Posts Tagged ‘Right Wing’

Time to present the last batch of potential Hall of Famers: the goalies! Before I give you the candidates, let me say that voting for the left wingers is now closed. No one got the required 60%, so no one gets in. The closest to making it was Michel Goulet with 52%. Sorry Michel, no Hall for you. Don’t forget to cast your vote(s) for right wingers and defencemen.

Now, the (not always) masked men…

Okay, enough about the Hockey Hall of Fame and all that jazz; let’s rip a pack of 90s era junk!

I’ve done a card-by-card rip of some 90s junk before. First there were two packs of 1991-92 O-Pee-Chee (pt. 1/pt. 2). After that were two packs of 1990-91 Upper Deck, their inaugural year in hockey (pt. 1/pt. 2). Then there was 1994-95 Pinnacle (pt. 1/pt. 2)Now we return with 1991-92 Upper Deck Series 1.

The 91-92 set consists of 700 cards, released in two series. Series 1 had 500 cards while Series 2 had 200 cards; there was also a French version. There were a few different inserts and subsets including  the Award Winner Holograms, IIHF World Junior Championship players, and Canada Cup participants. There are also a ton of rookies including future Hall of Famers Dominik Hasek, Peter Forsberg, Nicklas Lindstrom, and Teemu Selanne. Other rookies include Glen Murray, Nikolai Khabibulin, Alexei Kovalev, Keith Tkachuk, and Doug Weight. The big chase/insert is the Brett Hull Heroes subset. This was a nine-card subset, but the crown jewel was the autographed checklist card, limited to 2,500 hand numbered copies. Did I get one? We’ll see…

Awwwww yeah! First card is of enforcer Enrico Ciccone! My hopes are high for this pack. While not exactly a tough sounding name, Enrico could throw ‘em. One thing I like about this set is that Upper Deck used two different photos for the front and back. And not just a little photo on the back, but a nearly full sized photo. I wish this was more commonplace today. Ah well.

This is one of the cards from the Canada Cup subset. Janne had a brief NHL career including three separate stints with the Devils (two regular season and one playoff series). Nearly his entire career (20 years!) were spent playing in Finland, where he won a bunch of different awards.

Not much on Glynn other than he was part of the deal with Brendan Shanahan that brought Paul Coffey and Keith Primeau to Hartford. Is that the Blues logo on the puck?!

A number one draft pick and 500+ goal scorer? Nice! Did you know that he played for Canada’s Little League team in the Little League World Series in 1982?

According to legendsofhockey.net, “prior to his injury [Bureau] was considered in the upper echelon of defensive centres in the NHL.” Wait, what?! Really?! Also, is that Hasek flopping around on the front? I’m calling this an unofficial Hasek rookie and listing it on eBay with a BIN of $7.99.

HELMETLESS-JO! We all know Craig was the last NHLer to go lidless, but did you know he has four Stanley Cups under his belt? You probably did, actually. What I didn’t know was that he actually started his career with the Bruins. Huh.

Oh Glen Wesley…

Best. Card. Ever.

Bruins hot pack! Galley was a pretty solid blueliner throughout his career, even putting up 70 points in a season. Whoa!

Plavsic and I have something in common: we both spent a year at UNH, him playing for the Wildcats and me basically failing out. Anyways, I love the back of this card. Will you accept a collect call from “HEYMOMTHISISADRIENANDIJUSTWONAMEDAL”. I’m not sure what medal he is sporting here, but Adrien was a member of Team Canada in the 1992 Winter Olympics who won the silver.

Interesting shot on the front as Volek battles an unidentified Penguin. Interesting because during the next season, Volek would score an OT winner in Game 7 of the second round matchup versus Pittsburgh, preventing them from winning three straight Stanley Cups.

Before there was Zdeno Chara there was Zdeno Ciger. He recorded a 31 goal season in 95-96 and then left the NHL for six seasons before returning for one last skate for the Rangers and Lightning.

Is it too late to fill this out and send it in.

There ya go, a pack of junk from the junk era. Stay tuned for part 2.

There is a lot to cover so let’s get this show on the road.

