Posts Tagged ‘Coach’

Went to the monthly card show on the NH/MA border with my usual $100 budget. Sort of like the $50k eBay challenge, only on a much smaller scale.

Don Awrey was signing, but I passed. What in the world am I going to do with a Don Awrey autograph? Anyways, the usual dealers were there. I like this show because it’s not just filled with new stuff. There is very little wax to be had and a nice variety of all sports. One guy had a ton of vintage non-sport tobacco cards that really caught my eye, but I need to stick to my collection.

I passed on buying anything from the vintage Bruins guy because I wanted to go for quantity over quality today. That’s not to say I picked up beat-to-hell stuff, just no high end vintage. I bought two cards from the Islanders dealer (you’ll be able to guess which two). The other cards were all purchased from one guy who hadn’t been set up before. A real nice guy with tons of bargains.

Onto the goods!

1965-66 Topps #41 Sid Abel

Hall of Fame player and former Hart Trophy winner, mediocre coach. Easy on the pomade, Sid.

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1967-68 Topps #37 Don Awrey

This is not Don Awrey. Topps got his and this guy’s photo switched on the cards. An apparently, no one told Topps because they did the same thing the next year with the same players and photos. Can anyone guess who it is without looking it up?

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1968-69 O-Pee-Chee #123 Tim Horton

Donuts!

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1970-71 O-Pee-Chee #249 Johnny Bucyk

He just looks like he’d be a class act, doesn’t he?

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1971-72 O-Pee-Chee #220 Ed Giacomin

This is what you would look like coming off a Vezina Trophy winning season.

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1971-72 O-Pee-Chee Bookley #4 Jacques Plante

Oddball alert! Oddball alert!

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1972-73 O-Pee-Chee #28 Gump Worsley

All the Gumper is missing is a cigarette hangin’ out of his mouth.

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1972-73 O-Pee-Chee #68 Wayne Cashman

Wayne enjoys water skiing. Wayne would also enjoy being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

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1972-73 O-Pee-Chee #92 Jacques Plante

This is Jacques last NHL card  (he’d be featured on a WHA for the 74-75 season).

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1972-73 O-Pee-Chee #114 Brad Park

I don’t have much to say about this card. It’s Brad Park and it’s a solid set. That is all.

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1974-75 O-Pee-Chee #151 Dave Keon

Ah, now we get into the era of hockey cards that feature really crummy photography. Hey Dave, stand in front of this blue tarp and look menacing, will ya?

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1974-75 O-Pee-Chee #202 Jacques Laperriere

Okay, Jacques? I need you to comb your hair ALL THE WAY over to the side and then look creepily into the camera. Okay? Hold that pose. GOT IT! But next time could you grow a creepy moustache?

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1975-76 O-Pee-Chee #73 Derek Sanderson

How many lines do you think Turk did before this photo? 1? 15? 50?

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1975-76 O-Pee-Chee #181 Steve Shutt

Whoa, an action shot! Way to step it up, O-Pee-Chee!

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1975-76 O-Pee-Chee #241 Larry Robinson

Jacques, THIS is how it’s done!

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1976-77 O-Pee-Chee #30 Yvan Cournoyer

Where the heck was this photo taken? There are not other players to be seen nor are there any lines on the ice?

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1976-77 O-Pee-Chee #60 Brad Park

Damn right Park was a 1st Team All-Star. I wonder what that patch is on this shoulder. Anyone?

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1976-77 O-Pee-Chee #90 Rod Gilbert

Hi, I’m Rod Gilbert and I just nailed your wife.

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1976-77 O-Pee-Chee # 180 Gilbert Perreault

Again with the lonely shot. Are he and Cournoyer playing one-on-one?

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1976-77 O-Pee-Chee #207 Darryl Sittler

I just learned that Sittler had 10 points in a single game. I also learned that his head of hair is all natural.

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1978-79 O-Pee-Chee #50 Ken Dryden

Was Dryden crazy good or just the beneficiary of a great system? Same argument applies to Brodeur. Martin, not Richard. Richard relied on his own talent.

