News Archives - Page 14 of 31

NHL fails to televise Marleau’s 500th goal

Center Ice subscribers who wanted to see Patrick Marleau score his 500th career goal Thursday night were denied the opportunity. For reasons unknown, the game was not televised on Center Ice, the subscription service that lets fans watch every out-of-market NHL game.

Well, every game except the one where a 19-year NHL veteran, on the brink of becoming the 45th player in NHL history to score 500 goals, scored his 500th goal.

But hey — the Oilers-Predators, Jets-Stars and Leafs-Blues games had two feeds each on Center Ice.

The channel that was supposed to show the Sharks-Canucks game instead showed the list of the games on Center Ice that night. (Note the text at the very top of the screen.)

As a Center Ice subscriber, I expected to watch the Sharks-Canucks game live. That is why I pay for Center Ice. I was hoping to see Marleau score his milestone goal Thursday night. Instead, I got to see it online after the fact.

I am in Chicago — about 2,160 miles from San Jose and 2,200 miles from Vancouver — so it is safe to say that I am not in either team’s broadcast territory and subject to blackouts. I figured that this might have been a problem with my cable provider, Comcast.

But on Twitter, I found out that this problem wasn’t isolated to Chicago or to Comcast subscribers. Continue reading “NHL fails to televise Marleau’s 500th goal”

Will More Parallels Save e-Pack Hockey?

Upper Deck announced some changes yesterday to their e-Pack platform as a means to reduce the potential glut of insert and parallel hockey cards available on the secondary market. In a nutshell, physical insert and parallel cards obtained through e-Pack can now be combined to make an even more-limited parallel of the same card. This is bad news for those who are already sick of parallel cards, and even worse news for those who enjoyed scooping up cheap hockey cards as a result of e-Pack. So, will this move save e-Pack?

Continue reading “Will More Parallels Save e-Pack Hockey?”

Puck Junk’s Top Articles of 2016

Not only was 2016 a great year for hockey collectibles, but it was a great year for this website, too. Readership has steadily grown over the past nine years, and I have all of you to thank for that. While I am working on some new articles for 2017, I just wanted to share this list of “must reads” from the past year. These were Puck Junk’s top articles from 2016:

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The Two NHL Records of Helmut Balderis

Helmut Balderis set an NHL record 27 years ago. On November 2, 1989, the 37-year old right wing scored a goal for the Minnesota North Stars in a 4-3 loss to the Blackhawks at Chicago Stadium. By doing so, he became the oldest player in NHL history to score his first goal in the NHL.

However, that was actually Balderis’ second NHL record. Continue reading “The Two NHL Records of Helmut Balderis”

A Look Back at the 1991 Canada Cup

Twenty-five years ago today, Canada won the 1991 Canada Cup Tournament when they beat the United States. It would be the last Canada Cup, as the tournament would be renamed the World Cup of Hockey in 1996.

A few months after the 1991 Canada Cup, Upper Deck released its 1991-92 hockey card set, which included a Canada Cup subset. This was the first time that a set of trading cards would feature pictures and players from the Canada Cup. These Canada Cup cards were also the first hockey cards for many of the European players — some who would go on to lengthy NHL careers.

Here’s a look at how each of the six teams, as well as many of the players, performed at the 1991 Canada Cup.
Continue reading “A Look Back at the 1991 Canada Cup”

Remembering Six Forgotten NHL Awards

With the 2016 NHL Awards Show taking place tomorrow, the internet has been abuzz with which players should win certain awards, or why a particular trophy should be renamed. But I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the NHL’s forgotten awards. Each of these six awards were given out at different times over the NHL’s 99-year history, but all were discontinued for one reason or another. It’s time for a little NHL history.

Continue reading “Remembering Six Forgotten NHL Awards”

Upper Deck’s Chris Carlin Discusses the New e-Pack Hockey Cards

Upper Deck made waves in the trading card industry last week, releasing a new digital trading card platform called e-Pack. Unlike other digital trading cards, e-Pack cards have physical counterparts. Well, the hits and inserts do anyway, while the base cards exist only in digital form. However, base cards can be upgraded for foil parallels, and these foil parallels, along with the hits, can be shipped to the collector, making e-Pack the first of its kind in the trading card world.

Chris Carlin, senior marketing and social media manager of Upper Deck, had a discussion with me about the new e-Pack platform, why collectors should be excited, while retailers shouldn’t be worried, and how e-Pack will succeed where others have not.

Continue reading “Upper Deck’s Chris Carlin Discusses the New e-Pack Hockey Cards”

A History of Enforcers in All-Star Games

John Scott’s selection to the 2016 NHL All-Star Game is not without precedent. Having a guy known more for punching than puckhandling play in the NHL All-Star Game, while rare, has happened on several occasions.

Then there is the curious case of Chris Nilan, whose near-appearance in the 1991 All-Star Game was, until now, the most controversial selection ever made.

But neither Scott, or Nilan before him, would have been the first pugilist to play in an NHL All-Star Game. Continue reading “A History of Enforcers in All-Star Games”

Puck Junk’s Top Articles of 2015

Happy 2016. While I am excited about the new year and all the potential it brings, I would like to take just a moment to reflect on 2015. It was a heck of a year at Puck Junk. This site enjoyed more visits in 2015 than in the previous two years combined, and I have all of you to thank for that. There’s a good chance that you’ve already read these “Top Articles of 2015.” But if not, here is a handy list of this site’s “must reads” for 2015.

Continue reading “Puck Junk’s Top Articles of 2015”