News & Views

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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Clemente’s Corner: 6 Great NHL Giveaways for the 2025-26 Season

Free giveaways have been a staple of sporting events – including NHL games – for decades. Over time, they have evolved from mere promotional items into sought-after collectibles.

While giveaways go back decades, the real interest in collecting them took off during the hobby boom in the 1990s, coinciding with the NHL’s growing emphasis on branding and fan engagement at a time when the league was expanding. Teams began releasing limited-edition items — especially bobblehead figures — that celebrated star players. Other items included t-shirts, tote bags, mugs and anything else you could slap a logo on.  

The giveaways created a sense of excitement when trying to decide which games to attend, driving up attendance on promotional nights and giving those items increased value on the secondary market. Over time, teams have gotten more creative when it comes to what they planned to hand out. That, too, helped grow value.

The collectability of giveaways stems from several factors – although limited availability remains a major factor. You just had to be at the game to get the item. These days, gameday giveaways are more than a marketing tool: they have become true artifacts of fandom.

Here are six notable giveaways NHL teams will he handing out during the 2025-26 season:

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Clemente’s Corner: Revisiting the 1985-86 7-Eleven Hockey Card Set

The 1985-86 7-Eleven “NHL Collectors’ Series” hockey card set is a distinctive and nostalgic release from the mid-1980s, produced during the start of what we now call the “junk wax era.” Sponsored by the 7-Eleven convenience store chain in Canada, the 25-card promotional set was issued as a limited-time offer, making it a favorite among collectors of oddball and regional hockey issues.

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