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1979-80 O-Pee-Chee  #230 Mike Bossy

I love everything about this card, front and back. A perfect card, really.

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1980-81 O-Pee-Chee #40 Bryan Trottier

Why is this card only worth $2.50?!?!?

So that’s it. The highlight of the show was when the promoter brought in a couple large cheese pizzas for the dealers and every single one of them practically sprinted from their table to get a slice leaving customers behind. I’ve never seen a 200-250 pound, middle-aged white men move quite that fast before.

Let me ask you, would you rather rather spend $80 on a Tavares rookie or some low-serial numbered card OR buy a nice stack of vintage O-Pee-Chee Hall of Famers?

Unfortunately, the Mystery eBay Purchase did not arrive today, so it will have to wait until next week. Just as well because this week’s Friday Bruin is, in my opinion, quite relevant to the current state of the Bruins team. But before I get into that, let me just say a little something about the 09-10 Bruins team.

I write these Bruins entries the night before. In a couple of hours, the Penguins will step onto the ice in Boston. We all know about the Cooke hit on Savard, the absurdity of there being no-call or suspension, and the fact that not a single Bruin seemed to take umbrage of the fact when it happened. See, this team is lifeless and soulless. Tonight’s game will determine if I follow this team for the remainder of the season or not. If Cooke is not dealt with IMMEDIATELY, this team has given up. And why should I continue to support a team that does not care? Ideally, I would love for Crosby to get taken care of (sorry Sid, but our best player gets taken out and you have to pay for the sins of your teammate) and then Cooke. Will Julien do anything, I don’t know. This leads me to Don Cherry. If Don Cherry were coaching right now, Cooke would have been dealt with when the hit happened AND tonight. Hopefully by the time you read this, the Bruins will have won and Matt Cooke will be a pummeled pile of hockey player. And if Crosby has a few less teeth, then so be it. Now, onto Grapes!

Don Cherry loves the Bruins; it is as simple as that. He hates Harry Sinden, but he loves the Bruins. Before coaching the team, Cherry actually played one game for the Bruins, a playoff game versus the Canadiens during the 54-55 season. He would spend the next fifteen seasons bouncing around the minors. But his playing career is irrelevant because he made his name as a coach. After spending three seasons coaching the Rochester Americans, Cherry was given the head coaching job in Boston, replacing a rather successful Bep Guidolin.

Unfortunately for Cherry, Orr and Esposito were on their way out, so he was without two of the greatest players during his coaching run. That said, he was very successful with the players he did have, which included Brad Park, Terry O’Reilly, Wayne Cashman, John Buyck, and Ken Hodge among others. During his five years coaching the Bruins, they compiled a 231-105-64 record, made the playoffs in all five seasons, and played in two Stanley Cups Finals. He won the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year for the 75-76 season and during the 77-78 season, he oversaw a team that had 11 players with at least 20 goals, an NHL record. He was fired after the 78-79 season because of the infamous Too Many Men On The Ice Game against the Canadiens during the playoffs. He would coach one more season in the NHL, taking over the dreadful Colorado Rockies.

As a coach, Cherry was known for stressing the physical aspect of the game. He wanted his players to be gritty, tough, and fearless. His team never backed down from anyone. Guys like O’Reilly, Jonathan, and Wensink were favourites of Grapes and the Boston faithful. It is a shame that he never coached again, but a man as outspoken as Cherry never seems to last long in today’s coaching world. I don’t think he’s sweatin’ it though as he is now an extremely popular TV personality.

If you ever get a chance to track down a copy of his autobiography Grapes, do yourself a favour and read it!

This 74-75 OPC card is Cherry’s rookie card; Scotty Bowman’s rookie is in the same et. It’s a plain looking card, but a must for any fan of the game, regardless of team allegiance. He is looking sort of subdued in his plain looking blazer, but a little flash of future Grapes is peeking out with that polka-dotted tie.

Let’s hope that tonight, Claude Julien channels his inner Cherry and let’s his team take care of business the ol’ fashioned way.

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