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.
In Episode #113 of the Puck Junk Podcast, Sal Barry and Tim Parish discuss the new 2021-22 O-Pee-Chee Hockey card set, including talk about all the different variants and Easter eggs. Other topics include the hockey world’s reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Blackhawks new General Manager, the Stadium Series, and National Hockey Card Day.
Show Notes and Links:
How to Remove Tape from Trading Card Top Loaders (Puck Junk)
Fat Guy Hockey Video Game T-Shirt Now Available (Puck Junk Shop)
Chicago Sports Spectacular March 18-20, 2022 (Show Website)
IIHF Puts Sanctions on Russia and Belarus (IIHF.com)
NHL Statement on Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine (NHL.com)
Blackhawks Hire Interim GM Kyle Davidson to be Next GM (ESPN)
National Hockey Card Day Trade Group (Facebook)
April Fool’s Day O-Pee-Chee Cards (Puck Junk)
2021-22 O-Pee-Chee Hockey Checklist and Images (Cardboard Connection)
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk & Instagram @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG & Instagram @therealdfg66.
Podcast opening and closing music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.
Love hockey? Join the Puck Junk Facebook Group and subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube.
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■
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”
In this episode of the Puck Junk Podcast, Sal Barry and Tim Parish talk about what makes a hockey card a “rookie card.” Plus, the upcoming National Hockey Card Day, a recap of the Olympic hockey tournaments, the Blackhawks and Bobby Hull parting ways, and the return of Sean Avery.
Show Notes and Links:
Sal talked comic books on the 21st Century Boys ComicCast (Spotify)
Review of Sean Avery’s Autobiography (Puck Junk)
2022 NHL Stadium Series Time-Lapse (YouTube)
2020-21 O-Pee-Chee Platinum on e-Pack (Upper Deck e-Pack)
National Hockey Card Day 2022 (Upper Deck)
The same photo being used on 2 different Patrick Kane cards (Puck Junk)
Peeling the film off of 1994-95 Topps Finest Hockey cards (Twitter)
The pile of protective film that no one wanted to buy (Twitter)
Chicago Sports Spectacular Show March 18-20, 2022 Show (Website)
Tim’s Twitter discussion about hockey rookie cards (Twitter)
How Hockey Cards Led to the NHL Player Strike in 1992 (The Hockey News)
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk & Instagram @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG & Instagram @therealdfg66.
Podcast opening and closing music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.
Love hockey? Join the Puck Junk Facebook Group and subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube.
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■
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.
Hockey cards for the 2021-22 season finally started hitting store shelves at the end of 2021. First up was 2021-22 Upper Deck MVP Hockey, the company’s “lower-end” card set that isn’t too expensive to buy or too difficult to complete. It also doesn’t have any rookies from the 2021-22 season; the 30 rookie cards are of players who made their debut in the abbreviated 2021 season. A box of MVP has 20 packs with eight cards per pack. The current online price of MVP is around $50 for a hobby box. I recently got a hobby box. Here is what I found inside.
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”
Sal Barry and Tim Parish recap the 2022 NHL All-Star Weekend: what was great about it and what could have been better. Then, they talk about the latest Chicago Blackhawks scandal. Actually, make that two scandals: Rocky Wirtz’s tirade against media members, and sexual harassment allegations against the athletic trainer of their minor league team. Finally, they end with a fun debate about if it is better to buy hobby boxes or retail boxes of trading cards.
Show Notes and Links:
New “Fat Guy Hockey Video Game T-Shirt” on Pre-Order (Puck Junk Shop)
Interview: Randy Walker, Rob Lowe’s Hockey Double (Puck Junk)
Rocky Wirtz embarrasses himself and the Blackhawks (YouTube)
Blackhawks fire minor league athletic trainer for sexual harassment (ESPN)
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk & Instagram @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG & Instagram @therealdfg66.
Podcast opening and closing music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.
Love hockey? Join the Puck Junk Facebook Group and subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube.
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■