Perhaps the best ever.... 1956 Montreal Canadiens

This is the last in the three part series of my card show team photo buying spree. Today's shows the Publicity shot given out to celebrate the 1956-57 Montreal Canadiens. It's printed on a higher quality newsprint that has a bit of stiffness to it. (and my scanner nicely cut off the left side border)

This is the team that in the 1955-56 season, went 45-15-10 on their way to the first of five consecutive Stanley Cup Championships. A record that still stands today.

The Hardware. (from left to right)

Art Ross (scoring champion) Jean Beliveau
Hart (MVP - Original trophy, not used today) Jean Beliveau
Stanley Cup
Prince of Wales  ( eastern conference champions)
Vezina (Best goaltender) Jacques Plante
Norris (Best defenseman)  Doug Harvey

New for 56/57
That's Maurice Richard front and center wearing the Captain's "C" on his sweater after the retirement of former captain, Butch Bouchard.

Fun Facts
William Northey, old dude behind the Stanley Cup, was responsible for two rules changes still in effect today.
He pressured the NHL to switch from two, thirty minute halves, to three, twenty minute periods.
He also was responsible for the removal of the "Rover" position, cutting the number of players on the ice for each team to six.
Can you imagine another player for each team skating around out there? Lunacy.

There are thirteen Hall of Famers in that picture. Thirteen. On one team. Wow.

Dickie Moore 1931 - 2015

Another living legend has passed. The great Dickie Moore died earlier today at the age of 84.

Six Stanley Cups 1953, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960

Two Art Ross Trophies 1958, 1959

Elected to the Hall of Fame - 1974

#12 retired by Montreal - 2005

a son, a daughter, and a whack of grandkids left behind. Along with thousands of fans. One of the greatest ever. He will be missed.

Dickie Moore  January 6, 1931 - December 19, 2015

your Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2015 inductees.

Today was the announcement of the new inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Or at least, the Hockey Hall of Very Good. The past few years, well, let's say the bar has been lowered to a more pc level. Or maybe little league level. You know, everyone gets a turn and a participation trophy at the end.....

 

But enough about that. Let's see who got in.

 

Nicklas Lidstrom - Defence  - Detroit Red Wings

 

Nick played his entire 20 year career with the Wings. A slam dunk no brainer for the Hall, he finished with 1564 GP  264 G  878 A  1142 PTS  +450.  Four Stanley Cups, seven Norris trophies, 1 Conn Smythe trophy and thirteen All Star teams.

The best defenceman since Larry Robinson retired. Period.

 

 

Sergei Fedorov - Right Wing  - Detroit Red Wings

(also played for Anaheim, Columbus and Washington) 

 Sergei played 18 years and 908 GP. He had 400 G  554 A  954 PTS and a +276   Add in three Stanley Cups, six All Stars, two Selke, one Hart and one Ted Lindsay award.
Another no brainer.



Phil Housley - Defence  -Buffalo Sabres
(he also played for the Flames, Jets, Black Hawks, Capitals, Devils, Blues and of course, Toronto)

 here is where the water gets murky.
Phil played 21 seasons, 1495 GP  338 G  894 A  1232 PTS  and a -53. Two All star games.
No Cups. No Norris. No trophies of any kind.
Not really sure why he got voted in.


Chris Pronger - St Louis Blues
(also played for the Whalers, Oilers, Ducks, Flyers, Coyotes???)

 Chris has played 18 years and counting. I say counting, because he is still an active player. Who by the way got traded to the Arizona Coyotes yesterday. And he's now in the Hall of Fame.
Nice.
This is everything that is wrong with the NHL all wrapped up into one. An active, but injured player who hasn't laced up the skates in three years gets traded on Sunday and elected to the Hall of Fame on Monday.
But I've said it before. If you want to be elected to the Hall, just go work for the NHL head office. The good ole boys club will put you in.


Angela Ruggiero - U.S.A. National team.

I can't find any of Angela's cards in any of my boxes right now, let alone here rookie, so settle for a promo shot instead. I think her RC is from '01/02.... but I could be wrong.
Click on her name to go to her website and learn more about her.

So there you have it.
Thumbs Up - Lidstrom, Fedorov, Ruggiero
Thumbs Down - Housley
The Big Raspberry - Pronger

What say you?

2014 Hockey Hall of Fame class inductees...

Before the draft on Friday and completely lost in amongst World Cup coverage, the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame announced it's new inductees this afternoon.

