News & Views

Clemente’s Corner: The Greatest New York Rangers of All Time

Few NHL franchises carry the history and prestige of the New York Rangers. Founded in 1926 and playing at the iconic Madison Square Garden, the Rangers have long represented both the grandeur and the grit of New York City. From the Original Six era to the present, the franchise has featured some of the game’s best players.

Ranking the greatest Rangers of all time in its centennial season is no easy task. I started watching the team in 1986, some 40 years ago, and witnessed some highs (like winning the Stanley Cup in 1994) to many lows (like this season). The team’s history spans multiple eras. Greatness can be measured in different ways. For me, it’s both about impact on the team and a mix of individual awards and defining moments.

For a franchise with four Stanley Cups and 49 Hall of Fame players, narrowing the list was easy in some ways and difficult in others. For the purposes of this month’s post, I decided to create First and Second Teams aimed at capturing what it means to have been a successful member of the Broadway Blues.

Note that I do not consider Jaromir Jagr, Eric Lindros or even Wayne Gretzky among the best players to ever don a Rangers jersey. They were all great players, but not great Rangers.

Who does rank among the very best over the course of 100 years? The First Team represents the very best at each position. These are players who defined eras and set franchise standards. The Second Team honors those who were just a tier below but remain years later foundational to the team’s identity and success. 

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Olympic Ice Hockey is Like Star Trek Movies

It’s the Whole Even-Odd Thing,
If You Know What I Mean

I am excited about the 2026 Winter Olympics so far. We will see USA and Canada battle it out for the gold medal in the Women’s tournament. And for the first time in a long time, we may see a USA-Canada showdown in the men’s tournament, too. 

This is the first time in 12 years that the NHL shut down two weeks to allow its players to participate in the Olympics. This is the first Olympics that headlined Auston Matthews for Team USA and Connor McDavid for Team Canada.  

But as awesome as having Olympic rosters stuffed with top-level NHL talent, the men’s ice hockey tournament at the Olympics isn’t always great…for North American fans, anyway. 

In fact, men’s Olympic ice hockey reminds me of the old Star Trek movies from the 1980s and 1990s, where the odd-numbered films were bad, while the even-numbered films were great. The same pattern applies to men’s Olympic ice hockey since 1998. 

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Clemente’s Corner: The 5 Best Olympic Hockey Jerseys of All Time

With the Winter Olympics starting later this week in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo, hockey will once again take center stage in one of sport’s most exciting tournaments.

This edition will be even more special given that it marks the return of NHLers, like Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Rasmus Dahlin, to the Winter Olympics. This makes the tournament more competitive as ever given that the best players in the game will go head-to-head for a shot at a gold medal.

I love the Olympics (yes, even the curling), but the men’s and women’s ice hockey tournaments rank at the very top of my list. With national pride on the line – and maybe even a U.S. vs. Canada gold-medal game lurking in our future – it’s a 12-team tournament that can’t be missed.

In celebration of this quadrennial spectacle, here are my top 5 Olympic men’s hockey jerseys of all time:

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Is 2026 the Year I Finally Get Organized?

Not a New Year’s Resolution But a New Collecting Mindset

The past two years, I boldly gave my Collecting Resolutions as editorials for this newsletter. In 2024, I said I was going to organize my hockey action figure collection. And for 2025, I claimed that I was going to try to finish as many sets as possible.

So, how did I do on those resolutions? Continue reading “Is 2026 the Year I Finally Get Organized?”

Clemente’s Corner: 3 Things Hockey Collectors Can Expect in 2026

I don’t have a crystal ball, but all indications are that this will once again be a big year for trading cards and collectables.

In a year where you have NHL stars competing at the Winter Olympics, Upper Deck pumping out new sets and some big shows filling our days and nights, the year is likely to be one of the most interesting and potentially impactful 12 months for hockey card collectors. Whether your focus is on Young Guns, international stars or show exclusives, this is a year worth planning for.

Here are three things to watch for this year.

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Taming the Card Closet of Chaos

Getting a Grip on My Memorabilia Supplies 

Last week, I wrote about how vintage cards usually look better in 9-pocket pages because pages tend to hide some of the flaws that would otherwise be visible. But this also brought back to light something that has always bothered me: how should I store my unused card pages? 

I know this sounds like a silly question, but for over 20 years, I never knew what to do with the pages I wasn’t using. Like, you buy a box of 100 pages and only use 50 of them, you could stash the rest almost anywhere because they won’t take up much space. And a normal collector could do just that. 

But what if you are a freak like me who has ALL the different sizes of card pages?

In addition to several hundred 9-pocket pages, I also have: Continue reading “Taming the Card Closet of Chaos”

Does Condition Really Matter for Old Hockey Cards?

Especially When You Put Them in Pages? 

Last November, I purchased a complete 1970-71 O-Pee-Chee hockey card set at the Fall 2024 Sport Card Expo in Toronto. I then proceeded to ignore this set for over a year. 

Why?

Because it was another “project” that was going to take time. Many of the cards in this complete set had flaws, and I already had about 80 or so cards from the 1970-71 OPC set.

So, I would need to compare the cards that I already had with the cards in the complete set, keep the better cards, and note any cards that I felt needed upgrading.

And many – many! – of the cards need upgrading.

Or do they? 

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Clemente’s Corner: “The Next One” a Love Letter to Hockey’s Hidden Heroes

Ken Reid is quickly becoming one of hockey’s best authors. I have enjoyed his writing in recent years – and he’s done it again with his latest book, “The Next One: Hockey Scouts, Remote Rinks and Hidden Talent.” 

Reid’s book takes you to small-town rinks featuring players with big-league dreams. In his new book, Reid gives the reader a backstage pass to it all in what is certainly his most ambitious work to date. Reid’s book peels back the curtain on hockey’s hidden machinery — and he’s done it in a way that feels personal.

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