Posts Tagged ‘O-Pee-Chee’

There have been quite a few things I’ve wanted to write about recently, but have not really had the time for many reasons. However, today was a snow day (hooray for working in public education) so now I have plenty of time to write, write, and write.

Let’s start with Part 15 of the Hockey Hall of Pretty Good series. Wait, 15?!?! Holy smokes, I’ve really drawn this out, haven’t it? Well, it’s only going to get more drawn out, so bear with me.

I last looked at the classes of 1996 and 1997, inducting Salming, Trottier and some guy named Lemieux while kicking out no one. All three were fairly easy choices, although Salming gave me a little pause.

A look at the past:

1961-1966
1967-1970
1971-1973
1974-1976
1977-1978
1979-1980
1981
1982-1984
1985-1986
1987-1988
1989-1990
1991-1992
1993-1995
1996-1997

We now pick up with the class of 1998…

1998
Michel Goulet
Peter Stastny

We’re getting into an era of hockey when tons of guys scored tons of goals, so it is going to be hard for me to properly evaluate these players. Goulet is a great example. Over 16 seasons, Goulet racked up 548 goals and 604 assists for a total of 1152 points in 1089 games. Averaging over a point a game for a career is certainly impressive. Also impressive is that he scored over 40 goals seven times and over 50 goals four times. But what does that mean exactly, especially in the context of the era and the rest of the league? Six times he finished in the top-10 in goals, four of those being in the top-5. Okay, that is still pretty impressive, but scoring 50+ while guys like John Ogrodnick, Tim Kerr, Bobby Carpenter, and Mike Bullard were nettings 50+ themselves doesn’t make it stand out so much. I equate this era to the steroid-era in baseball. Obviously not for the steroids, but just for the obscene numbers EVERYONE was putting up. Or better yet, what about the pass happy modern era of the NFL when QB records fall each season?

Back to Goulet. He never won any individual hardware and never won the Cup. He did, however, get named to three NHL All Star 1st Teams and two 2nd Teams. He is 27th overall in career goals and 49th overall in career points, but I just don’t see him as one of the top players of all time. Sorry Michel, you are out despite having one of the most French names of all time.

Next is Goulet’s teammate, Peter Stastny. He is sort of the yin to Goulet’s yang. Where Goulet scored lots of goals, Stastny set him up on most of them. In thirteen seasons, he netted 450 goals (respectable) and helped out on 789 others for a total of 1239 points in 977 games. Stastny was one of the premier assist guys during his era, routinely finishing in the top-10 (7 times), but never leading the category. He was no slouch in the goal scoring department either, tossing in 40+ on five different occasions. What makes him more impressive than Goulet is that he had seven 100+ point seasons, including six in a row to start his career. While he never won the Cup, he did take home the Calder Trophy. His overall ranks in assists (32nd) and points (36th) give me pause, but if I don’t take Goulet, then I can’t take Stastny. Out.

Inducted: No one
Kicked out: Michel Goulet and Peter Stastny

1999
Wayne Gretzky

Seriously?

Inducted: Wayne Gretzky
Kicked out: No one

2000
Denis Savard
Joe Mullen

Denis Savard is like the French Canadien version of Peter Stastny. They both could score some goals, they both dished out A LOT of assists, but neither ever led the league in either category, which hurts their cause. Savard’s career rank in assists (23rd) and points (28) statistically make him better to Stastny; the Stanley Cup doesn’t hurt either. Those things, though, just don’t add up to greatness in my eyes. Very goodness, yes, but greatness, no. Denis Savard, you are out.

Whaddya know, Joe? There is no way in hell that I am putting Joe Mullen in the Hall of Fame. Sure, he was a very good player and one of the best American born players to lace ‘em up in the NHL, but I can’t be handing out inductions for caveats like that. Oh, so-and-so -was the best player to ever come out of Italy or so-and-so was the best player ever at 168 pounds. C’mon! To be fair, though, I will look at his career.

Over fifteen years, Mullen scored 502 goals and assisted on 561 others for a total of 1063 points in…1062 games. He is a point-per player in an era when EVERYONE scored points. Hell, my man Craig Janney was nearly a point-per player for his career (751/760). He netted 40+ goals seven times and reached the 50+ mark once. He was named to one NHL All Star 1st Team and took home the Lady Byng twice. AMAZING! His three Stanley Cups are nice but that’s a team accolade.

Joe Mullen, you are out.

Inducted: No one
Kicked out: Denis Savard and Joe Mullen

Man that was tough. Gretzky is the only one to make it in this go around. I feel bad for the other guys, because when you are inducted the year before and the year after Wayne, your career is just going to look…small.

Next up, 2011-12 Upper Deck Black Diamond hockey.