You'd think this would be a big deal... but it's World Cup EVERYWHERE AND ANYWHERE ALL THE TIME 24/7 WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! FOOTY!!!!!!!!!

 

so it became kind of a footnote like everything else in "the other sports" lately... It was three days before I found out that some pitcher threw a no hitter awhile back. That never even made it onto the sports pages here... the actual or the digital... I saw it on one of the blogs that blogger decided to let me read.

(btw, is blogger pissing everyone else off as much as me lately? I mean, more than usual?)

 

Anyways.... while Brazil hammers Cameroon, here are the newest Hall of Famers, rookie card style. Posted in order of merit.

 

Pat Burns - head coach. 1988-2004 (posthumously)

 

 It's about frakking time. A huge kudos to new Hall director John Davidson, who brought in David Poile, Bobby Clarke and Luc Robitaille to replace Jim Gregory and his band of idiots.
Pat Burns damn well should've been elected 4-5 years ago. While he was alive to see it.
14 years for four teams and he missed the playoffs once. 501W 353L 151T and a Stanley Cup.


Mike Modano 1989-2011

Mike played 20 seasons for two franchises. The first overall pick of the '88 draft joined the Minnesota North Stars and went with them to Dallas where he remained until his last forgettable half season for Detroit in 2011.
1499 games 561 goals 813 assists 1374 points +139  7 All Star games  1 Stanley Cup


Dominik Hasek 1991-2008

 Dominik played 735 games over 16 seasons for four clubs. 389 W 223 L 95 T
6 Vezina trophies, 3 Jennings trophies (shared) 2 Hart trophies and 2 Ted Lindsey awards.
He won Stanley Cups in 2002 and 2008, both with Detroit.


Peter Forsberg 1995-2011

 this Nashville Predator great played for three other clubs over his 13 year career.
708 games  249 goals  636 assists for 885 points  +238
a Calder, Art Ross, and Hart trophy along with two Stanley Cups on his mantle.

meh. Were there any more deserving players that did not get elected? Yes.

Rob Blake 1989-2010

Rob played 20 seasons for three teams winning a Norris trophy and a Stanley Cup.
He scored 240 goals and 537 assists in 1270 games.
um... I've heard he's a nice guy. Likes animals. Good with kids.... does charity work. Pays his taxes.

yeah... I got nuthin'... but he's the "B" wing of the Hall with Glen Anderson, Clark Gillies, Grant Fuhr, Bernie Federko, and a couple of others... congrats I guess.

Oh look! Brazil just scored again! GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!

Hall of Fame card show autographs.

I went to the big card show over the weekend. No, not the one in Toronto. The one right here in Calgary. Okay. It might not be the big show. It's not even big. Kinda sad actually. But it's all I got. So I try not to miss it.

 

I  managed to pick up a nice stack of cards this time out. Most were recent releases... I'll show those in another post. For this one I'll feature just three cards. Each a gem in it's own right.

 

First, a surprise '69/70 Topps Jean Beliveau. $3

 only a little love bend in the bottom right corner stops it from being perfect. Or does it?

Second an on card auto of Hall of Famer (*cough*) Clark Gillies  $3

 a beautiful card like that for only $3? Craziness. Of course, I had to defeat bamlinden in a spirited game of RockPaperScissorsLizardSpock before I could claim it as mine.


and last but not least, another on card auto of a Hall of Famer. This one of USA great Cammi Granato. $5

$11 for three Hall of Fame players. Two autos and vintage greatness.

Anyone else score anything cool at weekend shows?

It's Hall of Fame time again.... your 2103 Hockey Hall of Fame Inductees...

As the title suggests, the 2013 class of the Hockey Hall of Fame was announced today. Rules mandate a maximum of four players and one person from the builders category may go in.

And that's just what we have.

 

First, we have the lock of the year.... Chris Chelios.

This former Atlanta Thrasher great won 3 Stanley Cups, 3 Norris Trophies as best defenceman, and made 11 All Star teams in 26 seasons.

Chris becomes the oldest member ever inducted into the Hall on his first year of eligibility. He is 51 years old. Yeah... he last played at 48 years of age.  

 

RC - 1984-85 OPC

Next, another defenceman, Scott Niedermayer.

Scott won 4 Stanley Cups, 1 Norris Trophy and 1 Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP. He was named to 5 All Star games in his 18 seasons.

