The Third Annual Puck Junk Awards

A.K.A. 7 NHL Awards We Need Right Now

The NHL gives out 17 individual awards at the end of the season. To some, that might seem excessive. Do we really need a Mark Messier Award for Leadership when the league already has two awards for MVPs? 

However, I would argue that the NHL needs more awards, so in 2018 I created some new ones. We all know who the highest scorer, top coach and best goalie are. Now, let’s give props to the toughest player, greatest surprise and biggest jerk, among others. Plus, there is a new Puck Junk Award for 2020. 

Here are your winners of the third-annual Puck Junk Awards. 

Continue reading “The Third Annual Puck Junk Awards”

Blake’s Takes: Coyotes Renounce Pick

Last week was hot with news as most of it came from the desert. The Arizona Coyotes dominated the headlines when they renounced their rights to a draft pick after ugly details from his past surfaced. The organization also made a minor move that might actually benefit the team, too.

As always, I wrote about one of my favorite signings and a scorching hot jersey reveal. You won’t want to miss this week’s set of takes.

Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: Coyotes Renounce Pick”

Blake’s Takes: Additional Free Agency and League Notes

Sadly, there were no sexy storylines in the NHL last week. But, as I mentioned before, so much happened over the last two weeks with the opening of the free-agency window and the draft, there is plenty for me to write about.

This week, I’ll touch on some storylines that weren’t pressing enough to make into my columns over the last few weeks. Happy Monday!

Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: Additional Free Agency and League Notes”

Puck Junk Podcast: 2020-21 MVP Hockey Cards

Episode #71: October 22, 2020

In this episode of the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast, Sal Barry and Tim Parish talk about hockey announcer Mike “Doc” Emrick retiring and the new 2020-21 Upper Deck MVP Hockey cards. Plus, more details about the Virtual Expo 2.0. 

Show Notes, Links and Images:
Tim’s column on what Mike Emrick has meant for hockey (Puck Junk)
Virtual Expo 2.0 (show website) 
Andre Dawson State Farm Insurance commercial (YouTube) 
Penguins and Flyers “Reverse Retro” Jerseys (Icethetics)
The Penguins’ jerseys also featured a diagonal “PITTSBURGH” wordmark on home and road jerseys during the 1967-68 season, and again from 1992-93 to 1996-97 on road jerseys. 
The Joey Logano hockey card (Puck Junk)
President’s Choice Trading Cards Captains Row (link)
That time Evgeni Malkin  appeared twice in the same set (Puck Junk)
Joe Thornton’s 1995-96 junior league hockey card (Puck Junk)
2020-21 MVP Hockey checklist (Trading Card DB)

2020-21 MVP Hockey card images:

2020-21 MVP Hockey #106 – Alex Ovechkin

2020-21 MVP Hockey #106 – Alex Ovechkin (back)

2020-21 MVP Hockey #23 – Brock Nelson

2020-21 MVP Hockey #76 – Jamie Benn

2020-21 MVP Hockey #125 – Patrick Marleau
Even though Marleau was a Penguins player when this set came out, he is pictured with the Sharks. Coincidentally, Marleau signed with the Sharks after this card came out. 

2020-21 MVP Hockey #219 – Steven Stamkos (short print)

2020-21 MVP Hockey #230 – Gage Quinney (RC, short print)

2020-21 MVP Hockey #221 – Michael DiPietro (RC, short print)

2020-21 MVP Hockey – Puzzle Back Variants

2020-21 MVP Hockey #161 – Sebastian Aho Silver Scripts Parallel

2020-21 MVP Hockey #8 – Nick Foligno Super Script Parallel (16/25)

2020-21 MVP Hockey Retro Parallel #74 – Matthew Tkachuk

2020-21 MVP Hockey Colors and Contour #66 – Liam Foudy (160/250) 

2020-21 MVP Hockey Mirror Mirror insert #MM-9 – Brad Marchand

2020-21 MVP Hockey Net Crashers inserts #NC-2 – Nathan MacKinnon

2020-21 MVP Hockey High Speed inserts #HS-1 – Connor McDavid

2020-21 MVP Hockey – Unopened Hobby Box 

Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Podcast music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.

Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.

Love hockey? Join the new Puck Junk Facebook Group and subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube. 

