Say the word “rookie” and the name Connor Bedard instantly comes to mind. It’s a reflex. None of us can help.
While the Chicago Blackhawks center may very well be on his way to taking the Calder Trophy, there are other rookies – even sleeper ones – that may be worth gobbling up now given that the majority of people are so laser-focused on acquiring Bedard.
Players like Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils and Leo Carlsson of the Anaheim Ducks have lived up to the preseason hype, although both have been overshadowed by Bedard mania. Both Hughes and Carlsson remain in the mix – although they are longshots – to capture the Calder.
Instead, here are five NHL rookies from this season (not named Bedard) who remain under the radar and worth chasing:
Plus: Connor Bedard’s OPC RC is on Fire!
Episode #179: February 17, 2024
In the latest episode of the Puck Junk Podcast, Sal and Tim talk all about the 2023-24 Topps NHL Sticker Collection. They also talk about the insane prices that Connor Bedard’s O-Pee-Chee Marquee Rookie card is selling for, the Penguins retiring Jaromir Jagr’s number 68, and more. It’s 95 minutes of hockey goodness!
Links Upper Deck My MVP Contest Website LastSticker.com is a great site for trading duplicate stickers with others
Follow Follow Sal Barry on X/Twitter @PuckJunk & Instagram @PuckJunk.1993-94
Follow Tim Parish on X/Twitter @TheRealDFG & Instagram @therealdfg66.
Follow Clemente Lisi on X/Twitter @ClementeLisi.
Podcast music by Retro Game Remix – follow them on YouTube.
Plus: The Return of Topps Now Stickers
Episode #168: October 18, 2023
In Episode #168 of the Puck Junk Podcast, Sal Barry and Tim Parish talk about the 2022-23 Black Diamond Hockey Card set. Other topics include the return of Topps Now Hockey Stickers and Game Dated Moments for 2023-24, Ebay’s revised policy for trading card listings, and how Tim organizes his Pittsburgh Penguins hockey card collection. It’s 83 minutes of hockey goodness!
Show Notes, Links & Images:
The first six Topps Now Hockey Stickers (Topps)
Info on Game Dated Moments (Upper Deck)
Revised Policy on Ebay Trading Card Listings (Ebay)
Ebay Trading Card Conditions Explained (Ebay)
Connor McDavid “Gold Label Edition” SportsPicks Figure (McFarlane Toys)
A few Images of 2022-23 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey Cards:
2022-23 Black Diamond base card2022-23 Black Diamond Rookie Gems2022-23 Black Diamond – Exquisite Collection Rookie Card2022-23 Black Diamond – Team Logo Jumbos Autograph2022-23 Black Diamond – Diamond Might insert card2022-23 Black Diamond – Relics jersey card
Plus: Tim’s Thoughts on ’20-21 The Cup
Episode #145: March 2, 2023
In this episode of the Puck Junk Podcast, Sal Barry and Tim Parish take a long look at the new 2022-23 Topps Hockey Sticker Album set. Tim also gives his thoughts on the recently-released 2020-21 The Cup set, as well as the upcoming 2020-21 SP Signature Legends set. Plus, Linus Ullmark’s “Goalie Goal,” Sal’s recent trip to see two Hurricanes games, and more. It’s 92 minutes of hockey goodness!
Show Notes, Links and Images: Video of the Goalie Goal scored by Linus Ulmark (Twitter)
Crawford under fire after hurling homophobic slur at referee (Yahoo!)
An example of the Bruce Boudreau meme (Video)
Tim’s Twitter thread with his observations on 2020-21 The Cup (Twitter)
2021-22 Topps Sticker of Seth Jones Topps that’s Photoshopped (TCDB)
Sal’s Box Breaks of 2022-23 Topps Hockey Stickers (Box 1, Box 2, Box 3)
Some pictures of 2022-23 Topps Hockey Stickers:
Base sticker design.Foil sticker design (superstar)Foil sticker design (mascot)Foil sticker design (team logo)Celly Season sticker designNHL Rookies sticker designArt of the Deke sticker designSeason Highlight sticker design2022-23 Topps Hockey Stickers Wrapper
The Law of Diminishing Returns is in full effect when opening packs of stickers. The first box is always fun because you need every sticker. The second box is also fun because you will need most of the stickers. Any box after that is will most likely be mostly doubles, with a few needed stickers mixed in. And that was pretty much the case with my third box of 2022-23 Topps Hockey Stickers. While most of it was doubles of stickers I got in my prior two boxes, I still got a lot of new stickers towards my set.