I don’t know why I ever buy this stuff. The card design never appeals to me, the packs are somewhat expensive for what you get, and the cards NEVER SCAN PROPERLY! I guess I buy them for you, my loyal readers. I feel some sort of obligation/duty to put some packs, scan them, and then bitch out the cards. W
ell, this year it’s different. Or is it? I don’t even know. Let’s look at some cards…

I will say this about Black Diamond: you will NEVER be surprised by the design. Has there ever been a product that looks essentially the same year-to-year? I’d say “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” but I can’t say that it isn’t broke. It’s Black Diamond and it’s boring.

I choose the Vermette card because I really like those Blue Jacket unis; they remind me of a WHA logo (more on that soon). The Hall card I chose because, well, it’s Taylor Hall. The empty stat space looks clumsy and poorly executed. Couldn’t they just write a little more text or something? BUT IT IS A TRIPLE DIAMOND! Zzzz.

I pulled some other cards I wanted to share…

Did I get a retro hot pack or something?! Look, I appreciate new cards of retired players as much as the next guy, but can we just give it a rest for a bit? Or at least mix it up with older stars that never get their due? How about cards of Richard, Schmidt, Plante, etc? Maybe open up a young collector’s eyes to a bit of hockey history.

I pulled a ruby (# /100) parallel…

I was SO close to tearing this card in half but figured one of you Canuck/goalie fans would want it. For some reason I find the fact that he is pictured in his All Star West jersey hilarious. I wish I knew why.

I also pulled one rookie, but lucky me, it was a gold (# /10) one…

Hey wait, you’re not Ryan Nugent-Hopkins! Pulling a rookie numbered to 10 of a defenceman is the worst!

So there you have it.

2011-12 Upper Deck Black Diamond: Same (not so) great look, same buyer’s remorse. Anyone want these things?

Moving on, the WHA.

So, I mentioned before that I’m reading this book The Rebel League by Ed Willes about the history of the WHA. Let me just say that it is fantastic. I am about half way through and all I want to do is talk about the crazy stories about players, teams, and owners. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Seriously. I am a hockey fanatic and a librarian, so I feel like I am uniquely qualified to make this suggestion. Plus, after reading it, you’ll want to do what I’m going to do, which is build all of the WHA sets from the 70s. I just bought a stack of commons from the 76-77 set and will be posting them soon. Also, you’ll probably want to snag a Minnesota Fighting Saints jersey.

Lastly, the Canucks and Bruins game from this past weekend. I’m sure everyone who isn’t a fan of either team is already sick and tired of everything that has been said, so I’ll keep it short and sweet.

-Marchand deserves his 5-games. It was a low hit and not his first offense. If he were on any other team, I’d loathe him, but he is on my team, so I love him. Admit it; you’d want a guy like him buzzing around the ice.

-I was shocked to see Lapierre actually drop the mitts. While I still can’t stand him, I currently have no beef with him. He manned up. Wish I could say the same for the rest of the Canucks.

-Apparently Weise wanted a piece of McQuaid but Thornton dropped them instead. If that is the case, Weise should have been happy to go with Thornton as McQuaid would have destroyed him. Thornton is a better technical fighter, but McQuaid just effs dudes up. Don’t believe me? Go ask Raffi Torres or Brian Sutherby.

-Speaking of McQuaid, Jannick Hansen better hope he never gets traded to the Eastern Division. I had forgotten about his little spearing incident in Game 7 but McQuaid hasn’t. He wanted a piece of him on Saturday, but the refs saved Hansen’s bacon.

-As far as I’m concerned, Burrows still has something coming to him.

-WHAT A GAME! It had it all, didn’t it? The Bruins lost, but the league won, in my eyes.

I hope that all of my American compatriots had a great Thanksgiving full of turkey, stuffing, football, and afternoon naps. For my Canadian counterparts, I hope your Thursday was at least a little more enjoyable than usual. With “Black Friday” behind us, I thought I’d share some recent eBay/checkoutmycards purchases that I snagged at “Black Friday” prices.

The first big purchase involves a personal “white whale” and finally puts an end to a longtime quest of mine. Finding a certified on-card auto of Woody Dumart is pretty darn tough. According to Beckett, there are only three options: a Bruins Alumni card set, a Parkhurst card that is sort of like a cut auto, and an In The Game Ultimate slabbed card. I had pretty much given up hope of ever finding any of these and instead had first settled on this card…

I’ve talked a bit about this card before. It belonged to a set that was to be produced by Dr. Brian Price of In The Game. As per usual, the NHL rejected his license request and these cards were never officially released. However, they eventually showed up in ITG’s Ultimate Memorabilia 5th Edition but set inside a black frame and slabbed. Like this…

The Parkhurst Dumart is sort of the same, only it is set behind a green border and was unslabbed.

Here is a little write-up ITG did concerning this card:

“In the Game, Inc., the manufacturer of the Be A Player brands of hockey cards, recently paid tribute to a Hockey Hall of Famer and Boston Bruin legend Woody Dumart in their 2001-02 Parkhurst brand.

