Junior Hockey Archives

Box Break: 2023 Team Canada Juniors Hockey Cards

The 2023 Team Canada Juniors set was released in November of 2023. The set features Canadian players who played in the 2023 Under-20 World Junior Championship and the 2023 Under-18 World Junior Championship, as well as women who play on the Canadian Women’s National Team.

2023 Team Canada Juniors hockey cards cost around $230 for a 15-pack hobby box. Each pack has six cards. The box – which pictures Connor Bedard on it – claims that you can get “at least 4 hits per box!” Bedard also happens to be the main reason why a box of 2023 Team Canada Juniors is rather pricey; it is possible to get an autographed card of Bedard, who was drafted first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2023. Bedard also has two cards in the base set, one card in the short-printed “Program of Excellence” subset, several insert cards – plus the plethora of parallels those cards have.

In other words, if you are looking for cards of Connor Bedard, this is a good box to break.

Besides autographed cards, other hits you can get in a box of these cards includes a jersey card or a high-end insert card printed on plexiglass.

I recently opened a hobby box of 2023 Team Canada Juniors. Here is what was inside.

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Clemente’s Corner: Top 5 Connor Bedard Cards to Collect Before He’s Drafted

Hockey fans are already looking forward to the start of next season with the 2023 NHL Draft that’s slated to take place on June 28 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

For only the second time in team history, the Chicago Blackhawks will select the No. 1 overall pick after winning the top spot in last month’s NHL Draft Lottery. The Blackhawks have only had the first pick once and that was in 2007 when the team selected Patrick Kane, who helped Chicago win three Stanley Cups. Sixteen years later, the Blackhawks will most likely add highly-touted prospect Connor Bedard to their 2023-24 roster.

Bedard has had a busy few weeks. Earlier this month, he was one of 106 prospects invited to take part in this year’s NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo. He was also recognized as the most outstanding player in Canadian Major Junior Hockey and given the CHL David Branch Player of the Year Award. This past season, Bedard was ranked the No. 1 North American skater by NHL Central Scouting ahead of draft after finishing first in points in the WHL this season with 143 points (71 goals and 72 assists) in 57 games.

Bedard, who turns 18 on July 17, has been called a generational talent who many have already compared to Connor McDavid. Collectors will have plenty Bedard cards to chase later this year. His Young Guns card and other Upper Deck rookies are likely to turn next season’s releases into some of the most-sought after products in the entire hobby.

For now, there are several options out there for those looking to collect cards of the budding center, especially for those who like junior league and national team cards. These cards don’t generally get hobby love, but they are fun to collect and do give people a chance to get their hands on cards of Bedard before he makes his professional debut.

Here are five Connor Bedard cards to collect ahead of this year’s draft:

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2021-22 SP Game Used CHL Edition Hockey Box Break

Released in March of 2023, the 2021-22 SP Game Used CHL Edition set focuses on players from the Canadian Hockey League — that is, major junior players from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Western Hockey League (WHL), and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Needless to say, one big reason a set like this is desirable is because it has cards of Connor Bedard, who is expected to be taken first overall at the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.

Boxes of 2021-22 SP Game Used CHL Edition Hockey have just five packs, with each pack containing three cards, for a total of 15 cards. Each box guarantees at least four hits per box, which may be a game-used jersey card, an autographed card, or an autographed jersey patch card. Boxes sold out relatively fast at hobby shops and online card retailers, and are now commanding upwards of $300 per box on eBay. Let’s just say the Connor Bedard hype is real.

I opened a box of 2021-22 SP Game Used CHL Edition. Let’s see what’s inside.

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Book Review – Conflicted Scars: An Average Player’s Journey to the NHL

It seems like every NHL player who has some degree of success writes a book when their career comes to an end. But what about the thousands of players who don’t make it to the NHL? What sacrifices did they make — and what scars did they pick up — along the way to ultimately fall short of reaching their dreams? In “Conflicted Scars: An Average Player’s Journey to the NHL”, ex-NHL draft pick Justin Davis talks about the hazing by teammates, horrid living conditions, and health risks he endured while playing major junior in the Ontario Hockey League. The physical scars may quickly heal, but emotional scars sometimes take decades to even be discovered before the healing can begin.

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Blake’s Takes: I Love Honey Butter Chicken

I swear every time I delay my column by a day all hell breaks loose. Thankfully, that’s a good thing. For this week’s takes, I’ll walk you through my trip to the United Center when I watched my Red Wings lose to the Blackhawks. I’ll also cover the World Junior Championships and take a look at how the Dallas Stars are the league’s most unlucky franchise.

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The 10 Biggest Hockey Stories of 2017-18

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

Before we fully turn our attention to the season that lies ahead, here is a look back at the biggest hockey stories of the 2017-18 season.

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Chicago Steel 2017 Clark Cup Champions Trading Card

The Chicago Blackhawks may have been eliminated in the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but that doesn’t mean Chicago is without a championship hockey team. Back in May, the Chicago Steel won the Clark Cup as the best team in the United States Hockey League. The USHL is the premier Junior A league in the U.S. The Steel took the best-of-five series three games to two over the Sioux City Musketeers. The Steel won Game Five 2-1 in overtime — while on the road, no less.

This Chicago Steel “Clark Cup Champions 2017” card was given away by the Steel at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Continue reading “Chicago Steel 2017 Clark Cup Champions Trading Card”

Joe Thornton’s First Hockey Card

Two decades before he would grow the most famous playoff beards in NHL history, “Jumbo” Joe Thornton was a teenager, with nary a whisker, playing major junior hockey. This hockey card from the 1995-96 Slapshot OHL set is of a 16-year old Thornton playing for the Sault Ste. Marie (“Soo”) Greyhounds. The back shows a fresh-faced Thornton, 30 pounds lighter and with much less hair. Continue reading “Joe Thornton’s First Hockey Card”