Posts Tagged ‘Upper Deck’

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 haven’t updated in a bit and with the holidays upon us, I figured it was time for something, so you’re going to get a little bit of everything in this post.

First up is a review of Panini’s 2011-12 Pinnacle release. I had actually forgotten that these were coming out because Panini releases so much junk, that I have started to tune them out. A trip to my LMC jogged my memory and seeing as I like to support local businesses, I ended up buying five packs, mostly because I wanted to get some of the Tough Times inserts. Sadly, I didn’t get any inserts, but that is okay because the base cards were enough to satisfy me.

WAIT, WHAT!?!

Yes folks, it’s true; Panini has managed to release a product that doesn’t totally suck. In fact, it rivals Upper Deck’s main release. Maybe not in terms of lasting value, but at least in terms of photography. Let’s look, shall we?

Here we have “Jumbo” Joe Thornton. Flat on his back. Basking in some as-yet-unknown happiness. So, the first thing about these cards is that they are all in landscape orientation. I don’t really have an opinion on this one way or another, but I applaud Panini/Pinnacle for trying something a little different. The front design is pretty minimal, which I like. I do wish the name and position were just a hair big, but I’m nitpicking. The photo is great, both because it is a non-typical hockey shot and because it captures pure emotion.

Now let’s look at the back…

I have a lot of thoughts on this. First, I really wish they used a different picture OR just replaced the picture with stats, but I get why they didn’t. I do like the write-up they provide which basically tells the story of the picture. Again, I can appreciate Panini/Pinnacle for changing it up. Without stats, though, this set has an Upper Deck Biography of a Season feel to me. I need my cards to have stats!

Before I show you some of the highlights, let me show you what the rookie cards look like…

Basically, it’s the same as a regular card only it has that totally unnecessary Panini foil. WHY?!?!! Panini, you are KILLIN’ ME with this stupid foil stuff. Just stop. Seriously, stop. NO ONE LIKES IT! Not only is it ugly, it takes away from the photography which you have OBVIOUSLY put time and thought into; maybe not with this particular card, but with most of the set.

Here are some more cards…

Teemu is pretty good, eh?

Really cool card of Vrbata shortening his stick.

Really cool Winter Classic shot!

Pussy.

Not a pussy.

I thought Russian judges were notoriously stingy?

Price flashing some leather. Unfortunately I see no puck and will assume it’s in the net.

Anyways, I give the overall base set a B+ and my valuable endorsement as a worthwhile set nearly equal to Upper Deck.

Next up is an early Christmas gift from my uncle. Check out this beauty:

The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association by Ed Willes. I can’t wait to read this! I’ll post a review when I finish it.

Next I want to share a couple YouTube clips that are insane. Seriously guys, these clips are mental. There is comedy and then there is a(possibly) coked out Derek Sanderson talking about signing autographs, getting propositioned by female fans, selling surfboards in Australia, and not being thrilled by anything.

You’re welcome.

Lastly, I just got done watching the Bruins put an 8-0 ass whoopin’ on Florida. Sure, they are the Panthers, but they are also first in the Southeast Division. It’s a really good time to be a Bruins fan. Y’know, with them being one of the best, if not THE best team in hockey. They have it all: killer defense, great goaltending, toughness, balanced scoring, and good special teams. Bring it on, NHL. BRING. IT. ON!

Anyways, here is a highlight reel goal by this joker:

Oh, one last card from Pinnacle…

YEAH BITCHES! STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS UNTIL OTHERWISE NOTED!