News & Views

National Hockey Card Day returns once again in both Canada and the U.S. It will take place in both countries Saturday, January 18, 2014. Hockey fans who visit a participating retailer will receive a special, five-card pack of Upper Deck hockey cards. National Hockey Card Day (or NHCD as us cool kids  call it) started in Canada in 2009 and in 2012 in the United States. But this year, there are a few new twists. Continue reading “National Hockey Card Day is this Saturday, January 18”

This year, I recycled a few old Christmas “cards.” Longtime readers of this blog (and all-around hockey card geeks) will recognize the two trading cards pictured above. If not…search this site and you’ll find out more about them.

Anyway, thank you very much to everyone who visits this website, reads what I write and encourages me to keep going.

Hockey collectors looking for a good read on an obscure hockey collectible might want to pick up the November 2013 issue of Beckett Hockey Magazine (#255), available at newsstands now.

“Ahead of Its Time” (pages 6-8) is an article I wrote about a set of 13 different Montreal Canadiens figurines sold at Provigo grocery stores during the 1989-90 season.

I must extend a special thanks to fellow blogger Sebastien Hell (Hell’s Valuable Collectibles), who collected these figures “back in the day” as a 10-year old boy and spoke to me at length about them. His firsthand experience purchasing these toys was invaluable in putting together my article.

How I first discovered these figures has an interesting story. I used to frequent this collectible toy store in Elmwood Park, a suburb of Chicago, in the mid-to-late 1990s. One day, in the summer of 1997 (or was it ’98?) I found a Mats Naslund figure there, sitting in a display case with some M.A.S.K. and My Little Pony toys. Poor Mats had quite a bit of paint wear — must have been one heck of a season — and looked so out of place with the other toys. I bought the Naslund figure for $5, hoping one day to learn more about this mysterious figure that predated Headliners and even Starting Lineup figures.

Eventually, I found these figures on eBay, and picked up a few sets.  I even displayed them on my shelf with my other hockey toys. I might be from Chicago, but the 1989-90 Montreal Canadiens was a pretty good team. And the Provigo Canadiens figures are a pretty cool set.

The October 2013 issue of Beckett Hockey (#254) has not one, but TWO articles I wrote. I feel that I really raised the bar in this issue.

First, I interviewed Jeremy Roenick (“It’s Roenick – He’s Good,” pages 6-8). The video game NHL ’94 is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and Jeremy Roenick is considered the best player in the game. “I wish I was as good in real life as I was in that video game,” says J.R. in the interview. Besides his NHL ’94 legacy, Roenick also discusses what it is like to be a video game cover athlete, being name-dropped in the film Swingers, and lots of other cool stuff. Roenick is a lot of things, but he’s never dull.

If an interview with a video game (and real life) legend is not enough, I also wrote about the 2013 Chicago Blackhawks Convention (“Puck Powwow,” pages 16-18). The Blackhawks are one of the few NHL teams to hold a summertime convention, where fans can get autographs, attend panel discussions and participate in other cool activities. Several attendees and a dealer share their experiences from the weekend, while numerous photographs give you an inside look.

I know that some card shops have stopped carrying Beckett publications for one reason or another. I suggest checking a bookstore like Barnes & Noble, since they tend to carry almost everything in their magazine seciton. Or look online. Many dealers sell Beckett Hockey on Ebay.for less than the $10 cover price, and sometimes even include free shipping.

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!