Box Break: 2023 Team Canada Juniors Hockey Cards

The 2023 Team Canada Juniors set was released in November of 2023. The set features Canadian players who played in the 2023 Under-20 World Junior Championship and the 2023 Under-18 World Junior Championship, as well as women who play on the Canadian Women’s National Team. 

2023 Team Canada Juniors hockey cards cost around $230 for a 15-pack hobby box. Each pack has six cards. The box – which pictures Connor Bedard on it – claims that you can get “at least 4 hits per box!” Bedard also happens to be the main reason why a box of 2023 Team Canada Juniors is rather pricey; it is possible to get an autographed card of Bedard, who was drafted first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2023. Bedard also has two cards in the base set, one card in the  short-printed “Program of Excellence” subset, several insert cards – plus the plethora of parallels those cards have. 

In other words, if you are looking for cards of Connor Bedard, this is a good box to break. 

Besides autographed cards, other hits you can get in a box of these cards includes a jersey card or a high-end insert card printed on plexiglass. 

I recently opened a hobby box of 2023 Team Canada Juniors. Here is what was inside. 

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Puck Junk’s Top Podcasts of 2023

With 2023 now fully behind us, I wanted to take a look back at the Puck Junk Podcast and how it did last year. During 2023, we released 36 episodes of the Puck Junk Podcast. That was five more episodes than we released in 2022 (31 episodes), and 10 more episodes than we released 2021 (26 episodes). 

In 2023, our podcast had more listeners than ever, experiencing about a 25% growth over 2022.

As for our listeners, 55% of our listeners are from the United States and 38% are from Canada. No surprises there. But rounding out the top five countries that listened to the Puck Junk Podcast are Germany, Finland, and…Singapore? 

Yep. We also have listeners from Australia, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic. 

If you are a recent subscriber to the Puck Junk Podcast, you may have missed out on some of our best episodes from 2023. Or maybe you are a longtime listener and one of these episodes flew under your radar. Either way, here are the five most-listened to episodes of the Puck Junk Podcast from 2023. 

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What Is Your Collecting Resolution for 2024?

Happy New Year, Puck Junk readers! As 2023 was winding down, I started thinking about what kind of New Year’s “Collecting” Resolution I wanted to make for 2024. 

Sure, we may want to exercise more, eat better foods, or read more books in the new year. But as collectors, we also make resolutions when it comes to collecting.

Usually, these resolutions usually involve better organizing our collection. Hey – the struggle is real. 

In the past, I’ve made New Year’s “Collecting” Resolutions to get rid of duplicate cards, complete sets, or to get myself a “Holy Grail” card sometime during the year. And I’ve done all of those in 2023.

So, I need to give myself an entirely new “Collecting” Resolution for 2024.

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Puck Junk Podcast: Hockey for the Holidays

Episode #173: December 21, 2023

In this special holiday-themed episode of the Puck Junk Podcast, the hosts – Sal Barry, Tim Parish, and Clemente Lisi – share stories from their listeners about the best hockey gifts they received for the holidays. The guys chime in with some of the best hockey gifts they’ve gotten, too. Plus, talk about the Professional Women’s Hockey League, some of the recent coaching changes in the NHL, and a recent EBUG at an NHL game. It’s 95 minutes of hockey goodness. 

Links
The Puck Junk Bad Hockey Card Hall of Fame: Class of 2023 (Puck Junk)
Subscribe to the Puck Junk TikTok Channel (TikTok)

Follow
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk & Instagram @PuckJunk. 
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG & Instagram @therealdfg66.
Follow Clemente Lisi on Twitter @ClementeLisi. 
Podcast music by Retro Game Remix – follow them on YouTube. 

Listen
Listen to the Puck Junk Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Overcast,  
PlayerFM, PocketCasts, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher,
or Transistor.

Connect 
Connect with us and other hockey fans on the Puck Junk Facebook Group.

Subscribe
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Email Newsletter and the YouTube Channel. 

Support 
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■

The Puck Junk Bad Hockey Card Hall of Fame: Class of 2023

With the year winding down, it’s about time we enshrine some of the worst hockey cards ever made into the Puck Junk Bad Hockey Card Hall of Fame: Class of 2023. 