RC- 1990-91 Upper Deck

Here's one that had me puzzled... I really didn't think he was that good or deserving... but, I really didn't see him play that much in his prime.
Brendan Shanahan played 21 seasons in the NHL, winning 3 Stanley Cups and being named to 3 All Star games. No individual hardware. Never led the league in any category except for one year where he had the most shots. Meh. I'm sure he'll go in as a Whaler.

RC - 1988-89 OPC

I figured Danielle Goyette for this spot, and I was close. Her teammate, Geraldine Heaney.
Geraldine was one of the pioneers of women's hockey. Joining Team Canada in 1990, the first year for organized women's hockey, she won 7 World Championships, Olympic silver and gold medals while being named top defenceman three times.

RC- no idea. I'm showing a 194-95 Classic. I could tell you that was her RC and most of you would have no idea.... but I'm not like that. Okay I am... but not today.

and in the builders category, we have former coach, Fred Shero. Not many people know Fred played 145 NHL games for the Rangers in the late '40's. He's more known as a coach. Specifically for the Broad Street Bullies of the '70's.
Jack won 2 Stanley Cups and 1 Jack Adams trophy as best coach in 10 seasons.
Fred passed away in November of 1990.

RC- 1974-75 OPC

There you have the 2013 Hockey Hall of Fame class.... and once again.... no mention of anyone from the WHA.
Curious.

Trade Night - All Horizontal Edition

Slowly the gears turn as I get caught up on some long delayed posts. Multiple reasons why I'm behind.... and for the most part, they don't matter. You're not here for the story, you're here for the cards, am I right?

You know I am.

Quite often at trade night I find myself acquiring cards that don't necessarily fit into my prime collection. Most of the time, people who have cards I want, aren't interested in anything I have.

Such is life.

So I adapt. It's what humans do, right? Evolution... survival of the species and all that.

If I can't acquire the main pieces I'm after, then I go for other cards that round out my collection. Cards that while may not be of my favourite players or teams, still can find a home and valued place in my pc.

Like this card... a hard signed Niklas Lidstrom. One of the greatest defencemen to ever play my game. A 100% lock for the Hall of Fame the year he's eligible.

Speaking of one of the greatest defencemen of all time, Hall of Famer Denis Potvin.

This is my second Potvin auto, but my first that isn't slabbed in one of those nasty graded plastic cage thingies.

Adding two autos of these greats was a no brainer for me.

From my wantlists, I snagged this SP heroes card of Marty Brodeur. It was the last card I needed for that set.

It's not a 17 colour game used sweat stained patch auto like what most people get excited about, but I was very happy to cross it off of my list.

The last (hockey) card I got was not a trade, but a gift.

Aaron Palushaj 2012 Panini Prime Patch rookie # 24/25

I appreciate the gift.

But let's talk about something that someone else said to me when they saw what took place.
We'll call him 'Bubba'.
Bubba comes over and says 'Wow! I can't believe someone would just give away a card like that without getting anything back!'
I asked him if he had every given any cards away before... he said 'yeah, a couple of times... but just worthless base cards.'
To which I said, and you think this card is valuble????
See, to me.... this card is maybe a $2 card. It's of a player that has no shot at playing for my team this year, is in the walk year of his contract, and will not be re-signed.
I very much doubt if his NHL career lasts much longer.
Is it out of /25? Yes.
Is it a big two colour jersey swatch? Yes.
But so what? Look who's it of.

This is what Bubba goes on about... how it's a rare patch card etc.. etc... if you'll forgive my poetic licence, This is a guy who can't see the trees in the forest.
He's blinded by the 'internet forum' SICK MOJO PATCHEZ!!!! ideal that so many people fall into.
He's convinced that by opening high end packs and finding low numbered patch cards, it's his ticket to retirement.
Wake up son.

These are the same guys complaining that they can't sell cards on ebay anymore because they are selling for too little $$$....

Thanks for reading my rant to the end... here's a reward.

Hall of Fame Class of 2012

This year's Hall of Fame Class was announced earlier today. The NHL elected Joe Sakic and Mats Sundin in their first year of eligibility, as well as Adam Oates and Pavel Bure.

Let's take a look at what matters most. Their cards. Rookie style.

