Archive for March, 2010

Today’s Friday Bruin is also the Mystery eBay Purchase and already one of my favourite cards ever, a Fred Cusick autograph. Before I get into why I love this card, let’s learn a little about Mr. Cusick.

Fred Cusick was a graduate of Northeastern and a veteran of the second World War. He got his start as a radio announcer for the Bruins in 1952 and held the position until 1970. In 1971, he switched to television and became the play-by-play man, first for WSBK-TV Channel 38 and later for the New England Sports Network (NESN). He provided TV play-by-play for 27 years before retiring from the Bruins organization in 1997. He would continue to announce for the AHL Lowell Lock Monsters alongside Brad Park until 2002. He would also announce the game of the week for the Cape Cod Baseball League in 2007, at the age of 90.

Back to his NHL career for a second. In 1984, he was awarded the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in recognition of members of the radio and television industry who made outstanding contributions to their profession and the game during their career in hockey broadcasting. That same year, he was also inducted into the Hall of Fame. In 1988, he was awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy for outstanding service to hockey int he United States.

In 2006, Cusick released his autobiography Fred Cusick: Voice of the Bruins. I have not yet read it, but plan to in the very near future.

For me, Fred Cusick was the voice of the Bruins. Many a night, I sat with my father, watched the Bruins, and listened to Cusick call the action, waiting for his enthusiastic “SCORE!” At the time, his color guy on NESN was Derek Sanderson and the two are forever burned into my earliest Bruins memories. Whenever I listen to Jack Edwards, I cringe a little and wish that Cusick was calling the action.

When Fred Cusick died early this season, I was deeply saddened. I had been eyeballing this card for a long time, but never pulled the trigger. I happened upon this one recently for a mere $3.99 plus s/h and pounced on it.

The card itself is alright. I’m not a big fan of vertical autographs, but it is rare that card companies feature non-player autos. I wish more companies would, actually. I would love for there to be autographs of sports writers, more announcers, and officials. Heck, I think it would be pretty cool to own a Gary Bettman autographed card even though I think the man is a buffoon. Cusick and his signature are also featured on a Beehive card from 05-06 and I think I might actually prefer that card to this, but for the price, I could not pass this one up.

Anyways, I love this card because it brings back all sorts of memories for me: me and my father, Craig Janney and Adam Oates threading the needle, Derek Sanderson never admitting on-air that a Bruin lost a fight, Cam Neely slipping one past Patrick Roy, Andy Moog and Reggie Lemelin teaming up to make save after save, Ray Bourque blistering one from the point, and the list goes on.

Here’s to you, Fred.

Joe Mullen is one of those guys you might see a card of and think to yourself, “He was a pretty good player wasn’t he?” And then you find out he is in the Hall of Fame and you start thinking, “Was he really that good?” Look for yourself.

Mullen was a very good college player, averaging more than a goal a game during his career at Boston College. He was closing to playing for the 1980 Olympic Team (they were alright from what I hear) but decided to sign with the St. Louis Blues instead because the money was just too much to pass up.

Mullen played his first game with the Blues during the 79-80 Stanley Cup Finals, but would have to wait until the 81-82 season to really start his NHL career. During that season, a 24 year old Mullen would score 25 goals to go along with 34 assists for a total of 59 points in only 45 games; he was up for good. He would go on to play for the Blues for four and a half seasons, scoring over 40 or more goals twice, before being traded to the Calgary Flames during the 85-86 season. During that season, he would score a total of 47 goals between the two teams.

He would stay with Calgary for the next four and a half seasons. Mullen enjoyed some of his finest offensive numbers during his time with the Flames. He put up back to back 40+ goal seasons before tossing up a 51 goal outburst during the 88-89 season. He would also tally 59 assists, putting him over 100 total points (110) for the first and only time of his career. More importantly, he won his first Stanley Cup that season. He ended the playoffs with 16 goals in 21 games. He also won his second Lady Byng Trophy that season (86-7 was his first) and made the NHL All-Star 1st Team.

After one more season with Calgary, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was a consistent performer in Pittsburgh and helped them win back-to-back Stanley Cups (90-91 and 91-92). He also put up another 40+ goal season and two 30+ goal seasons.  He would play in Pittsburgh until the 95-96 season, when he signed with the Boston Bruins as a free agent. It was an uneventful season in Boston and he would return to Pittsburgh the following season, his last. It was during this season that he scored his 500th career goal, a first for an American-born player. He was also the only American-born player to tally over 1000 total points, a feat that has only been accomplished by six others since. He finished his career with 1063 points in 1062 games.

For me, his credentials are certainly HOF worthy. If you score over 500 goals, 1000 points, and average a point-per-game, you have a strong case to be in the Hall of Fame. Three Stanley Cups does not hurt either. What I think really helps him, though, is the fact that he is an American-born player. When he retired, he was the best there was numbers wise for the Americans and he still holds up today. Maybe Canadians feel differently about him, I don’t know.

He was inducted into the HOF in 2000.

I can’t say much about this card. It comes from the boring early-80′s OPC only design. I do like the old Blues logo, but that doesn’t save this card. What does save this card is the back. OPC deemed is necessary to tell everyone that Joe Mullen is a bachelor. If I remember correctly, the said the same thing about Denis Savard. Apparently OPC doubled as a dating service for NHL greats. I’m pretty certain Joe did alright for himself, though, what with the curly blonde hair and all. This card also tells me that Garry Unger has the most career goals with 292. What it does not tell me is that he has the most career goals within the Blues organization. Fact fail!

This Hall of Famer rookie card lists for a measly $8. What?!?! That is just ridiculous, especially considering that Neal Broten’s rookie card is in the same set and books for $10.