Puck Junk Podcast: August 11, 2020

1989-90 OHL & 1990 Memorial Cup Hockey Sets

In this week’s episode of the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast, Sal Barry and Tim Parish talk about Phase 2 of the NHL Draft Lottery — including the New York Rangers somewhat controversial win of the first-overall pick. They also talk about the Stanley Cup Qualifying and Round Robin games, the upcoming first round of the playoffs, and Dale Tallon leaving the Florida Panthers. Then, the guys look back at the 1989-90 OHL and 1990 Memorial Cup hockey card sets made by short-lived company 7th Inning Sketch. The cards were charming in a no-frills sort of way and included “pre-rookie” cards of many future NHL players, like future superstars Eric Lindros and Scott Niedermayer.

Show Notes, Links and Images:
2020 NHL Draft Lottery Phase 2 Results (NHL.com)
2020 NHL Round One Playoff Schedule (NHL.com)
Dale Tallon and Florida Panthers Part Ways (NHL.com)
Topps Now Hockey Stickers order page (Topps.com)
Upper Deck Game Dated Moments for Week 44 (Upper Deck Blog)
1989-90 7th Inning Sketch OHL checklist & images (Trading Card DB)
1989-90 7th Inning Sketch OHL packaging (Trading Card DB)
The creepy Casey Jones card from the 1989-90 OHL set (Puck Junk)
1990 7th Inning Sketch Memorial Cup checklist & images (Trading Card DB)

1989-90 OHL #1 – Eric Lindros

1989-90 OHL #174 – Casey Jones – more about this card here

1989-90 OHL #195 – Where In 91? (Eric Lindros)

1989-90 Memorial Cup #18 – Scott Niedermayer

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. ■

Puck Junk Podcast: June 9, 2020

1989-90 Topps & O-Pee-Chee Hockey Cards

Sal Barry and Tim Parish look back 30 years at the 1989-90 Topps and O-Pee-Chee hockey card sets and reminisce about why those sets were awesome then — and still awesome today. Plus, they talk about the upcoming “Virtual” Sport Card Expo happening June 19-20. Today’s episode is 90 minutes of pure hockey goodness!

Show Notes, Images and Links:
Upper Deck Game Dated Moments for Week 35 (Upper Deck Blog)
2019-20 SP Authentic Checklist (Cardboard Connection)
Sport Card Expo Virtual Expo (website)
The first Puck Junk Podcast from May 12, 2015 (Puck Junk)
1989-90 Topps Review & Checklist (Puck Junk)
1989-90 O-Pee-Chee Checklist (Trading Card DB)
1989-90 O-Pee-Chee Tembec Test Prototype Cards (Puck Junk)
1991-92 Pro Set Niedermayer and Falloon Pro Set Cards (Puck Junk)
1999-2000 Century Legends Ken Dryden “not-a-card” card (Puck Junk)
1996-97 Donruss Elite Lindros & Lemieux uncirculated card (Puck Junk)
Tim’s “Opening Packs in Cars” Videos (YouTube)

Images of 1989-90 Topps and O-Pee-Chee cards:

1989-90 Topps #156 – Wayne Gretzky

1989-90 Topps #1 – Mario Lemieux

1989-90 Topps #113 – Joe Sakic

1989-90 Topps #136 – Brian Leetch

1989-90 O-Pee-Chee #235 – Larry Robinson

1989-90 O-Pee-Chee #63 – Randy Cunneyworth

1989-90 O-Pee-Chee #278 – Borje Salming

1989-90 Topps #189 – Guy Lafleur

1989-90 Topps #132 – Alain Chevrier

1989-90 Topps #74 – Doug Gilmour

1989-90 Topps #11 – Peter Sidorkiewdz

1989-90 Topps Hockey wrapper

Comparison of Tembec test issue and standard O-Pee-Chee card:

Tembec card is in the middle; standard O-Pee-Chee card is on the right.

The infamous Randy Cunneyworth error — is it real?

Note that the text that reads “Pittsburgh Penguins” on the card front — that is the error. If you have this card, Sal will buy or trade you for it.

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

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

The 15 Best Hockey Cards from 1989-90

Hockey card collecting was on a precipice during the 1989-90 season. It hadn’t yet taken the plunge into the abyss of overproduction, inflated prices and rookie cards of practically anyone who got within 10 feet of an NHL uniform — succinctly known as the “Junk Wax Era.” Hockey cards were rapidly becoming more and more popular, accelerated by the trade of Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988.

Yet, only two companies issued mainstream sets that season. The 198-card Topps set was sold in the U.S. and its near-identical, though slightly larger, cousin O-Pee-Chee sold a 330-card set in Canada.

But if you dig a little deeper, you will find that there were many other cards issued that year that stray from the beaten path — from team-issue cards to minor and junior league trading card sets, to cards printed on the side of food boxes.

Here is a look at the 15 best hockey cards from the 1989-90 season. Keep in mind that most of these cards aren’t particularly valuable, with most ranging from $2 to $5 each — and even that might be pushing it. Anyone with a love of hockey cards and hockey history should consider having these in their cardboard collection.

Continue reading “The 15 Best Hockey Cards from 1989-90”

The Time Dave “Killer” Carlson Interviewed Dale Tallon

This is the video we all need right now. Slap Shot actor Jerry Houser and former NHL defenseman Dale Tallon take turns interviewing each other. And it’s pretty darn funny.

