Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
Last week was a big one in the NHL. We saw Ovechkin reach another major milestone and the Lightning continue the quest for their next one. I also dive into the state of the Dallas Stars and predict another award.
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: Highlight Goals and Major Milestones”
One year ago today, emergency backup goaltender Scott Foster stepped in between the pipes for the Blackhawks after both Hawks goalies went down with injuries. Foster was perfect, stopping all seven shots that he faced.
Coincidentally, there have been exactly seven Chicago Blackhawks goalies who played in only one NHL game — Foster and six others. Here is a rundown of all seven Blackhawks goalies who had just one NHL game in their hockey careers.
Continue reading “Seven Blackhawks Goalies Who Played in Only One NHL Game”
Hockey video games were far and few between in the 1980s, but that changed in the early 1990s. From 1990 to 1992, hockey games released for home video game consoles included Wayne Gretzky Hockey, Mario Lemieux Hockey, TV Sports Hockey, Hit the Ice, NHL Hockey and NHLPA Hockey ’93. By the fall of 1993, four more hockey video games came out: Pro Sport Hockey, Brett Hull Hockey, NHL Stanley Cup, and most notably, NHL ’94.
A fifth hockey video game was supposed to be released in fall of 1993, but it didn’t make the cut. Entitled Road to the Cup Hockey ’94, the game was going to feature an elaborate artificial intelligence system, full season mode and playoff brackets — and it might have even challenged NHL ’94 as history’s best hockey video game from the classic gaming era.
Up until this point, very little was known about Road to the Cup Hockey ’94. But not anymore. Continue reading “Road to the Cup Hockey ’94: An Unreleased Hockey Video Game”
Editor’s Note: Joe Banish is a new writer for Puck Junk. Please welcome him in the comments below.
Each season, at least one high-profile free agent is available, causing fans to speculate if he will stay with his current team, or go to another team that can give him more money — or a better chance to win the Stanley Cup. Here are five high-end free agents that will make a splash wherever they sign in the offseason.
I had a lot of opinions this week: Braden Holtby’s decision to skip the Capitals’ White House ceremony, the playoff format, and an award prediction.
“Daddy! It’s National Hockey Card Day!” exclaimed Tom Poray’s two young daughters on the morning of February 23. Such youthful exuberance would normally be reserved for a holiday like Christmas or Halloween. Yet since 2009 in Canada and 2012 in the United States, Upper Deck’s National Hockey Card Day has slowly and steadily transformed into an event that families look forward to each year.
Throughout the day, anyone who visited a participating card shop in Canada or the U.S. was given a free, five-card pack of hockey cards. Like every year, the Canadian and American sets differ, and each set has 16 cards. Cards 1-15 were available in the free foil packs, while the last card was given to a customer if they made a $10 purchase. This year, the bonus cards were of John Tavares in the Canadian set and Alexander Ovechkin in the American set.
Fans in both countries could also hope to pull an insert or autographed card. Some big box stores, such as Toys R Us in Canada and Dick’s Sporting Goods in several eastern U.S. states, also gave away perforated, nine-card sheets of hockey cards.
Poray, who is from Guelph, Ontario, looks forward to National Hockey Card Day each year, as do his two daughters, ages 7 and 5. This year, he took them to four different shops so that they could get enough packs to each build a set.
“To me, this is phenomenal,” he said. “This isn’t something that I’m pushing on my girls. It’s nice to see that level of enthusiasm not directed at a video game or a screen.”
Read the full article at Sports Collectors Digest
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
The end of the regular season is quickly approaching and there is a lot going on in the NHL This week’s takes look into the Flames transformation, a classic fight, and a Wild Card Race.
This week, we look to the future and shine a spotlight on a few emerging stars. Plus, another unloved team and a major milestone.
On Monday, the fourth of March, 2019, the Detroit Red Wings and the world of hockey as a whole lost a true legend, Mr. Ted Lindsay. “Terrible Ted” was a four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Red Wings during his career. He was the first player to skate a lap around the rink with the Stanley Cup, which has become a yearly tradition at the end of every NHL season. He collected the 1950 Art Ross trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer with 78 points in 69 games. Lindsay played 13 seasons with the Red Wings and three with the Black Hawks, retired in 1960, then made a one-year comeback with Detroit in 1964-65 so that he could retire with the Wings. Twenty-six years later in 1991, his number seven was hoisted up to the rafters in Joe Louis Arena. But Lindsay’s biggest accomplishments may have been off the ice.
After a crazy week in the NHL, we saw a superstar return to his old team, another jersey retirement, and a stupid contract extension.