Puck Junk celebrated its 6th anniversary this weekend. And by “celebrated,” what I really mean is “did not get updated for over two weeks.”

Yeah. That said, I’m still “all-in” when it comes to the hobby of collecting hockey cards. A few things have kept me away from this bliggity-blog, including playing in a low-level recreational hockey league, writing for Beckett Hockey and teaching college once again.

But another, more important “Junk” celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. The album “Love Junk” by Canadian rock band The Pursuit of Happiness was released in 1988. It was TPOH’s first LP, and it went Platinum in Canada.

“Love Junk” is one of my favorite albums of all time. It was a big part of my college years. Good memories. I’ve lost count of how many times I listened to that CD. In fact, I drew inspiration from that album’s title when I decided to name my hockey card website “Puck Junk.”

And now you know.

TPOH is perhaps best known for their debut single, “I’m an Adult Now,” which was released in 1986 (as a self-produced single) then was re-recorded for “Love Junk” in 1988. Here’s their self-produced video for the 1986 version of the song. WARNING: contains 80’s hair!

If you’ve never listened to this album before — or it’s been a long time — you can hear it online on Groove Shark.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who has continued to read this blog throughout the past six years, despite my random bouts of inactivity here and there. I appreciate being a part of this small-but-passionate online hockey card-collecting community.

As always, I’ve got lots of cool stuff to share over the next few days. Stay tuned, and happy 2013-14 hockey season!

So successful are the Chicago Blackhawks that they will sell their fans everything and anything they can. All the games sell out, as does the annual summertime Fan Convention. Three years ago, the team started holding an annual Training Camp Festival, which includes a 5K run and dealers selling hockey memorabilia, and culminates in a scrimmage. The Fest, at $5 a ticket, sells out too. Blackhawks fans will pay to see the team practice!

This year’s scrimmage was pretty epic. The last time I went to a Training Camp Fest — in 2010 — the team had the players work on drills, then play three casual scrimmages, where players skated on more than one team throughout the day. But this year, the team went super-oldschool, and played what fans have called “The Red-White Game.”

(FYI, my first “Red-White Game” was way back in 1990. Read about it here.)

The players weren’t wearing practice jerseys; they were decked out in full Blackhawks uniforms, with one team wearing the red home jerseys and the other team wearing white road jerseys. Where else but in a video game can you see two full teams of Blackhawks going at it?

To those who didn’t make it to Monday night’s fest, here are some of the highlights you missed. Continue reading “What you missed at the 2013 Blackhawks Training Camp Festival”

It’s a great time to be a hockey fan in Chicago. The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, which is as good as it gets. But fans will be rewarded with a special commemorative hockey card set from Upper Deck.

The special boxed set will contain 30 card — 25 player cards and five cards of season highlights. It will also include an oversized team photo card (pictured above). The set will be released on July 23 and cost around $20.

Personally, I am psyched about this. The Boston Bruins received a commemorative set in 2011 after winning the Stanley Cup. The Los Angeles Kings did not get a full commemorative set in 2012, although a six-card giveaway set was released.

This reminds me of the old Pro Set Superbowl sets, where the company would issue cards of both the winning and losing team, as well as a special card album. I hope that Ben Smith — who played in only one game, but it was in the Finals — gets a card, along with other bit players like Jamal Mayers and Daniel Carcillo. That’s very likely, as 25 player cards would pretty much cover everyone who appeared in the 2013 playoffs for the ‘Hawks. Now, if only they’d make cards of the coaches, too.

Steel City Collectibles is now accepting pre-orders for this set.

If you live in or near Chicago and are planning to attend the Blackhawks victory parade on Friday, please read this helpful article on The Hockey Noob. At least 2 million people are expected to attend, several streets will be closed and the weather will be in the low 80s — so this article will help you get the most out of tomorrow’s parade.

In other news, I’ll be back to updating this blog regularly again soon. Just finished up a two-day teaching seminar.

Also check out this impressive collection of autographs from the 2013 Blackhawks team.

Just a quick heads-up about a few magazine articles I have coming out this month. First up is One and Done, published in Beckett Hockey issue #250. (June 2013, on sale now). The three-page article discusses five hockey card sets from the 1990s — both awesome and awful — that lasted only one year, never to be seen again. And yes, that is a card of Mister Rogers in the picture above, because I freakin’ LOVED the 1991-92 Pro Set Platinum set, Celebrity Captains and all.

Also hitting newsstands this month is the July 2013 issue of The Hockey News. On page 42, you will find short “In the Cards” reviews of three 2012-13 hockey sets. Blink, and you might miss them.

