News & Views

Clemente’s Corner: Why Stanley Cup Success Rarely Boost Card Values

Every spring, as the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs heat up, a familiar pattern emerges in the hockey card market. 

Both collectors, and increasingly speculators in the form of YouTubers, turn their attention to the biggest names on the ice, hoping to capitalize on breakout performances and championship runs. 

Prices for certain players’ trading cards can spike sometimes in a matter of days. Despite this frenzy, the recent past reveals that the Stanley Cup Playoffs have little to no lasting impact on the long-term value of cards. Instead, they create short-lived surges that often fade once the Nationals Sports Collectors Convention rolls around in the summer.

At first glance, it makes sense why playoff performances would influence card prices.

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Digital, Fractional, or Physical?

It’s Crazy That These are Now Hobby Terms

“Let’s get physical! Physic – I mean, digital! Digital!”

In the latest episode of the Puck Junk Podcast, we talked at length about the 2025-26 Fleer Ultra Hockey card set, and how it is the first time in a long time that Fleer Ultra is back as a “physical card product.”

A physical card product. That just sounds WEIRD, doesn’t it? Like, what else would trading cards be…right? 

We now live in the day and age of where we have to sometimes state specifically if the cards we are talking about are PHYSICAL or DIGITAL.

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Clemente’s Corner: Rangers Centennial Set Delivers Plenty of Nostalgia

The 2025-26 Upper Deck New York Rangers Centennial Box Set was one of the most anticipated releases for hockey collectors this season, celebrating 100 years of one of the NHL’s most iconic franchises.

The Rangers, founded in 1926, are an Original Six team whose history is filled with legendary players – something Upper Deck has captured perfectly in this collectible set. Designed to honor the Rangers’ centennial, this set offers a unique way to celebrate a century of history while enjoying the excitement of premium hockey Upper Deck cards. Continue reading “Clemente’s Corner: Rangers Centennial Set Delivers Plenty of Nostalgia”

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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