Archive for May, 2010

I’ve been waiting to post about Maurice Richard for a while now and figured today was a perfect storm of reasons to finally do it. First, today is the ten year anniversary of Richard’s passing. Secondly, this is my 50th blog entry and Richard was the first player to net 50 goals in a season. Makes sense, right? So without further ado, let’s do this.

I’m going to gloss over Richard’s playing career because as impressive as it was, I think there is something more important to talk about with him. So here are the bare bones of his career:

-18 season, all with the Canadiens
-First player to net 50 goals in a season (and did it in 50 games)
-First player to reach 500 career goals (ended with 544)
-8 time Stanley Cup winner
-Hart Trophy winner
-5 time season goal leader
-14 time NHL All-Star Team selection (8 1st team, 6 2nd team)
-13 All Star Games

So there you go, a VERY impressive career. But we all knew that. What I want to talk about is Richard as an icon.

I went to college in Montreal and happened to be there when Richard passed away. I am not spewing out hyperbole when I say that the city shut down. I had and have never experienced anything quite like it; people walked around in a state of mourning, everyone wore a Richard jersey, tributes were set up, etc. I thought to myself, “Why is this such a big deal?” And that’s when I started to read up a bit.

In Montreal, the Canadiens are EVERYTHING and Maurice Richard was the face of that organization for a long, long time. He was a native Quebecois and spent almost his entire life in Montreal. He played with fire and passion and the fans loved him for it. When Richard was suspended for three games and the playoffs, fans rioted. During that same suspension, when Bernie Geoffrion overtook Richard for the total points lead, fans booed Boom Boom…THERE OWN PLAYER!

When he retired at the beginning of the 60-61 season, the customary three year waiting period for the Hall of Fame was waived and he was elected in 1961. He served as an official ambassador for the Canadiens and the NHL for most of his post-playing life. The Canadiens would donate the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy to the NHL which is awarded to the leading goal scorer each season.

When Richard died, he was given a provincial state funeral, the first time an athlete had been given the honour in Canadian history. It was broadcast live over all of Canada; I watched it. Former teammates, hockey greats, and even the Canadian PM Jean Chrétien were in attendance. Approximately 115,000 people paid their respects to Richard when his body laid in state in the Molson Centre and the streets were lined 5-6 deep during the procession. It wasn’t just a great player they were mourning, but a legend.

If you want to see how much Richard meant to the people of Montreal, all you need to do is look at this YouTube clip:

When the old Forum was being shut down, the team invited all-time Habs legends to the last home game for honours. Richard was the last to be introduced and he received a 6 minute ovation. Now, 6 minutes may not seem like a long time, but try clapping and hootin’ and hollerin’ for 6 straight minutes and tell me it doesn’t feel like an eternity. And if after you watch this you don’t get goosebumps, you aren’t human. What you are seeing is nearly 60 years of love poured onto a person and even the toughest of men like Richard have to choke back tears.

I’ve been racking my brain lately trying to think of another player in North America that would garner this sort of adulation. I can’t think of one. I’m from the New England area and when Ted Williams died it was a big deal, but not nearly as big as this. When Gordie Howe eventually passes on, Detroit will be hit hard, but Howe is a Canadian and it might be felt more there. Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson might come close, but I doubt it. See, Maurice Richard was basically a hometown boy who went on to become a hero.

The card pictured above is from the 59-60 Parkhurst set. It’s his second to last card, but his last to be issued during his playing days. A real basic design that shows an intense Richard.  I want to own more vintage Richard cards but they are pricey. I can’t recall what I paid for this one, but I got a good deal on it. My favourite Richard card, though, and my most favourite in my entire collection is this one:

I am a die hard Bruins fan, so this may be sacrilege to say but for as much as I dislike the Habs, and I do dislike them, I have nothing but respect for players like Beliveau, Cournoyer, and most of all, Rocket Richard.

I went to my local card shop today and noticed that he had Upper Deck Ice packs. Now, I don’t rip a lot of wax; I’d rather spend my cash on cards I want and/or need instead of gambling. However, on occasion, I get the rippin’ urge and buy some packs. Usually, my price limit on a pack of cards is $3.50 each which usually means lower end stuff like regular Upper Deck, MVP, and Collector’s Choice. Ice was $5 a pack, but I was bored and had $20 on me, so I bought four packs.

You get five cards per pack, rookies are 1 in every 5, and I think there are something like 3-4 autographs per box. The Glacial Graphs are among my favourite auto cards in the hobby, so I was hoping to pull one of those. There are jersey/patch autos too, but I think those are stickered. BOOOOO!

The wrapper has Stevie Y on it and says, “Collect ICE PREMIERES Acetate Rookie Cards!” Okay then, I will. Under that it says, “Delivering 4 levels of value!” Well hot damn!

Here is a sampling of what I got:

For the most part, I like the base cards. They are made up of a nice thick stock and not too glossy. The aren’t too glossy and the colors really work. However, there area couple things I would change. The Upper Deck logo in the bottom right is distracting and I wish they’d just ax it. The foil imprint of the name and team are a bit hard to read, but I can live with that I guess. My biggest gripe is the texture of the card. You can’t really tell from the scans, but the cards are sort of…ribbed. In the scans you’ll maybe notice these weird lines around the player; those are embossed into the card and can be felt as bumps on the back. It’s weird and totally unnecessary.

Here are what the backs look like:

Pretty basic stuff here. Stats, a little write up of the player, and that’s it. I miss the phonetic transcription of the player’s name because it has helped me on more than one occasion with a Russian player. And like I said earlier, the back has speed bumps all over it.

I did get one rookie:

Okay, I love the rookies. I am a sucker for clear cards. This is a Level 2 rookie since it is numbered out of 499. The levels are as follows; Level 4 – /1999, Level 3 – /999, Level 2 – /499, Level 1 – /99. THAT’S FOUR LEVELS OF VALUE, FOLKS! Also, I feel like the levels should be reversed with Level 4 being the rarest. Whatever. The Upper Deck logo on the front actually works here, in my opinion. What I don’t get the why they chose to include the player’s uniform number on the front.

Sadly, I did not get any autographs. I’ll have to track down a checklist and see if there is anyone in it that I even want.

Overall, it’s a solid product. The base set is colorful and would look nice in a binder. If anyone is building it, let me know. Also, if anyone is a Vishnevskiy collector (is there such a thing?), you can have this card.