When the Parkhurst brand was on the drawing board early in 2001, one of the planned insert sets was a 40-card effort entitled Parkhurst Autographs. The set featured an amazing lineup of hockey legends ranging from Gordie Howe to Jean Beliveau to Phil Esposito complete with their signatures. Woody Dumart was included in the set.

Once the cards were printed, they were sent to each of the players but sadly, Dumart passed away before he signed any of them on October 19. Officials at In the Game were now forced to revise their plans.

Rather than simply withdraw the card or replace it with another retired great, a plan was implemented which not only paid proper tribute to Dumart, it also provided something special for collectors. To avoid any further delays during pack-out, special Dumart redemption cards were inserted in packs of Parkhurst.

“Fortunately we had a small supply of Woody Dumart signatures,” explained Dr. Brian H. Price, President of In the Game. “We had discussions with Mrs. Dumart and decided to follow through with this tribute to a great player and a fine gentleman.

“It took some ingenuity on the part of our production staff but we were able to use them as ‘cut signatures’ and literally build a new card of Woody that featured his autograph. Anyone who pulled one of the redemption cards can send it to us in exchange for one of these. I’m quite pleased with the results and I think collectors will be too.”

Only 20 of these special signed Dumart cards were produced.”

As I had never seen either of these cards, I was mostly satisfied with my unframed “bootleg” version, even though I couldn’t say for certain it was real.

Later, I picked up a different Dumart autograph, this time for an obscure regional set.

You can read a little bit about it here. Although Beckett recognizes the set, they don’t mention an autographed version of it. Again, I took a (cheap) chance on this and was mostly satisfied.

Anyways, to make a long story longer, I picked up this gem…

2001-02 Parkhurst Autograph #PA-09 Woody Dumart

The hunt for a certified Dumart autograph is officially OVER! Twenty copies, no pricing due to scarcity, and I snagged it for a pretty good price. If anyone is interested in either of my other two Dumart cards, let me know; they are definitely up for trade.

Next up two more cards from the same eBay seller. Do you ever bid on something, look at the seller’s other auctions, and then bid on a couple others? I was not actively seeking these two cards, but when I saw them, I knew I needed them. First is this “nifty” card…

2001-02 Greats of the Game Autographs #70 Rick Middleton

I have always liked the Greats of the Game sets (all sports included) and when I saw this card, I had to have it. I love me some Middleton and the picture cracks me up.  Did you know Nifty had five straight 40+ goal seasons (40, 44, 51, 49, 47)? Or that he won the Lady Byng Trophy once?

Know who has never won and never will win the Lady Byng? This guy…

2000-01 Topps Premier Plus Private Signings #PS-CP Chris Pronger

Pronger is a future HOFer, so I figured I would get his card now. My preference is to get certified autos of HOFers from when they were still active (for guys like Richard, Howe, Beliveau, etc. it is impossible) and I like to have them in the jersey of the team they were most identifiable with. For me, Pronger enjoyed his best years with the Blues, so I was happy to get this one.  The Middleton and Pronger cost me a combined $13. Um, yes please.

The next couple of cards came courtesy of CheckOutMyCards.com. Paul over at Card Boarded sent me an emailing saying that he saw an Axelsson card on the site that I might not have. He was right, so I had to buy it. While there, I figured I’d poke around for a few other cards that I’ve been looking for and save on shipping. The Axelsson will have to wait for another time; for now you get to see these two…

1973-74 O-Pee-Chee #3 Phil Roberto

This is a card that I’ve been aware of for a long time and always mean to pick up a copy, but then just forget. Recently, though, Shane over at Shoebox Legends had a post highlighting a truly righteous quarter box haul and this card was in it. With that fresh in my head, I finally picked up a copy and I have to say, it is about time. This is one of the VERY few NHL licensed hockey cards to feature an actual fight (Sal over at Puck Junk has a great post about this card and fighting on hockey cards). I like that he played for three defunct teams during his career: Scouts, Rockies, and Barons.

Lastly, there is this jewel…

2003-04 Bowman Chrome Refractor #134 Gregory Campbell /300

Campbell is my second favorite current Bruin behind McQuaid and I have been looking to pick up his rookie since he joined the team. I struck out at the Shriner’s show and a couple other shows, so online I had to go. I like Campbell for a few reasons For starters, he wears #11, PJ’s old number. Secondly, the dude is a bad ass and will throw ‘em with anyone. Lastly, he is just a hard-nosed, gritty player who does all the little things very well. He’s good on the PK, can win his share of draws, goes hard into the corners, and can even put the puck in the back of the net (13 goals on the 4th line last year). He is like Axelsson’s rough and tumble twin brother. Okay, maybe not.

Anyways, here is a clip of Campbell feeding Pyatt his lunch (this is for you, Capt’n)