Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
It was another busy week in the NHL, as the league unveiled a new stat, two players hit the 1,000-game mark and the Blue Jackets retired a number for the first time in the team’s 22-year history. Plus, the IIHF took a stance on Russia’s participation in future ice hockey tournaments.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was on all our minds last week. Naturally, talk about the war found its way into hockey circles. Hockey is a global sport. Many of the game’s best players are from Russia, and there are numerous international hockey tournaments, from the annual World Junior Championships and World Championships, to the quadrennial Winter Olympics which just recently took place.
In a life-and-death situation like this, that can impact hundreds of thousands of lives, athletes and sportswriters cannot just “stick to sports.” That said, several prominent current and former NHL players spoke out about the war in Ukraine and what it could potentially mean for Russian hockey players.
Other hockey news this week includes two players reaching career milestones, another player having his jersey number retired, and the passing of one of hockey’s all-time great builders.
Continue reading “Snap Shots: Hockey World Reacts to Russian Invasion of Ukraine”
Happy Monday and welcome to Snap Shots. This week, we will look at two NHL milestones that were reached, a recap of hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, and the long-awaited return of one of the league’s star players.
Happy Valentines Day, beloved readers! The NHL was back to business as usual last week. Coaches were hired. Coaches were fired. There was a retirement, a suspension, and an announcement of a — shall we say unorthodox — arrangement between a team and an arena. It’s all covered in this week’s Snap Shots.
Continue reading “Snap Shots: Brad Marchand Becomes Most-Suspended Player in NHL History”
How the pandemic and professional grading have made ticket stub collecting more popular than ever.While trading cards may always be number one among sports memorabilia enthusiasts, ticket stub collecting has gradually heated up over the past two years. It has done so for two reasons. The COVID-19 pandemic and grading companies have both made collecting physical ticket stubs more popular than ever. However, digital ticketing may erode some of that enthusiasm – but maybe not for long.
When the COVID-19 pandemic first caused shutdowns and “shelter at home” orders in March 2020, many people started at-home hobbies. Some discovered, or rediscovered, sports card collecting, causing cards to surge in popularity and price over the past two years. Then, ticket stubs experienced its own uptick in interest.
“The pandemic got more people to look at their ticket stubs and see if they could sell them on eBay,” said Paul White, who has collected ticket stubs for 30 years. “People wanted to see if their ticket stubs are worth something, and to some people, they are. I’ve actually found more ticket stubs on eBay since the pandemic, which has been a benefit.” Read the rest of the story at the BCW Supplies Blog.
The Men’s Ice Hockey tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics just started. Do you need a crash course on some Olympic hockey records to impress your friends? Or maybe you just need a refresher since the last Olympics. Then take a look at these interactive charts, which give a snapshot of the most-important records in the Men’s Ice Hockey Olympic tournaments over the past 102 years.
Continue reading “An Interactive Look at the Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey All-Time Records”
The NHL went on its All-Star break in the middle of last week, but that doesn’t mean there was any shortage of hockey news. Today, we’ll take a look at Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz and his epic rant against the media, a recap of the All-Star Game and Skills Competition, the start of the Winter Olympics…and even more bad news for the Blackhawks.
This week, a record was broken, a legend was honored, and a mascot made their debut. Plus, the Sabres ran out of goalies! It’s all in this edition of Snap Shots.
Continue reading “Snap Shots: Keith Yandle Sets Iron Man Record”
Yes, we are already one month into 2022, but I wanted to take a look back at hockey card collecting in 2021. Just like the year before it, almost every story in 2021 was affected in some way by the COVID-19 pandemic. But not all of it was bad! More people got involved — or re-involved — with card collecting. This led to some new ideas and opportunities. Here are the top 10 hockey collecting stories of 2021.
Continue reading “The Top 10 Hockey Collectible Stories of 2021”
Good morning and welcome to Snap Shots. This week, we’ll take a look at two players who had their numbers retired, a pay bump for hockey players, and a “pissing match” between an NHLer and a journalist.