Archive for April, 2010

First off, I know I missed Bruins Friday but I have been absolutely OVERWHELMED with work, coaching, and grad classes. This week is school break, but I will be spending most of it on two research papers/projects. Once this week is over, my schedule gets infinitely easier and I’ll be posting more. I’ve picked up a couple of nice cards off of eBay that I want to write about and Bruins Friday can’t experience back-to-back blackouts.

Anyways…

Today was a small card show in my area that was benefiting the local Little League. I’m talking like 10 tables at best. Lot a ton to pick from, but I managed to snag two cards; one that fits my collection and one that was a total impulse buy.

First, there is this:

A nice on-card autograph of Yzerman. Like most Yzerman autos, this one books high ($80) but I got it for a deal ($40). It’s sort of a boring card design wise, but I like the big space for the signature. I can cross him off my list.

The next card was a total impulse buy:

A dual patch card of Doug Gilmour and Theoren Fleury. I am very much anti-jersey/patch cards; they’ve never done anything for me, but this card just popped out to my eyes. I absolutely LOVE the colours and I’ve always had a soft sport in my heart for Fleury. It may not show up that well in the scan, but the white on the Gilmour patch is a little dirty which I like.

I also picked up a couple packs of Champ’s but didn’t pull anything big. I now have a stack of them that I am willing to trade. I was initially going to build the normal sized set, but have scrapped that idea. I do, however, want to build the Presidents and Prime Ministers set, so if you have any for trade, let’s deal!

Also, how ’bout them Bruins?!

And finally…

I love Mike Milbury. I love the way he played, the way he coached, and that he is one of the most outspoken and quotable hockey guys going.

Milbury is a Bruin through and through. He was born in Brighton, MA, played twelve seasons with the Bruins, coached them for another two, and has been with NESN as an anaylst for a few years now.

He wasn’t the greatest player ever to lace up the skates, but he was a perfect fit for Don Cherry’s Bruins. Along with Cashman, O’Reilly, Wensink, and Jonathan, the Bruins were a blue-collar team who took nothing from no one. Remember, he was the guy in the famous Rangers-Bruins brawl who beat a fan with his own shoe!

Milbury made his debut with the Bruins during the 75-76 season, playing in only three regular season games but eleven of the twelve playoff games the B’s were involved in. The next season he was up for good. He was a solid presence on the blue line and would help anchor it for the rest of his career. He was also a very good leader, both on and off the ice. He stuck up for teammates and was a vocal presence in the locker room and with the NHLPA. He was also a tough dude. His topped 200+ penalty minutes twice during his career and routinely racked up over 100. He retired from playing after the 86-87 season, accumulating 49 goals, 289 assists, and 238 total points. He would appear in the playoffs eleven times during his twelve seasons, making it to the Stanley Cup Finals twice. I want to list him as an enforcer, but he was more of a scrapper than a goon.

Two years after retiring, Milbury becamse coach of the Bruins and led them to the Stanley Cup Finals during his first season. They would ultimately fall to the Oilers in five. The next season, he led the team to the Conference Finals but lost to the Penguins in six. I can’t remember the reasons why, but he left the club after that season. He would later become the GM (and sometimes coach) of the New York Islanders. I’m sure most Islander fans despise Milbury for the various trades he pulled the trigger on. During his time as GM, he traded away the following players:

Zdeno Chara
Wade Redden
Bryan McCabe
Roberto Luongo
Olli Jokinen
Todd Bertuzzi

He stepped down as GM after the 2006 season and turned to television. He currently does analyst work for NBC, TSN, and NESN. Healso has a show on NESN with Andy Brickley and Jack Edwards (ugh!) called The Instigators that tackles any Bruins and/or hockey issues at hand. The promo for the show is funny because they all have to act tough and have a “take no prisoners” attitude, but Milbury is the only one who is tough. Edwards is five-foot nothing and can’t weigh more than 100 pounds soaking wet. Also, he has never played professional hockey, so he is constantly overmatched and overpowered by Milbury and Brickley. But I digress…

The 77-78 OPC card is Milbury’s rookie. Pretty plain design, but so are most of the releases from any sport during the late 70′s. I like the back more than the front, especially the little trivia cartoon at the bottom. And no, I did not know Mike was recruited by Colgate to play football. I also like the hockey stick on the left. One thing I’m curious about, though, is the “Look For NHL Products” in the bottom left corner. What do they mean? Shirts? Hats? Beer mugs?

I am leaving you with a clip of Milbury getting the best of future Sabres coach, Lindy Ruff and some quotes:

“We’re rolling the dice here a little bit. Roberto Luongo is going to be an excellent goaltender in this league. He is a class act and a kid I know we would have been happy to ride with. But hell, I’ve gotta send him off.”

“It’s unbelievable that after more than 30 years in the game, pummeling a guy with his loafer will be my legacy. But I guess it’s better than having no legacy at all.”

“They came with their Eurotrash game.” (Referring to the 2010 Olympic Russian hockey team)