Houser, who hockey fans remember best as Dave “Killer” Carlson from the 1977 film Slap Shot, is a longtime TV and movie actor. And hockey fans all know Tallon, who has been in the NHL for 50 years now as a player, color commentator and team executive. He is currently the GM of the Florida Panthers.

This interview is from a charity hockey game from 1989 between the Celebrity All-Star Team and the Chicago Blackhawks Alumni Team. The game took place at the old Chicago Stadium.

Tallon and Houser sat down for this interview prior to the game, and Tallon does an admirable job when being put on the spot. This was perhaps the best exchange between the two:

HOUSER: People don’t talk to you all that much; find out who you really are. Who are you really?

TALLON: Actually, I’m Alan Thicke in a bigger body.

HOUSER: Oh, then I don’t have to worry about getting any passes from you.

Later in the interview, Houser talks about how hockey has grown in Los Angeles over the past 20 years and how Wayne Gretzky coming to L.A. has increased interest in the Celebrity All-Star Team.

The game between the Celebrity All-Stars and Blackhawks Alumni was played sometime in September of 1989, and I recorded it on a VHS tape when it was televised a few weeks later in early October of 1989. (The Blackhawks even blacked out live broadcasts of charity hockey games back then. Seriously.) Thankfully, my VHS copy still works 30 years later, because the world needed to see Killer Carlson interviewing the future Panthers GM. ■

Love hockey culture and/or hockey collectibles? Join the new Puck Junk Facebook Group and follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.

Puck Junk Podcast: February 14, 2020

1989-90 Panini Hockey Stickers

In the latest episode of the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast, Sal Barry and Tim Parish take a look back 30 years ago at the 1989-90 Panini Hockey Sticker set. They also talk about the upcoming National Hockey Card Day, NBC firing Jeremy Roenick and more. Run time for this episode is a super-sized 107 minutes. Scroll down for show notes, links and images of the Panini set.

Show Notes and Links:
Jay Bouwmeester collapses at Blues’ bench (YouTube)
Jeremy Roenick’s video apology (Twitter)
National Hockey Card Day website (Upper Deck)
National Hockey Card Day – Trade Group (Facebook)
That time Bailey sent Sal some hockey cards in the mail (Puck Junk)
2019-20 Panini Select Hockey Cards (Panini America)
Review: 1988-89 Panini Hockey Sticker set (Puck Junk)
Ed Belfour Originally Wore Number 1 (Puck Junk)
Sal Finding 1989-90 Panini NHL Stickers at the Wisconsin Dells (Puck Junk)
Some images from the 1989-90 Panini NHL Sticker set:

Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Podcast intro and ending 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.

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

Buying Cards in the 1990s, Memory #3: The Wisconsin Dells Antique Mall

In August of 1997, my girlfriend (at the time) and I went on a spur-of-the-moment road trip to the Wisconsin Dells. For those who have never been there, “The Dells” is a touristy area about an hour or so north of Chicago that has tons of fun attractions like water parks, mini golf courses, go kart racing, boat tours, and indoor attractions too, such as the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! museum. Basically, good, cheap fun that 20-somethings could afford. One time, I even found some long-needed hockey goodness for my collection. Continue reading “Buying Cards in the 1990s, Memory #3: The Wisconsin Dells Antique Mall”

Review: 1989-90 Topps Hockey

It was the end of an era as we knew it. Actually, it was the end of several eras. The 1989-90 Topps Hockey set marked the last time that Topps was the only game in town when it came to hockey cards in the U.S. It was the fourth, and final, year in a row that Topps issued a 198-card hockey set. And it was the last time Topps would crudely alter photographs of players who were traded over the summer.

At a glance:
– 1989-90 Topps Hockey
– 198 cards
– Size: 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″
– Download checklist

If any set could represent the end of an era, it was this one.

Next year, the marketplace would expand, Topps would be overshadowed by newer companies making slicker products, and hockey card sets would balloon to upwards of 500 cards each.

So, let’s take a look back at 1989-90 Topps Hockey, and long for the days when a collector could build an entire set from only one box of cards.

Continue reading “Review: 1989-90 Topps Hockey”

Puck Junk Podcast #1 – May 12, 2015

…with your hosts, Sal Barry & Tim Parish!

Player not working? Listen to the podcast on Soundcloud.

This is the first in what will hopefully become a regular podcast series on this website, hosted by Sal Barry and Tim Parish. For those who don’t know, Tim maintains a sports card blog called The Real DFG and hangs out on Twitter @TheRealDFG.

Today, Sal and Tim talk about:

The Chicago Blackhawks sweep of the Minnesota Wild
The new 2014-15 O-Pee-Chee Platinum Hockey set
The 1989-90 Topps and O-Pee-Chee Hockey sets
How Pittsburgh was a big hockey town in the 1980s — and Chicago wasn’t

Total running time is 28:17. Images of some of the cards we talk about are after the jump. Continue reading “Puck Junk Podcast #1 – May 12, 2015”

Card of the Week: Me

1989-90 trading card of Sal Barry

Like most hockey fans, I too made an attempt to play the game. Having discovered hockey in January 1989, I quickly decided that it was a game that I must learn to play. I soon purchased a floor hockey stick, and encouraged all of my friends in the neighborhood to follow suit. By March of ’89, we were playing street hockey in the alley behind my Aunt’s house on a regular basis. But that was not good enough for me; I would also have to try my hand at ice hockey…real hockey. Continue reading “Card of the Week: Me”