Here’s my breakdown of my third and final box of 2022-23 Topps Hockey Stickers.
It isn’t necessarily hard work, but it is time-consuming work.
For my second box of 2022-23 Topps Hockey Stickers, I streamlined opening the packs. Normally, I would open a pack, look through the stickers, and sort them by 100s. This time, I would open the pack and remove the stickers, but just put it in a pile until I opened 10 packs. Then, I’d thumb through the stickers and sort them. This seemed to make opening and sorting the stickers go much faster. With a pack of cards, I want to savor the moment, look at each card — and hopefully get a hit. With stickers, there are no “hits” and you don’t get anything rare; just four paper stickers and one foil sticker.
One of the packs was put into the box sideways. This caused some of the stickers to “curl,” but fortunately they were easy to flatten out. If they were creased, I’d be annoyed.
Another pack was — gasp! — missing a sticker.
Here’s my breakdown of my second box of 2022-23 Topps Hockey Stickers.
Every year, I usually purchase three or four boxes of Topps Hockey Stickers for the difficult-but-not-impossible task of completing the annual sticker album. This year’s sticker collection has 679 stickers: 539 regular stickers and 140 shiny “foil” stickers are needed to complete the album. Stickers measure 1-7/8″ wide by 2-5/8″ tall.
A few weeks prior to my birthday, my sister asked me what I wanted. I sent her a link to an online retailer who was selling boxes of 2022-23 Topps Hockey Stickers for about $38 per box. I asked for three boxes — asking for four seemed greedy — as well as two sticker albums. And before you ask, yes, it is because I put stickers in one album but still want to have an empty, “mint” album. Weird, I know, but what do you expect from a guy who blogs about hockey cards and collectibles?
2022-23 Topps Hockey Sticker pack.
A box of 2022-23 Topps Hockey Stickers has 50 packs, with each pack containing five stickers — four regular “paper” stickers and one shiny “foil” sticker. This year, the stickers have soft paper backings instead of the hard backings of the prior three years, which made the stickers seem more like little trading cards. Also, the wrappers are not like trading card wrappers that are “crimped” shut at the top and bottom edges. This year, the wrappers are two pieces of paper glued together, just like the way Panini stickers were. No idea why Topps made these changes, but my guess is that it was to cut down on production costs.
The three boxes that I was gifted — thanks, sis! — would put me at 750 stickers. I know that many of those will be doubles, so there will be some trading involved.
And that’s another thing that makes collecting Topps Hockey Stickers so challenging: you can’t just buy the last few stickers you need from Topps. When Panini was producing an annual hockey sticker album from the late 1980s to the late 2010s, you could purchase the last few stickers that you needed directly from them. It wasn’t cost-efficient for buying a whole set, but if you needed 30 stickers or less, it was a worthwhile option. With Topps, you have to trade with other collectors, keep buying packs, or overpay on eBay, to finish your album.
No one said collecting was easy. Or cheap.
Anyway, let’s see what the breakdown was like for my first box of 2022-23 Topps Hockey Stickers.
October, as far as the NHL is concerned, is all about beginnings. It’s the start of a new season. After a long summer, fans across North America are excited to watch their favorite teams once again.
For those of us who collect hockey cards and memorabilia, it’s the start of a new collecting season. We’re all eagerly anticipating Upper Deck Series 1 to come out, scouring the checklist to see which “Young Guns” cards to gobble up and what will the inserts look like this time.
This is also a time for me to take out the crystal ball and make some predictions for the next 12 months. These are largely based on experience and observation – no guarantees that I’ll be correct – but it is something to ponder as you enjoy the season.
Collectors have already gotten a chance to whet their appetites with Upper Deck MVP, which is both affordable and plentiful (at least at my local Target), if you’re looking for a fun rip before the puck officially drops on the 2022-23 season.
Here are five things to watch for over the course of the season:
Plus: The NHL ’23 Video Game Cover
Episode #127 – September 2, 2022
This week, Sal Barry and Tim Parish discuss and debate what four trading cards are THE most important, most significant, most iconic pieces of cardboard to depict a hockey player. Or rather, what four cards should be on the “Mount Rushmore of Hockey Cards.” Sure, you have to have the Wayne Gretzky rookie card up there. But what would the other three be? Plus, the guys talk about the upcoming NHL ’23 video game and how it will feature two cover athletes — including, for the first time, a woman hockey player. It’s one hour and 25 minutes of hockey goodness!
