Today is National Hockey Card Day

Today is National Hockey Card Day. If you are in Canada, you can get free packs of exclusive trading cards.

You can get a pack of cards at large retailers like Jean Coutu, PharmaPlus and Rexall.

Hobby shops will be carrying the free packs too. Here is a list of participating card and hobby shops.

There are 16 different cards in the set. The first 15 will come in the free packs (usually 5 per pack). The 16th card, which is of Jonathan Toews (above) is only available if you make a purchase at one of the participating card/hobby stores.

So, what are you waiting for? Go get some free cards. And if anyone gets an extra complete set for trade (including the Toews card and a wrapper), I will gladly trade you for it.

Bad officiating makes Baby Jesus cry

Last night’s Canucks-Blackhawks game was the worst example of officiating I’ve ever seen.

Am I mad that the Blackhawks lost? No. The Canucks are a damn good team.

I am mad that the Blackhawks did not lose fair and square, but because of some very questionable calls.

Consider the following:

  • What should have been the first goal by the Blackhawks–and the game–was waived off due to goaltender interference.But there was no goalie interference, other than a Canucks defender getting in Roberto Luongo’s way. Why was this call not video reviewed? 
  •  The Canucks first goal was actually an offside play. The puck left the zone before defenseman Christan Ernhoff slap shot it past ‘Hawks goalie Marty Turco. What was the linesman doing? I know hockey is fast, but linesmen have one job to do–they should do it right.
  • Roberto Luongo got tangled up with one of his teammates in the third period, resulting in a goal mouth scramble that could have led to a goal for the Blackhawks. That is until the ref whistled the play dead, claiming that the net was dislodged. But the net wasn’t even touched.
  • Again in the third, Patrick Sharp was tripped while shooting on the Canucks goal. His feet were taken from underneath him with a stick, causing Sharp to crash headlong into the boards. Why no tripping call or penalty shot? Taking the puck carrier out by knocking his feet from under him is a penalty in EVERY version of hockey (ice, roller, floor).
  •  Brent Seabrook got a holding penalty in the third period that was total b.s. Normally, I’d concede a bad penalty call here and there, but at this point it seemed the refs would do whatever it took to make the Blackhawks lose.

Waving off a good goal, whistling a play dead due to a dislodged net that wasn’t dislodged and blatantly ignoring a flagrant trip were 3 calls that clearly cost the Blackhawks the game that could have–and should have–been theirs.

Head of NHL Officiating Terry Gregson should demote referees  Eric Furlatt and Chris Rooney to the AHL immediately. Those are the 2 clowns who were officiating the ‘Hawks-‘Nucks game. Obviously, they were watching some other game.

Fresh from The Onion

The Onion newspaper doesn’t riff on hockey too much, but this was in last Thursday’s issue:

Senators Accuse Thrashers Of Pouring It On After 3-1 Loss

OTTAWA—Following their 3-1 loss Wednesday, Senators players accused the visiting Thrashers of poor sportsmanship for keeping up the intensity long after the game was out of reach. “At the end of the second period it was 2-1, meaning the game was basically over,” said Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, who called the Thrashers’ behavior in tallying the gaudy score a violation of the hockey code. “What’s going to happen? We’re somehow going to score a goal and tie it? Maybe. Flukes happen, miracles happen. But are we going to score twice? This is hockey we’re talking about, after all.” Alfredsson would not rule out his team attempting to score three goals on the Thrashers in their next meeting regardless of whether the Thrashers score at all.

The archive of The Onion‘s hockey articles can be seen here.

Top 5 Puck Junk Articles of 2010

OK, so we are 1 month into 2011, but I saw another blogger do this and I wanted to steal the idea follow suit. So, here are Puck Junk’s 5 most read articles of 2010.

5. Vintage Rookie Card Haul – Apparently, hockey card collectors like reading about old hockey cards.

4. Painted Penguin – Everything about this card is just plain wrong.

3. 2010 Blackhawks Training Camp Fest – My recap of the ‘Hawks first day of Training Camp. Special guest appearance by the Stanley Cup.

2. 2010-11 Upper Deck Victory review – The first (and so far only) video review I did of a hockey card set.

1. Sports Card Girl is a Scam – My investigation of a fake blogger who was running a link farm under the guise of a cute card collecting female. Apparently, this ruffled enough feathers to merit (in-actionable) legal threats against me.

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All right, enough about 2010. I hope 2011 is another good year for Puck Junk–and for my fellow hockey card bloggers too.

1991 All-Star Game & Heroes of Hockey Tickets

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Above are my tickets stubs from the 1991 NHL All-Star Game (left) and 1991 Heroes of Hockey and Skills Competition (right–otherwise known as “All-Star Friday.”

My Aunt and Uncle had seasons tickets to the Blackhawks games. They took me to a lot of games when I was a kid, and probably were going to take me to the game anyway. But my Grandmother paid them for my tickets to the game and skills competition as an early birthday present.

For some reason, our seats at the All-Star Game were better than our usual seats. Normally, we were in Mezzanine Row H, but for this weekend we were in Row D–4 rows closer than usual. Heck, we sat closer than Gordie Howe, who was in our section but about 5 or 6 rows back from us. Continue reading “1991 All-Star Game & Heroes of Hockey Tickets”