Down to eight teams heading into the 1977-78 season, the World Hockey Association was on its last legs, but that did not stop them from being involved in a trading card project for the fourth straight year. The 1977-78 O-Pee-Chee WHA set marked the end of an era, whether or not collectors cared much at the time. Even now, it appears that O-Pee-Chee got a little overzealous … [Read more...]
Top Banner 486X60
MVP Rookie Recall: Collecting Ryan O’Reilly’s Rookie Cards
Winning the Stanley Cup is one of the greatest thrills in professional sports and while it is always a team effort needed to raise that silver mug aloft, one individual from that club usually is named the postseason's Most Valuable Player and goes home with the Conn Smythe Trophy. As St. Louis won their first championship in 2019, the player that went the extra mile was Ryan … [Read more...]
Bill Durnan: Hockey’s Greatest Forgotten Legend?
With no major issue hockey cards hitting the market between the 1941-42 and 1950-51 seasons, there is a generation of NHL players that have a limited cardboard legacy. Many great names came and went during this period, but there is likely none greater than Montreal Canadiens goaltender Bill Durnan. When hockey cards boomed in the early 1990s, many collectors wisely invested … [Read more...]
The 3,000 Club: Collecting the Rookie Cards of Hockey’s Greatest Enforcers
No matter how you feel about fighting in hockey, it has long been a part of the game and only nine of the game's greatest enforcers have racked up over 3,000 penalty minutes during the regular season over their respective careers. When it comes to collecting, though, most of this group have a loyal following and there are plenty of options out there for collectors to consider … [Read more...]
Frank Brimsek: Mr. Zero, American Hero
The days of old time hockey had a scant few American-born stars outside of Hall of Famers like Frank Goheen and Hobey Baker, but no player from the United States had been a superstar in the NHL before the arrival of Frank Brimsek with the Boston Bruins in 1938-39. Today's collectors may not realize his significance within the game and the hobby itself, but now is as good a time … [Read more...]
1978-79 O-Pee-Chee: Goodbye Bobby, Hello Mike
With the NHL and WHA in the final stages of their seven-year battle, hockey card collectors were surprised to see that there would only be cards from one of the leagues and welcomed the 1978-79 O-Pee-Chee set with open arms. For the fifth straight season, O-Pee-Chee's set was made up of 396 cards. The set is a major source of frustration for those wanting to put a high-grade … [Read more...]
Hockey’s 10 Most Underrated Rookie Cards Of The 1980s
For the generation that grew up watching hockey in the 1980s, there are plenty of heroes from that era which are still heavily praised. The exploits of players like Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and many others are well-remembered, but there are also those that were stars at the time which have been forgotten or are in danger of fading into the ether of hockey … [Read more...]
Beantown Beginnings: Collecting the Original Boston Bruins
With the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final once again, it is a perfect time to reflect on the team’s rather humble beginnings and examine the first hockey cards featuring one of the game’s most popular franchise. Before the 1924-25 season, the National Hockey League was in its infancy and limited itself to just two Canadian provinces. In Ontario, you had the Ottawa … [Read more...]
10 Important Old School St. Louis Blues Cards
The St. Louis Blues are challenging for the first Stanley Cup in franchise history and it conjures up memories of some of the players that helped pave the way along with their best O-Pee-Chee (and in some cases, Topps) hockey cards. As part of the NHL's great expansion of 1967, the team was an early success with three straight trips to the Stanley Cup Final thanks to a … [Read more...]
The Illustrious 11: Collecting the Hockey Hall of Fame’s First Class
A great deal of attention gets paid to baseball's original Hall of Fame class from 1936, but in other sports, there is less discussion about their pioneering players and builders. In the case of the Hockey Hall of Fame, the first group of inductees were an impressive group - even if some of those names have been forgotten today. Some of them are still relevant to modern … [Read more...]
