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The other day I went to check the mail expecting the usual pile of junk mail and bills, but today was different. There was an envelope from Sal who runs the hockey card blog, Puck Junk.com. I wasn't expecting anything like this at all so this was a great surprise. I opened the envelope to find a 1979-80 Topps Bobby Smith rookie card. This is very exciting not only to own a Bobby Smith rookie, who played for my favorite team ever; The Minnesota North Stars, but this is my first and so far only card from the infamous 1979-80 set.
As anyone who collects hockey cards knows, the 1979-80 Topps/O-Pee-Chee set contains the infamous Wayne Gretzky rookie card. In semi-related history; Smith as a junior playing for the Ottawa 67's in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League or the OMJHL set league records for the most points and most assists in a single season during 1977-78. He compiled 69 goals and 123 assists for a total of 192 points, beating out Wayne Gretzky(182 points) for the scoring title and winning also the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy. In 1979 he also won the Calder Trophy for being the "most proficient rookie in the the NHL". Smith played for 5 years with the North Stars before being traded to the Montreal Canadiens during the 1983-84 season. Smith and the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in 1986. He continued to play for the Canadiens until 1990 when he came back to the North Stars to finish out his hockey playing career in 1993.
After his playing career, Smith went on to be the majority owner of the OMJHL's Halifax Mooseheads and he also served as the General Manager of the Phoenix Coyotes from 1997-2000, which Gretzky would come to co-own in 2001, coincidence? Probably.
To wrap things up I wold just like to say thanks to Sal for the "Puck Junk" mail. I really appreciate it and hopefully I'll come across something else that I can send your way.
Finally the 2009-10 hockey season has started and I'm back at blogging, I'm going to tell you all that my summer was busy, but it wasn't, but you don't need to know that...wait, what? You didn't hear that did you? Anyway the season is underway and I need to write about some darn cards so here we go.
I picked up my first two packs of the 09-10 season and here they are.
2009-10 Fleer Ultra:
#146 - Alexander Ovechkin
#152 - David Steckel
#229 - Matt Beleskey: Ultra Rookie, Gold Medallion
#10 - Marc Savard
#31 - Patrick Kane
Final Thoughts: An Ovechkin right out of the gate, that is pretty sweet. That might just be a sign of things to come this season. Let's see if Patrick Kane can make it through the season without beating anyone up over $1.80. Marc Savard is off to a great start this season with 1 goal and 2 assists after the Bruins second game. Ultra redesigned their cards a little this year, changing how the name looks at the bottom and moving it to the sides of each card, except for the horizontal cards they are still located at the bottom. A new design and a low per pack price will make me come back and buy some more for sure. Good product Ultra as usual.
2009-10 Upper Deck Victory:
#67 - Fabian Brunnstrom
#94 - Dustin Brown
#116 - Martin Brodeur
#125 - Kyle Okposo
#136 - Jason Spezza
#SG34 - Thomas Vanek: Stars of the Game Insert
Final Thoughts: Brunnstrom had a pretty good rookie season last year putting up some pretty good numbers for playing only 55 games. This season he already has an assist in 1 game. Brown is also a player that has been getting better each year that he plays, he also has 1 assist in the Kings first game this year so far. Brodeur is always a nice pull, always a reliable player. It's nice to see Okposo doing well even though I hated watching him and his college team the Minnesota Gophers play against my "home" team the UMD Bulldogs a few years back. I really like how the Stars of the Game inserts look, I liked them last year and I like them this year. Overall I've always liked the Victory cards and I think that they are great for the budget conscious of us. They actual cards are not worth too much, but if you want to collect some nice looking cards that feature all the best players, than this is the set for you.
Hockey's back folks!
Being Minnesota born and raised, it should come as no surprise that I grew up on the North Stars. When they left I was very disappointed, but low and behold 7 years later we got another team, this time the Wild? What kind of name is the Wild? Anyway I was just happy to have a team again to root for, but I always thought that their jersey's were just a tad cheesy. Today though the Wild's new third jersey was leaked online. It was supposed to be unveiled at the State Fair on August 30th, but Icethetics broke it, along with a few other teams jerseys and a possible new logo for the Florida Panthers. I'm focusing on the Wild though, so without further ado:
I think that it looks pretty nice and I like that they have a star dotting the i and having it run all the way across the t. It's almost a reminder of the North Stars of old. I look forward to seeing them on the ice and I hope that they stick around for awhile, because in the past 3rd jersey have not always been a huge hit...I'm looking at you the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
I've been meaning to write some more, but this summer has been kicking my butt and I can't seem to find the time to buy any cards, let alone write about them. A month or so back though I did buy a pack of cards that I've never seen before, but they were very cool looking and the right price.
1994-95 Parkhurst 1956-57 Parkies: This is obviously a reprint of Parkhurst's 1956-57 set. Ah 1956, when men were men and those men didn't wear helmets and goalies didn't wear masks. Also there were only 6 teams in the NHL so chances are that if you buy 2 or more packs your going to pull a lot of the same team, in fact in 1 of my packs every card was a New York Ranger, albeit all different players. I bought 3 packs and here is the cream of the crop from those packs.
#92 - Lorne "Gump" Worsley
#24 - Ed Litzenberger
#19 - Marcel Bonin
#66 - Henri Richard
#72 - Jacques Plante
#155 - Lindsay Loses Battle
#103 - Johnny Bower
#141 - Glenn Hall: Second Team All-Star
#165 - Gump Stops Leafs
Final Thoughts: This is a very cool reprint set featuring some of the best players ever to play the game and a very recognizable card design. I could totally collect more sets like this and I just may do that in the future.
I'm going to try and post some more. Please believe me, I will, but for what I lack this summer, once October rolls around and the season starts back up, things on this blog will restart a-rollin'. Just have faith in me and stick around.
Man! it's been a long time since I've written anything. I've been pretty busy, at least that's what I'm going to tell you anyway.
Now that the Stanley Cup Finals are over I've noticed a sever lack of hockey cards in the stores, but leave it to my local card shop to rise above the call of duty and get a box of 2008-09 Black Diamond.
I bought 3 packs and didn't get much of anything, but on my 4th and last pack I pulled a very sweet card:
#173 - Mr. Hockey (Gordie Howe): Quad Diamond
Needless to say that I was pretty happy about that, but I still don't understand why his name on all of the Upper Deck cards are labeled as Mr. Hockey. Is his name under a copyright? Are they just playing up the fact that he is one of the best players ever to play the game? I don't know, but if someone knows, please clue me in. I would appreciate it.
Over at Puck Junk!
Sal is opening his treasure trove of shiny team logo stickers for us fans of his blog. So head on over to check out the rules and maybe, just maybe you could be walking down the halls of your school next fall being stopped by all the chicks (or dudes) asking where you got that sweet looking Mighty Ducks sticker for your trapper keeper.
