Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
Wilson is not a bad person, nor is he a bad player. In fact, he was awarded the Bob Probert Bowl in the First Annual Puck Junk Awards earlier this year for possessing that formidable balance of skill and aggression.
However, his hit on Sunqvist was egregious and inexcusable. So, the NHL handing Wilson a 20-game suspension was the right thing to do. Here’s why.
Continue reading “How Players Fared After Ditching Their Beards”
This season marks the return of the “third” or “alternate” jersey in the NHL. Other than outdoor games, NHL teams did not wear third jerseys least season due to it being Adidas’ first year outfitting the league. Over the summer, several teams unveiled third jerseys for the 2018-19 season, and they have been fantastic. Most notably, the Carolina Hurricanes will wear Hartford Whalers jerseys as an homage to the team’s past life.
The Whalers jerseys are one of the best throwback jerseys out there, and that got me thinking of some of the other awesome vintage sweaters that I would like to see return. So I made a list of my favorites, as well as the most iconic players to don that jersey — in case you buy one tomorrow and can’t decide what name to put on the back. See if your favorite throwback made the cut!
Another NHL season is upon us — and with that, another slew of free game-night giveaway items. Some of them are embarrassingly practical, with 16 of the 31 teams giving away magnet schedules. That’s great if you don’t have your smart phone handy and happen to be standing near the fridge, or wherever one sticks a magnet schedule.
On the other hand, much of the free swag is downright strange. The Arizona Coyotes will give away an Oliver Ekman-Larsson kids cape on “Superhero Night.” And yes, they’re calling it a “kids cape” — because an adult-sized Oliver Ekman-Larsson superhero cape would be weird.
But not nearly as weird as this Joe Thornton bobblehead figure.
Continue reading “The Best 2018-19 NHL Game-Night Giveaway Items”
Thirty years ago, in the summer of 1988, Wayne Gretzky was traded to the L.A. Kings. While no move made during this offseason could ever top that, some NHL GMs were nonetheless working on blockbuster deals of their own. Here are the five biggest moves of the 2018 offseason.
NOTE: Veteran blogger Tim Parish — a.k.a. “The Real DFG” is now sharing his wit and sarcasm as a writer for Puck Junk. Please welcome him in the comments below.
It’s that time of year again, ladies and gentleman. Yes, the hockey season is upon us. With training camps about done, I figured it is a fine time to break the first box of the year.
For only $650 million, you can be the owner of the 32nd NHL franchise. And that franchise will be located in Seattle, Washington. Late last year, the NHL granted permission to begin the application process to create an expansion team in Seattle. The team’s potential ownership group hosted a season ticket drive, with a goal of selling 10,000 tickets. They matched that goal in less than 15 minutes, and sold 25,000 tickets in an hour. This kind of momentum will go a long way in ensuring Seattle will become the NHL’s 32nd team. Here are a few reasons to be excited, and one reason to not be, about Seattle being the NHL’s newest franchise.
Trading card companies continued to raise the stakes during the 1992-93 season, as the hockey card market continued to boom. Fleer entered the marketplace with its premium “Ultra” set, while Score doubled down, making truly unique sets for the U.S. and Canadian markets. Coincidentally, for the first time in their 25-year partnership, Topps and O-Pee-Chee released hockey sets that were different in design from one another. Meanwhile, Upper Deck continued to thrive, while Pro Set barely limped to the finish line. A lot happened with hockey cards 25 years ago.
However, the biggest news in hockey collectibles at the time was that 19-year old rookie Eric Lindros was going to make his NHL debut. Up until that point, only Score could legally include Lindros in its sets, due to an endorsement deal he signed with Score in 1990. That deal expired once Lindros became an active NHL player. With his debut imminent, but no photo of Lindros in a Flyers uniform readily available, the card companies had to figure out how they were going to include “The Next One” in its hockey card sets.
Here are my rankings of all 13 major hockey card sets released during the 1992-93 season. I count Score Pinnacle “U.S.” and “Canadian” (or “English” and “Bilingual,” if you prefer) as separate sets for reasons I’ll explain later. Also, this list does not include Panini stickers, because most collectors don’t consider those as “cards.” Nor does this list include small sets like McDonald’s, or oddball stuff like Season’s Action Patches.
So, will Upper Deck be number one for three years in a row?
Thirty years ago, on August 9, 1988, the biggest trade in sports was made when the Edmonton Oilers sent Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings in a multiplayer deal that included draft picks and $15 million.
It was the biggest trade in history because it proved that no one was untouchable – not even a superstar player who topped the league in scoring seven of the previous eight seasons, led his team to four championships, won 23 individual awards, held 49 league records and was on the verge of breaking many more.
Gretzky’s move to the second-largest market in North America not only accelerated the growth of hockey in the United States, it sparked the eventual explosion in popularity for hockey cards and collectibles.
Read the full article at Sports Collectors Digest
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have the honor of being the last team during the “Original Six Era” to win the Stanley Cup — and they have Jim Pappin to thank for the large part he played. The Leafs beat the Montreal Canadiens four games to two in the 1967 Stanley Cup Finals. Pappin led all Maple Leafs in scoring during the playoffs, with seven goals and eight assists for 15 points in 12 games.
Championships seemed to follow Pappin wherever he went during the early part of his career. In 1964, he won his first Stanley Cup with the Leafs. In 1965 and 1966, he won back-to-back Calder Cup Championships with the Rochester Americans of the AHL. After his second Stanley Cup Championship in 1967, Pappin won another Calder Cup in 1968; that’s five championships in five seasons.
Pappin was later traded to the Chicago Black Hawks, where he was consistently one of the team’s top scorers during the early-to-mid 1970s, and played in five NHL All-Star Games.
Recently, Pappin was signing autographs at AU Sports, a sports card and memorabilia store near Chicago, and graciously answered a few questions about his career.
Sal Barry: You led the Maple Leafs in scoring during the playoffs in 1967 — including four goals and six assists in six games during the Finals. What went right for you in the playoffs?
Jim Pappin: If you work hard in the playoffs, you don’t have to work in the summertime (laughs). They always say, if you play hard and win the Championship, you get bottled beer instead of draft beer. It’s a good incentive.
Continue reading “Interview: Jim Pappin, 2-Time Stanley Cup Winner and 5-Time NHL All-Star”