Category: News & Views

Hockey Card Haul – Part 2: Vintage

Continued from my previous post about all the awesome hockey cards I picked up on November 22. Here’s some vintage, gum-smelling goodness:

Twelve (12) cards from 1973-74 Topps for $8.75. Now I only need 9 more cards and I’ll have the entire 198-card set.

Three (3) cards from the 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee set for $3. I’ve got quite a ways to go before completing this set, though.

1974-75 Topps Denis Potvin RC for onnnnnnneeeeeeeee dollllllllllar!!!!! Yeah, OK…it’s got a slight crease. But did I mention that I got it for onnnnnnneeeeeeeee dollllllllllar?

1974-75 Topps Bobby Orr–the greatest defenseman of all time–for $3. I might have to start putting this set together too.

1960-61 Topps Al Arbour. This card rocks because of its use of primary colors (blue, yellow, red). Plus, Arbor is wearing glasses. Most of you probably remember him better as the longtime coach of the New York Islanders, but he was the last guy to play while wearing glasses. Oh yeah, I paid $5 for this slice of cardboard. Ironic that I paid more for an Arbor card than Orr and Potvin combined.

To be continued…

The Onion riffs on hockey

The Onion is a free, satirical newspaper here in some U.S. cities. Every now and then, they riff on hockey in their Sports section. Here’s some of their latest hockey quips.

People Probably Affiliated With Hockey In Some Way Inducted In Hockey Hall Of Fame – unfortunately, it wasn’t a full article, just a photo and caption.

Nation’s Morons March On Washington State – not a hockey article, but the moron on the left is holding a sign that says “Go Red Wings.”

And from last season, here’s a hilarious infographic about Alexander Ovechkin (click on it to read).

Heh, heh…speaks fluent Ovechkin. Happy Friday, everyone.

Hockey Card Haul – Part 1: Rookies

Every November and March, there is a big card show in Chicago sponsored by the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper. I almost always find a bunch of cards that I am looking for, and sometimes cards that I’m not looking for but are too good to pass up.

This past Sunday, I went to the show and got quite the haul. So truly epic was this haul that I will have to break it up into several blog posts. First, some recent rookie cards:

Eight (8) 2007-08 Young Guns for $22, including David Krejci, Brian Little, Sam Gagner, Jiri Tlusty and Devin Setoguchi

Twenty-four (24) 2005-06 Young Guns for $29. Mostly scrubs of the “Common YG” variety, but I did manage to pick up Ryan Getzlaf, Tomas Vanek and Andrei Kostitsyn.

Now, onto some SHINY ROOKIE CARDS!!!

2006-07 Upper Deck Trilogy Shea Weber 745/999. For $1, who would not want this shiny Shea card?

2007-08 Black Diamond Milan Lucic. One day, I might actually complete this set. It is a low priority for me, but a $5 Lucic rookie seemed like a good purchase.

2007-08 SP Authentic Holo FX Patrick Kane. It would be insane of me to pass this up for $1. I remember a shop in Chicago selling this very same card for $20 about 2 years ago. Wait long enough, and you eventually get the deal you want.

Much more to come…

Hossa is back!

Marian Hossa will make his debut as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks tonight, as the ‘Hawks take on the Sharks at 9:30 pm CST.

The Blackhawks are 15-5-2 so far this year, and have won their past 7 games. If you think the ‘Hawks are tough…well, now they got Hossa. Western Conference teams, be afraid. Be very afraid.

1963-64 Parkhurst #38 – Dave Balon

What’s with Balon’s bug-eyed expression? He kind of looks like that big-headed alien you see during the end credits of the original “Star Trek” TV show.

Believe it or not, this alien’s name is Balok. That’s way too close to “Balon” to be a mere coincidence. If Gene Roddenberry was alive today, he would totally admit that his inspiration for that alien character was this card of David Balon.

This is my 16th card in my 1963-64 Parkhurst set.

Note: I was not on “The War Room” this week, but will be back on their show next Wednesday.

Completed – 2008-09 Artifacts

Or, perhaps more accurately I should state that I completed the 100-card base set of 2008-09 Artifacts Hockey.

Many of the cards from this set I got in a mega-lot I purchased back in March. A good number were also “donated” by Brandon of Cardboard Hockey, Etc.. The rest I picked up in trades here and there, including the last three I acquired this week: Dominik Hasek, Alexander Steen and Jonathan Toews.

The Goalie Mask is 50

Yesterday was Halloween, and today is the 50th anniversary of when Jacques Plante first wore a goalie mask in a game–November 1, 1959.

What is ironic about these two days being back-to-back is that the classic, “Jason-style” goalie mask will forever be associated with Halloween (the holiday, not the movie).

“Really, are we all that different…?”

The fiberglass goalie masks worn by guys like Plante, Tony Esposito and Gerry Cheevers was phased out during the 1980s, and pretty much gone by 1990. Sam St. Laurent was the final guy in the NHL to wear the fiberglass “face” mask, last appearing for the Red Wings in 14 games during the 1989-90 season.

Yet, the very same classic goalie mask still “means” hockey–even though it was last used in the NHL 20 years ago. Most goalies started to change over to helmets during the early-to-mid 1980s, after Bernie Parent sustained a career-ending eye-injury in 1979.

Though no longer used in hockey, the classic goalie mask continues to be a symbol of Halloween. Worn by Jason Vorhees in the “Friday the 13th” series of movies, the plain white goalie mask remains a staple for people who don’t want to put a lot of thought into dressing up once a year–never mind the fact that those films, like the mask itself, have not been relevant since the 1980s.

Get some black clothes, a $5 toy mask and a machete (prop or otherwise) and you’ve got the lazy man’s Halloween costume. 97 out of 100 people will get it (the other 3 will think you’re a zombie Pelle Lindbergh).

Fitting to both Halloween and the anniversary of the goalie mask, the Chicago Blackhawks gave out a Halloween-inspired mask to fans who attended their game on October 30. I think Wayne and Garth would approve.

No, not that Wayne and Garth.

“Game on!”

By the way, here’s a cool article about one of the last goalies to go without a mask.