Currently, I’m working on a few articles for Puck Junk (I know, right?), as well as the next two stories for The Hockey Noob. And look for new content each day this month on Sal’s Hockey Autographs.

This summer, I am going to learn how to play hockey.

I am going to blog about it too.

I’d like to introduce my third hockey blog, entitled The Hockey Noob, where I discuss what it is like to be an adult learning how to play hockey. I will also talk, from a beginner’s point of view, about equipment and training, and share advice I get from experts.

This blog is a part of the Chicago Now blog network, which is owned by The Chicago Tribune.

For those of you who thought about playing hockey, but did not know where to start — this is the blog for you.

Regardless of your past hockey experience, though, please check out  my first post on The Hockey Noob, and please leave a Facebook comment at the bottom.

And if you are feeling especially generous, please “Like” The Hockey Noob Facebook page.

The only thing certain in the NHL is change

Game Seven last month between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings marked the last time these teams will face each other in a Western Conference playoff series.

Next year, the NHL will realign its conference structure, doing away with six divisions in favor of four larger divisions. As a result, the Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets will move to the Eastern Conference. It will be the first time since 1980-81 that the Blackhawks and Red Wings will not be divisional rivals. Continue reading “Blackhawks & Red Wings: Rivals No More”

Just a quick note for those who still look at this site now and then. I haven’t abandoned this blog, but I’ve just been super busy the past two months, working on my second Masters Degree (I know, quite the boring academic).

Apologies for slacking off and generally being uninvolved in the card-collecting blogosphere.

But I’ll be back with some new quality content later this week--both here on Puck Junk and at Sal’s Hockey Autographs.

Plus, I’ll be launching an all-new project at the start of next week. Stay tuned.

Thank you for your patience.

I’ve been busier than usual lately. Just finished writing a 10-page paper for a research methods class. Anyway, here are a few updates that you may find interesting:

My ’94-95 Lockout Article in Beckett Hockey #249

I have a 2-page article in the May 2013 issue of Beckett Hockey (#249). It is entitled A Hobby-Changing Experience, and is about the 1994-95 NHL Lockout and the long-term effects it had on the hockey card industry. A few sets got cancelled, a few new innovative ideas were tested–and there was even a lawsuit between two companies! Check out the issue–on sale now–for all of the interesting details.

Also making this a GREAT week for hockey…

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The Norgeeks are Number One!

For the first time ever, I won a fantasy sports league. The Norgeeks (my team) won this year’s annual Just A Bit Offside fantasy hockey pool. Two years ago (as Team Puck Junk), I finished 4th, while last season I finished 2nd. Talk about progress.

Really, the guy who saved my season was Ray Emery. I picked up the Blackhawks backup goalie as a free agent, and he went 17-1-0 this year. That really helped, since Jonathan Quick and Braden Holtby performed horribly until the latter half of the season.

Unfortunately, Emery was injured for the last few games of the season. But that brings up my last piece of good news:

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Carter Hutton Makes His NHL Debut

Who is Carter Hutton, you ask? He is the Blackhawks’ top minor league goalie. And after 4 seasons of working hard in the minors, he finally got a chance to play in an NHL game. This is the first time I really pulled for a player to get a shot in the big leagues.

Hutton appeared as a backup for the Philadelphia Flyers in 2009-10, the San Jose Sharks in 2010-11 and the Chicago Blackhawks in 2011-12. But he never actually stepped on the ice in any of those games, so while he has a few rookie cards in 2010-11 card sets, he never actually played in an NHL game. Until this past Saturday.

After 4 seasons of getting so very close, Hutton finally got his shot. He made 25 saves in a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. The Blues, vying for better playoff position, fielded their regular lineup, while the ‘Hawks rested many of their regulars and gave numerous other IceHogs players a chance to play. So, the game was kind of one-sided from the get-go, but Hutton did well enough that I think Coach Joel Quenneville might give him a shot next year in training camp.

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So far, a great week.I had an article published, won first place in my fantasy hockey league and a minor league player I like got a chance to play in the NHL. And it’s only Tuesday. What other good hockey-related things might happen this week?

Earlier this month, I attended the taping of a pilot episode for a new TV show called “A Piece of the Game.” Think “Antiques Roadshow,” but about sports memorabilia. Scott Beatty, the co-owner of AU Sports Memorabilia, was one of the appraisers on the show, and asked if I would be willing to appear on the show and bring some of my hockey autographs.

I agreed to, and even bought a swanky card frame to display my 20 best Blackhawks autographed cards.

Of course, nothing ever goes as planned. Continue reading “I was on TV recently. Sort of.”