Thank you to everyone who has voted so far in my polls. The “center” poll will close in a few day and the “left winger” poll will close shortly after that. Now we have to move onto the right wingers. Up for consideration:

Go do your research and vote. Remember, it takes 67% of the vote to get in.

Moving on. I have a folder on my desktop of cards I’ve scanned but have not posted about. It is sort of my backup folder for when I don’t get anything new for a while. Well, since I wanted to talk about more than just my Hall of Pretty Good series, I dug into the “Break In Case Of Emergency” folder and found this beauty…

Lorne “Gump” Worsley, that of pomaded side-part fame. The doughy and everyman looking goalie who smoked between periods and played without a mask into the 1970s was a fan favorite and one of the NHL’s greatest “characters.”

Born in Montreal, Worsley enjoyed success early on in his amateur career, posting winning records and pretty good GAAs in a variety of leagues. Playing for the St. Paul Saints of the USHL, he was named top rookie and best goalie. He followed that with a stint in the PCHL playing netminder for the Saskatoon Quakers, posting a 33-19-14 record. His stock was rising and it was only a matter of time before he would get his shot in the NHL.

Worsley was signed by the New York Rangers for the 1952-53 season and would play in fifty games, replacing the injured Chuck Rayner. The team success that Worsley enjoyed in the minors was hard to come by in the NHL. To put it mildly, the Rangers were terrible. During Gump’s rookie season, the team would win just seventeen games. Of those, Worsley would be in goal for thirteen of them. Despite a season record of 13-29-8 and a GAA of 3.06, the league saw great potential in the newcomer and would award him the Calder Trophy. After asking for a $500 pay increase following the season, the Rangers sent Gump to the Vancouver Canucks of the WHL. During his stint here he was named MVP and led the team to a championship.

The Gumper would return to the Rangers the following season and embark on a twenty year career. From 1954 through 1963, Worsley minded the New York net. Over that span, he would post a 191-242-93 record, finish with a winning record only twice, and lead the league in losses three times. The stats, however, have less to do with his play and more to do with the terrible teams New York put out on the ice.

After the ’62-’63 season, Worsley was traded, along with Dave Balon, Leon Rochefort, and Len Ronson to Montreal for Jacques Plante, Don Marhsall, and Phil Goyette. Thus began the transformation from lovable, talented goalie on a dreadful team to lovable, talented goalie on a powerhouse team. Early in the ’63-’64 season, Gump hurt his knee and played the remainder of the year for the Quebec Aces, getting back into playing shape and turning in a terrific season. Starting the following season with the Aces, Worsley joined the Habs halfway through and helped lead them to their first Stanley Cup in four seasons. Over the next four seasons with the Canadiens, Gump would win two Vezina Trophies and help win three more Stanley Cups.

Halfway through the ’69-’70 season, Gump quit/retired from hockey after a dispute with Montreal management. His sabbatical from hockey was brief as the North Stars agreed to trade for him. He would finish the season in Minnesota posting a 5-1-1 record. Worsley’s remained with Minnesota for the duration of his career, playing in 99 games over the next four seasons and posting a 34-66-23 record. Gump would retired at the end of the ’73-’74 season at the age of 44, looking more like a barber than an NHL pro.

Over 861 games, Gump Worsley posted a 335-352-150 record with 43 shutouts and  a 2.88 GAA. Oh, and he only wore a mask the final six games of his career. He is 10th all-time in games played, 18th in wins, 2nd in losses, and 81st in GAA. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980 and passed away at his home in 2007.

The card above comes from the 2004-05 Upper Deck Legends Classics set and is numbered CS20. It features Worsley in all of his 70′s glory: Maskless and muttonchopped in his green North Stars uniform, standing up and making a save. His signature is small and messy, something I find uncharacteristic of players from his generation, especially those from Quebec.

Lastly, the playoffs are almost among us. Know what that means?

CONTEST!

I’m going to revisit my contest from last year’s playoffs.

So, here is how it goes:

There are 16 teams in the playoffs meaning this contest is limited to the first 16 participants.

Leave a comment with a number, 1-16. That number will correspond with a playoff team that will be randomly generated. Whoever wins the Cup, wins the contest.

Okay, leave a comment with a number and don’t forget to vote in the polls to the right!