Category: News

Quinton Byfield and Upper Deck Sign Exclusive Autograph Deal

Upper Deck announced today that they have signed L.A. Kings first-round draft pick Quinton Byfield to an exclusive autograph deal. Upper Deck will sell memorabilia autographed by Byfield, who was picked second overall in the 2020 NHL Draft. He is the highest-drafted black player in NHL history. Byfield made his NHL debut on April 28, 2021 when he suited up for the Kings against the Anaheim Ducks. 

“We are proud to have Quinton as an exclusive spokesman,” says Gabriel Garcia, Director of Upper Deck Authenticated. “He’s already made NHL history and we look forward to being a part of his journey as he continues to break barriers. We couldn’t be more excited to offer his fans a collection of new and authentic memorabilia.”

Some of the autographed items bearing Byfield’s signature are signed L.A. Kings hockey pucks, signed Sudbury Wolves jerseys and signed prints varying in size from 16″ x 20″ to 16″ x 24″. Items are available for purchase at the Upper Deck’s online store and range in price from $399 to $999. Upper Deck Authenticated is also selling prints autographed by Byfield and fellow 2020 Team Canada teammate Alexis Lafreniere, who was selected first-overall by the New York Rangers in 2020. 

The full press release from Upper Deck is below: Continue reading “Quinton Byfield and Upper Deck Sign Exclusive Autograph Deal”

How to Organize Your Ticket Stub and Pocket Schedule Collection

I loved saving the ticket stubs from the Chicago Blackhawks hockey games I went to when I was a kid. Each time I went to a game, I was sure to bring my stub to school the next day to show off to my friends and prove that I was there.

Sometimes the games were important – all-star or playoff games – and sometimes it was just a Tuesday night regular season game. Regardless, it was cool to just go and then have that small, visual reminder that I could look back at.

Over the years, I have also saved pocket schedules, rosters, lineup cards, score cards and any other piece of game or team-related memorabilia I could find. I even saved concert ticket and movie ticket stubs. After a while, all of that started to add up, so I had to get it organized. BCW makes many different sizes of pocket pages that will fit almost any “non-card” collectible you may have. Read the rest of the story at the BCW Supplies Blog. 

Top 10 Hockey Collectible Stories of 2020

A lot happened in the humble hobby of hockey card collecting in 2020. Not surprisingly, most of it was because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which cancelled card shows and affected releases, while also forcing many people to work at home or shelter at home. This, in turn, led to many rediscovering their card collections from their youth, rekindling their interest and causing a surge that the card collecting hobby hasn’t seen in 30 years. Here are the biggest 10 hockey collectible stories from 2020. 

Continue reading “Top 10 Hockey Collectible Stories of 2020”

How to Store and Display Your Hockey Puck Collection?

Many puck collectors I know are the “all-in” type who purchase almost every unique puck they find and then put it on display with the hundreds of other pucks in their collection, usually in some custom-built display that costs a lot of money and takes up an entire wall.

Me? I don’t have the space or the budget for that. I’m more of a casual puck collector. Card collecting is my favorite hobby, but it is hard for me to resist buying a hockey puck every now and then, be it from a special game or commemorative event, or with the logo of some long-gone team. And I love getting pucks signed by my favorite players; pucks look great when signed in silver Sharpie or silver paint pen, and it is a shame to not display those. The problem is that over time, all these pucks start to pile up, can take a lot of display space and be tricky to store without damaging them.

If you don’t want to dedicate an entire room, wall, or bookcase to display your hockey pucks, but still want to show off some of your favorites…Read the rest of the story at the BCW Supplies Blog. 

The Voice of Hockey Calls it a Career

Legendary NHL Broadcaster “Doc” Emrick Retires

Since 2005, when NBC acquired the rights to NHL broadcasting in the United States, there has been one consummate voice featured behind the microphone, serving up his eloquent and sometimes frantically excitable play-by-play for the feature games every week. On Monday, that voice decided to sign off for the last time. Mike “Doc” Emrick announced that after more than 50 years in the broadcasting business, he was retiring.

As the story goes, the first time Doc ever got the opportunity to cover a game in the NHL, he did so under the guise that he wasn’t getting paid anything…except a press credential. Continue reading “The Voice of Hockey Calls it a Career”

The 11 Biggest Hockey Stories of 2019-20

By Sal Barry, Tim Parish, Blake Isaacs, Jim Howard & Kyle Scully

Before we turn our attention to the upcoming hockey season, we wanted to take a look back at the 2019-20 NHL season. And what a crazy season it was! A global pandemic halted the league for the first time in over 100 years. Players spoke up and spoke out against racial injustice in the United States. A Zamboni driver became a goaltending hero.  And that’s just the start of it. 

The past season was the longest NHL season, too, starting on October 2, 2019 and ending almost a full year later on September 28, 2020. The team at Puck Junk rounded up what they thought were the biggest stories of the 2019-20 season. Like the fictional band Spinal Tap, we couldn’t settle on just 10 — we turned it up to 11. So, here are the 11 biggest stories of the 2019-20 NHL season. 

Continue reading “The 11 Biggest Hockey Stories of 2019-20”

How to Build an Awesome-Looking Sports Card Library

Sports card collections are always a work in progress caught somewhere between chaos and order, but every card enthusiast has some method of organization that helps them enjoy their collection. Putting my cards into pages and albums, then storing them on bookcases, has helped me tame the chaos. This way, I can quickly find a specific card or set to look at and enjoy; or easily put away a new card when I add it to my collection. A fellow collector once remarked that my collection looked like “The Library of Congress for Hockey Cards,” which I took as a huge compliment. If you have a little floor space in your bedroom, rec room or “man cave,” you too can create your own impressive sports card library. 

Here is what you will need: Read the rest of the story at the BCW Supplies Blog. 

No Stanley For Old Men: 2020 Edition

Which Grey Beard in the “Playoff Bubble” Do You Want to See Win the Stanley Cup? 

It took what felt like forever, but Round One of the 2020 NHL Playoffs is finally underway. (And yes, this blog post is two days late; I’m working on “Quarantine Time” here, so bear with me.) After a four-and-a-half month pause, followed by Round Robin and Qualifying Round games, we have our 16 playoff teams, ready to put it all on the line to be winners of the 2020 Stanley Cup Championship. 

But with the playoffs, the inevitable questions are always raised:

What player hasn’t yet won the Stanley Cup yet during their career?

What grizzled old vet will retire at season’s end without ever hoisting the Stanley Cup? 

What all-time will never get to sip champagne from Lord Stanley’s Cup?

And considering the COVID-19 pandemic, I don’t think any NHL player is going to want to drink from the Stanley Cup this October. Regardless, there are players who play for nearly two decades who will never have the opportunity to drink from the Cup then think better of it. 

Every year, playoff teams are chock-full of young, eager players who have seemingly all the time in the world to win the toughest championship trophy to win in all of sports. But every team also has some more experienced players who know that they don’t have all the time in the world, or even a wily old veteran that has stuck around to give it one more go before hanging ’em up. 

Here is a look at the oldest player on each 2020 Stanley Cup playoff team and why we’re hoping for each one of them to win, even if we don’t like the team they play on. 

Continue reading “No Stanley For Old Men: 2020 Edition”