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

The Voice of Hockey Calls it a Career

Legendary NHL Broadcaster “Doc” Emrick Retires

Since 2005, when NBC acquired the rights to NHL broadcasting in the United States, there has been one consummate voice featured behind the microphone, serving up his eloquent and sometimes frantically excitable play-by-play for the feature games every week. On Monday, that voice decided to sign off for the last time. Mike “Doc” Emrick announced that after more than 50 years in the broadcasting business, he was retiring.

As the story goes, the first time Doc ever got the opportunity to cover a game in the NHL, he did so under the guise that he wasn’t getting paid anything…except a press credential. Continue reading “The Voice of Hockey Calls it a Career”

Blake’s Takes: More Free Agency Madness

In this week’s column, I’ll look at some of the major free-agent signings of the last few weeks. So much happened around the league during the first week of free agency that I couldn’t cover everything in my previous column. 

In addition to free agency news, I’ll highlight one of my favorite new uniforms released in the last few weeks. Happy Monday!

Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: More Free Agency Madness”

Puck Junk Podcast: 2020-21 O-Pee-Chee Hockey Cards

Episode #70: October 15, 2020

It’s been a month, but we’re back! In the latest Puck Junk Hockey Podcast, Sal Barry and Tim Parish discuss some of the offseason moves by NHL teams. They also talk about the upcoming Virtual Expo 2.0 and new hockey card releases. Then the guys take a long, detailed look at the 2020-21 O-Pee-Chee Hockey card set by Upper Deck. 

Show Notes, Links and Images:
The Virtual Expo 2.0 (Show Site)
President’s Choice Trading Cards Game Used (President’s Choice Website)
2020-21 O-Pee-Chee Hockey checklist (Cardboard Connection)

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee card images:

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee #398 – Patrick Marleau
…forever immortalized as a Penguins player

Card backs have up to 10 seasons of stats.

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee #330 – Mika Zibanejad

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee #33 – Connor McDavid

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee #289 – Sidney Crosby

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee #521 – Gage Quinney (Marquee Rookies)

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee #550 – Wayne Gretzky (Marquee Legends)

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee #584 – Leon Draisaitl (League Leaders)

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee #188 – Nathan Beaulieu (Blue Border Parallel) 

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee #12 – Travis Zajac (Red Parallel, because WHY NOT?)

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee #18 – Duncan Keith (Retro Parallel)

Retro Parallel card backs look a lot like early 1980s O-Pee-Chee card backs.

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee #213 – Phil Kessel (Retro Black Border Parallel)

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee – Premier “Tall Boys” Inserts #P-12 – Brent Burns.
Tall Boys or Small Boys? You decide. 

O-Pee-Chee Premier card backs are printed in full color.

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee – Playing Cards 3♥ – Pekka Rinne

Playing Card Backs are black with gold ink.

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee Hockey – sealed box

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee Hockey – sealed pack

2020-21 O-Pee-Chee Hockey packs are somewhat difficult to open. 

Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Podcast music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.

Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.

Love hockey? Join the new Puck Junk Facebook Group and subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube. 

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

Blake’s Takes: Offseason Moves

Last week was a busy one in the NHL. In one week we saw the start of free agency and the NHL Draft take place. I could rattle off 20 takes this week. I’ll stick to my usual five, but I’ll include some of this week’s news in future columns because there is so much to talk about.

This week, I’ll focus on the bigger transactions around the league as well as a major points jersey announcement . Happy Tuesday!

Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: Offseason Moves”

The 11 Biggest Hockey Stories of 2019-20

By Sal Barry, Tim Parish, Blake Isaacs, Jim Howard & Kyle Scully

Before we turn our attention to the upcoming hockey season, we wanted to take a look back at the 2019-20 NHL season. And what a crazy season it was! A global pandemic halted the league for the first time in over 100 years. Players spoke up and spoke out against racial injustice in the United States. A Zamboni driver became a goaltending hero.  And that’s just the start of it. 

The past season was the longest NHL season, too, starting on October 2, 2019 and ending almost a full year later on September 28, 2020. The team at Puck Junk rounded up what they thought were the biggest stories of the 2019-20 season. Like the fictional band Spinal Tap, we couldn’t settle on just 10 — we turned it up to 11. So, here are the 11 biggest stories of the 2019-20 NHL season. 

Continue reading “The 11 Biggest Hockey Stories of 2019-20”