 seasons, Bossy scored 50 or more goals in all but his last one, which was cut short by injuries. A bad back forced him to retire at age 30.But he accomplished more in 10 seasons that what most players do in 20. Continue reading “Career in Cards: Mike Bossy”
A few days back, I purchased some hockey cards at Target. Like DFG, I too have been trying to swear off the retail packs this year. And I remember Card on Ice, saying the product wasn’t all that. But I had a 10% coupon on Target, and I was deeply intrigued by this 3-pack blister pack of 2009-10 Black Diamond Hockey cards.
Three-pack blister? That’s a pack of packs! Just the sheer novelty of that would be hard for me to pass up.
Including sales tax–but minus my discount at Target–it came out to $10–a cool $3.33 per pack. Worth it? Probably not. But then again, Jonathan Toews of my Chicago Blackhawks is on the card wrapper. Would “Tazer” steer me wrong?
These shiny, foil-y cards never look good when scanned, so I only scanned what I deemed the “best” card from each pack:
Pack 1
Krejci gets “best card status” from this pack because I know some guy who blogs about him.
Pack 2
A Triple Diamond card seeded 1 in every 4 packs, I beat the odds by getting one in the 3 packs I purchased. Plus, it is always great to get a card of a retired great like “Ducky.”
Pack 3
Hmmmm….none of these guys really stand out to me, so I’ll arbitrarily pick Abdelkader as the best card in the pack because it is colorful.
The backs of each card are actually pretty well laid-out. I guess I’m a sucker for symmetry.
The back accommodates up to 5 lines of stats. As much as I prefer complete statistics, I almost expect these kinds of sets to only show a few years.
I don’t know if this is a set that I will collect. Retail packs suck, and a hobby box goes for $90 to $100–but their only upside seems to be jersey cards or parallels, neither of which I am particularly fond of.
1979-80 was an epic year for hockey for so many reasons. It was a changing of the guard, with Wayne Gretzky playing his first NHL season, and Gordie Howe playing in his last. It was also the first season after the NHL absorbed four WHA (World Hockey Association) teams. And it was a year that a team of Americans would pull off one of the biggest miracles on ice. But that’s another story.
Like the year it represents, the 1979-80 Topps set was a landmark release, and still remains popular among collectors today. Continue reading “Review: 1979-80 Topps Hockey”
While sifting through a stack of cards from Sports Illustrated for Kids recently, I found this odd little piece of cardboard. It is unusual I n that it is a card of a collegiate hockey player. No wait – a collegiate woman hockey player. Hold the phone – a Swedish woman collegiate hockey player who is also an Olympic hero: Maria Rooth. Continue reading “Maria Rooth”
Next month is the 30th anniversary of the United States’ biggest Olympic triumph – and one of the biggest upsets in sports history: the Miracle on Ice. During the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY, American goaltender Jim Craig helped the U.S. beat the ridiculously-talented Soviet hockey team. Craig stopped 36 of 39 shots, and the U.S. hung on to win the semifinal game 4-3. Two nights later, Craig and company beat Finland 4-2. It was the first time since 1960 that the United States would win a gold medal in Olympic ice hockey. Continue reading “Jim Craig: An American Hockey Hero”
For the next two months, the Card of the Week will feature a card of a past Olympic hero, starting with Cammi Granato. She was the team captain of the 1998 U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey Team. It was the first time that women’s hockey was a medal sport at the Olympics, and the U.S. team beat Canada in the final game to win the gold. Continue reading “Card of the Week: Captain Cammi”
I purchased a pack of 2009-10 Upper Deck MVP hockey cards the other day. $1.99 (plus tax) gets you 8 cards. That’s pretty good, considering that a pack of Fleer Ultra only nets you 5 cards for that price, while an 8-card pack of Upper Deck costs $1 more at $2.99. Fittingly, last year’s Stanley Cup MVP Evgeni Malkin is on the MVP card wrapper. Anyway, on to the cards!!!
Card #248, Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames – Getting “iggy” with it. A good way to start off this pack. Not only is the guy a superstar, but he’s an Olympian too. 2010 will be his third Olympic tournament.
Overall, this was a pretty sweet pack. Some superstars and some Olympians, and a rookie card.
My biggest problem with Upper Deck MVP is the shiny foil silver facsimile autograph on the front of each card. I collect autograph cards TTM, but I don’t like getting MVP cards signed because they already have a pre-printed ‘graph on it…and that just looks silly when you get a real autograph on it.
I can also do without all the other shiny stuff. The Upper Deck logo in the corner I can live with, but the MVP logo should have been smaller. Instead, that garish blob of silver becomes the first thing your eye notices.
But believe it or not, I still like these cards. They’re pretty good looking (for MVP, anyway). Hey, at least Upper Deck retired that shield-type design that they used every year since 2006.
This card is a winner on two counts. Normally, a bad paint job would be enough to merit Card of the Week status. But what drives this one home is that wonderful helmet-o-hair atop Peter Marsh‘s head. Continue reading “Hair Helmet”