Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
This week was fun to write about. The big news was that the NHL and ESPN agreed to a new broadcast deal bringing NHL games back to ESPN. In addition to my take on the new broadcast deal, I’ll weigh in on a contract that I predicted a few years ago, as well as my all-time favorite hockey/music collaboration.
Happy Monday!
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: The NHL Partners with ESPN for New TV Rights”
Last week was perhaps the most exciting week of the NHL season. The league hosted two outdoor games at Lake Tahoe. The broadcast was incredible and the league might have created one of the most-attractive made-for-TV sporting experiences we’ve seen yet. I’ll share my thoughts on the Lake Tahoe experiment in this week’s column.
In addition to the outdoor games, the past week wasn’t short for headlines. New Jersey named their newest captain and a few other milestones were achieved. As usual, I’ll also share with you one of my favorite plays of the week.
Happy Monday!
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: Outdoor Games at Lake Tahoe”
Sunday night marked the end of the Qualifying round and the beginning of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The most important takeaway of that sentence is that the NHL has succeeded in building a bubble to protect players and staff from COVID-19. Because of that, the odds that a Stanley Cup champion will be crowned in 2020 look higher than ever.
The Qualifying Round was exciting and upsets were plentiful. In this week’s column, I’ll revisit some of the most notable matchups of the Qualifying Round and a few other interesting tidbits from the last week.
Keep staying safe everyone.
Collector Daniel Gilchrist has collected everything and anything related to Nikolai Khabibulin for 25 years. He owns several game-used goalie sticks, a game-used jersey and game-used goalie pads once worn by “The Bulin Wall.” He also has dozens of autographs and thousands of cards of Khabibulin, who is — if you haven’t guessed it by now — Gilchrist’s favorite player.
Gilchrist set out on one of his biggest collecting goals in 2016 when he decided to track down all 24 Nikolai Khabibulin logo patch cards from the 2013-14 Upper Deck Edmonton Oilers Collection trading card set. Although the pieces of Oilers logo aren’t from a game-worn jersey, they are still a sight to be seen when assembled. Gilchrist recently talked with Puck Junk about what challenges there were in his quest to collect all 24 logo patch cards of his favorite player.
Sal Barry: How long have you been a hockey card collector?
Daniel Gilchrist: Since I was 14. My family moved from Winnipeg to Edmonton in 1988, a few days after Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Kings. My cousins sent me a care package when we moved, and it had a bunch of hockey cards in it, including a Brett Hull rookie card. That’s how I got started.
SB: How did Nikolai Khabibulin become your favorite player?
DC: It’s actually a pretty funny story. Continue reading “The Quest for Khabibulin”
I hope you’re all healthy and safe during this quarantine season. It was a busy week for me as I celebrated my 25th birthday last Monday. To stay busy, I’ve been exclusively watching full movie series in my spare time. I’ve watched all five films in the Jason Bourne series. I’ve also watched all three Star Wars trilogies. Yes, all three TRILOGIES, and Solo, which was surprisingly much better than I expected it to be.
In hockey news, it was a sad week. Over the weekend, we lost Edmonton Oilers player Colby Cave, who was 25-years-old. Obviously, nothing else comes close to the importance of the loss of Cave. However, discussions have taken place on how to move forward with the season after quarantine ends. More on that below.
Lastly, Happy Easter and happy Passover to all my monotheistic homies. Here’s a song I recommend you turn up to if you’re celebrating either, or just want to jam.
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: The NHL Brainstorms Ways to Continue the Season”
Last week we saw a few major trades in the NHL. I’ll dive deep into those and why I think all teams involved actually made smart decisions. I’ve scoured the internet for a few other takes I think everyone will enjoy, too!
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: The Trade Deadline Approaches”
Last week was really all about the Battle of Alberta. The Flames and Oilers faced off twice and neither game was a disappointment. This week’s column is better suited to be a review of a boxing match than a hockey column. I’ll dive into all the punches thrown and gloves dropped up in Western Canada as well as share my thoughts on one of my new favorite hockey-related beverages. Happy Monday!
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: The Battle of Alberta Strikes Again”
In this week’s episode of the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast, Sal Barry and Tim Parish talk about the upcoming 2020 NHL All-Star Game — including the 3-on-3 women’s game that will take place during the Skills Competition. Plus, Gerard Gallant’s firing, Patrick Kane joining the 1000-point club, and more. This podcast is 1 hour and 5 minutes of pure hockey goodness!
Show Notes and Links:
Here is what the 2020 NHL All-Star Game jerseys look like (picture).
And here is a visual history of NHL All-Star Game jerseys (pictures).
Did you see Dougie Hamilton’s leg injury? Ouch! (video)
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. ■
In this week’s episode of the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast, Sal Barry and Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard talk about the blowup between Zack Kassian and Matthew Tkachuk. Other topics include the New Jersey Devils firing GM Ray Shero — yes, we’re calling it a firing! — the Carolina Hurricanes’ “Whalers Night,” Pekka Rinne’s goalie goal and more.
Show Notes and Links:
Zack Kassian Ragdolls Matthew Tkachuk (video)
Why the New Jersey Devils fired GM Ray Shero now, and what’s next (ESPN)
Martin Brodeur’s Enterprise Commercial (video)
Review of Ken Dryden’s book Game Change (link)
Ilya Kovalchuk’s first goal with the Canadiens (video)
Jeremy Roenick’s Apology (video)
Pekka Rinne’s goalie goal (video)
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. ■
In this edition of Blake’s Takes, I’ll share my thoughts on the latest chapter in the Battle of Alberta and chaos that ensured last weekend. There was a goalie goal last week — and I can’t ignore that. I’ll take a look at why I think Auston Matthews is the NHL’s coolest player.
