Archive for July, 2011

And now, for the exciting conclusion, pack two!

Get high on hockey? Done and done!

Like his comrade Sorokin, Stelnov never played in the NHL but is a member of the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame. He has two gold medals to his name from the Olympics (’84 and ’88) as well as a gold and a silver in the World Championships. Stelnov passed away in 2009 at the young age of 46.

Otto was a solid player during his career and a guy who. although not really an enforcer, would drop the gloves with just about anyone. He won a Cup with the Flames and is the sort of guy you’d love to have on your team.

HOF-JO! For whatever reason, I was a LaFontaine fan when I was growing up. I couldn’t explain it then and I can’t explain it now.

Ugh! The B’s traded Ken Linseman to get this knucklehead who did ABSOLUTELY nothing. Poulin and Brian Propp are burned into my memory for eternity from that 89-90 Stanley Cup Finals team. Like liking LaFontaine, I have no reason why this is so.

First round draft pick by the B’s who was a bust. Out of the league after 91-92.

Another first round pick who, unlike Cimetta, had a few solid years on the blueline.

Yet another first round pick (9th overall in 1981). As Racine was better than Cimetta, Patrick was better than Racine. He enjoyed a 21-year career that saw a total 0f 690 points; not bad for a defenseman.

Ehh.

Did you know Fetisov is in the Hall of Fame? And not just the Russian and Soviet Hall of Fame? He had a pretty solid career in the NHL, winning two Stanley Cups, but it is his international play that earned him Hall honors.

Three HOFers in one pack?! And five total in two packs?! These must have come from a hot box!  Look at that goal total from the previous year: 86! That is bananas.

So there you have it, two packs of 91-92 OPC. I’m bummed I didn’t get a legitimate enforcer (Otto was close) but I can’t complain about five cards of HOFers, include a Bruin.

Next up, 90-91 Upper Deck.

For a long time, my local card shop has had a little display of 90′s hockey junk wax for fifty-cents a pack that has been staring me in the face. The other week, I finally relented and bought two packs of each different wax he had. Now, I am going to post my packs on here for you, my loyal readers.

First up, we have 1991-92 O-Pee-Chee. Here is what my giant Beckett guide has to say about the product:

The 1991-92 O-Pee-Chee and Topps hockey sets contain 528 standard-size cards. Both sets feature a Guy Lafleur Tribute and a Super Rookie subset. Topps hockey cards were sold in 15-card packs that included a bonus team scoring leader card, whereas the O-Pee-Chee cards were sold in nine-card wax packs that included a stick of gum plus one insert card from a special 66-card insert set.

Then it goes on to describe the cards before ending with this good news:

Rookie cards in this set include Tony Amonte, Valeri Kamensky and John LeClair.

Yippee!

There there is this bit about the OPC-exclusive inserts:

[...]this 66-card standard-size set features ten cards of the San Jose Sharks and 56 Russian hockey players. Among the 56 Russian player cards are those from Central Red Army, Dynamo Moscow, and Khimik.

So there is that.

Okay, the first pack…

First card is from the now-legendary insert set! Serguei Sorokin never played in the NHL but apparently was good enough to be inducted into the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame. Right on, HOF-JO right off the bat.

Also, this card had a stick of gum stuck to it that, unlike what happened to Sal over at Puck Junk, came right off.

Scored 20 goals in a season once; that’s something. Right?

Feh.

Hall of Famer; now we’re talkin’! Just look at those Winnipeg years. It is hard to imagine that he had only one game winning goal in 90-91. Didja know he was the first pick in the 1981 draft?

Man, look how sweet those Jets jerseys look. Makes me wish they really kept the old design for the new sweaters. Anyways, Ashton is the definition of a journeyman. He played for nine different teams over fourteen seasons, even suiting up for my B’s at the end. Dude was actually a pretty solid player, putting up 40 goals (between two teams) during the 86-87 season.

Hey, I didn’t know Thomas was born in England. He finished his career with almost 1000 points (933). Not bad for a Brit.

2nd overall pick in the 1986 draft and nearly a back-to-back 50 goal scorer! Also, was involved in the Gretzky deal from Edmonton to LA. For one season, the Oilers got a guy who put up 100 points.

GOALIE! Terreri held the fort until some dude named Brodeur came along.

HOF + Bruins = Good stuff.

BRASS BONANZA-JO! Verbeek is basically Brad Marchand’s role model.

So that is it for pack one. Stay tuned for pack two.