This year’s Bad Hockey Card Hall of Fame Class is headlined by three new members in the Bad Paint Job category as well as three members in the Bad Photo category. Also represented this year is the Bad Idea category, the Bad Mistake category, and the Bad Head Swap category. But really, is there such thing as a good head swap on a trading card? 

Anyway, I present to you, the Puck Junk Bad Hockey Card Hall of Fame: Class of 2023! 

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Puck Junk Podcast: 1993-94 Leaf Hockey Setrospective

Episode #172: December 15, 2023

Sal Barry, Tim Parish, and Clemente Lisi take a look back at the 1993-94 Leaf Hockey card set, which came out 30 years ago and was the first hockey set issued by Leaf. The  guys discuss what makes the set so cool even three decades later, some of the great inserts it had…and how ’93-94 Leaf could have been better. They also talk about the new Leaf Continuum Hockey cards and two recent card shows. It’s 92 minutes of hockey goodness! 

Links
1993-94 Leaf Hockey Checklist (Trading Card DB)
Every 1993-94 Hockey Card Set Ranked (Puck Junk)

Follow
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk & Instagram @PuckJunk. 
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG & Instagram @therealdfg66.
Follow Clemente Lisi on Twitter @ClementeLisi. 
Podcast music by Retro Game Remix – follow them on YouTube. 

Listen
Listen to the Puck Junk Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Overcast,  
PlayerFM, PocketCasts, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher,
or Transistor.

Connect 
Connect with us and other hockey fans on the Puck Junk Facebook Group.

Subscribe
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Email Newsletter and the YouTube Channel. 

Support 
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■

 

Puck Junk Podcast: The Corey Perry Fiasco

Plus: The Problem with ESPN+
Episode #171: December 8, 2023

Sal Barry, Tim Parish, and Clemente Lisi talk about a bunch of topics – including the Corey Perry fiasco, the problem with ESPN+, Patrick Kane signing with the Red Wings, Tristan Jarry’s goalie goal, Black Friday purchases, and more. It’s TWO HOURS of hockey goodness!

Follow
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk & Instagram @PuckJunk. 
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG & Instagram @therealdfg66.
Follow Clemente Lisi on Twitter @ClementeLisi. 
Podcast music by Retro Game Remix – follow them on YouTube. 

Listen
Listen to the Puck Junk Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Overcast,  
PlayerFM, PocketCasts, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher,
or Transistor.

Connect 
Connect with us and other hockey fans on the Puck Junk Facebook Group.

Subscribe
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Email Newsletter and the YouTube Channel. 

Support 
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■

Successful Toronto Sport Card Expo Not Just for Hockey Cards, Collectors

The Sport Card Expo in Toronto attracted a record crowd and proved that Canada’s biggest card show is not just about hockey cards and collectibles.

It was once billed as “the world’s biggest hockey show,” but the Sport Card Expo in Toronto is now much more than that.

The Expo, held twice annually in the spring and the fall, is Canada’s largest sports cards show. The most-recent Sport Card Expo took place on Nov. 9-12. While most dealers had quite a bit of hockey cards and memorabilia for sale, there was certainly no shortage of baseball, basketball, football and non-sports cards.

“People in Canada don’t only collect hockey,” says Mike Bergman, owner of Lower Level Sports Cards in Winnipeg. “People collect all sports — anything that has a card, even pop culture. It’s about collecting what they like and what’s in their mind from their childhood.”

Dealers from the U.S. who traveled north of the border also tend to shy away from bringing too much hockey with them.

“Here, I bring more of everything else but hockey,” says Chris Worczak, owner of Niagara Sports Cards in Niagara Falls, N.Y. “Everybody has hockey here. So, I’m going to bring the stuff that’s different, like vintage baseball cards.”

The Fall 2023 Sport Card Expo was the largest since the show first began in 1991. Not only did it boast a higher attendance, but the show was physically bigger, taking up just under 200,000 square feet across three halls at the International Centre in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga.

Read the article story at Sports Collectors Digest.