Joe Sakic

1989-90 OPC #113

Joe scored 625 goals and 1016 assists for 1641 points in 1378 games. He also Captained his teams to two Stanley Cups. 12 All Star Game appearances to go with a Hart and Conn Smythe trophy.

A spanky mint copy of his only RC will set you back $2-3 bucks. If you don't have one, why not?


Mats Sundin

1990-91 OPC Premier #114

Mats scored 1349 points in 1346 games including 564 goals. Mats played for 18 seasons, but never won a Cup, or any other type of trophy.

Mats' rookie cards inlcude 90/91 UD #365, 90/91 Pro Set #636 and 90/91 Score #338. The OPC Premier pictured above is probably the most desirable and can be had for about $2.


Adam Oates

1987-88 OPC #123

Adam potted 1420 points with 1079 assists in 1337 games. He was a playmaker. He made a lot of 'goal scorers' look better than they were. Five All Star Games with no Cups or personal hardware.
He's not really identified with any one team, as he played with seven of them over his 19 year career. He played the longest with Washington.
Coincidently, he was named the new head coach of the Washington Capitals earlier today. A pretty exciting day in the Oates household.

His OPC rookie shown can be bought ungraded for about $7.


Pavel Bure

1990-91 Upper Deck # 526

Kind of the surprise of the group. Didn't expect to see old Pavel in the Hall.

Bure had four seasons with at least 58 goals scored, twice hitting 60. That combined with the fact he only got 437 goals in his career shows he was a very big hit or miss player. Mostly miss. Scoring a 117 goals in 8 seasons to me is not a Hall of Fame player.... despite getting 317 in those previously mentioned four seasons.

Hello consistancy?

Six All Star games, a Calder trophy and two Henri Richard trophies, but no Cups.

Pavel's only rookie card is yours pretty much anywhere for $3.

So there you have the 2012 NHL Hall of Fame class. Congrats to those that made it.

As for the rest of you, go out and grab those rookies of the newest Hall of Famers. It won't cost you much.

Stick with me on this one....

if you haven't read my post on Waxaholic about my newish collecting habits.... go there and read it. LINK When you're done, feast your ocular implants on this

Game used stick from the Hall of Famer... It's numbered 6/9. Yeah, I forgot to scan the back..... Larry Robinson is one very under appreciated dude in the hobby world. Okay, he's a defenceman not named Bobby Orr. I get that. But did Bobby finish with 6 Stanley Cups? Did Orr finish his career with a +730 rating? Including a +120 in 1976/77, the year Larry won his first Norris Trophy. The back doesn't mention what year this stick is from, but I like to think it's from that era.... four straight Stanley Cup wins... Larry Robinson, the Big Bird himself patrolling the blue line. I've often thought about starting a pc of Robinson or Serge Savard.
Maybe this is the start.

1974-75 Topps Card #9 - Emile Francis

Card features - Emile Francis

 One of the unique aspects of this set is the inclusion of Coach's cards. Emile is the first one to be featured here. Emile 'The Cat' Francis was a former player, a goalie, in the NHL. And I have to admit, up until now, I thought he was a lot better than he was. He lasted 6 seasons going 31-52-11 with a 3.76 GAA. That's horrible. But he was the first goalie to ever not use a regular hockey glove, but modify a first baseman's mitt with a cuff to catch pucks. So that's something.
Where Emile found his niche was in coaching. In 13 years as head coach, he guided his team's to the playoffs 11 consecutive times, missing only his first and last years.
He never won the Stanley Cup.

No cartoon on the manager's cards...

This concludes the first page in my '74/75 Topps binder. I kinda forgot about this one for awhile... whoops. Not sure if anyone but me cares for this old set anyways...

Hall of Fame - 1982 Builder catagory.

1974-75 Topps Card #8 Bill Barber

Card Features - Bill Barber

 Bill Barber was part of the famed LCB line for the Flyers. (Reggie Leach, Bobby Clark, and Barber). Drafted 7th overall in 1972, he was called up after only 11 games in the minors and scored 30 goals in his rookie year. The Flyers went on to win the next two Stanley Cups.
Barber was forced to retire in 1984 after a major knee injury, retiring as Captain, and is still the Flyers record holder for most goals scored at 420.
The Flyers retired his number (7) in 1990, just after Bill was elected into Hockey's Hall of Fame.

The cartoon says Bill is a power play specialist. Let's see... 104 of his 420 goals were with the man advantage, so yes, the cartoon speaks the truth.

Bill went on to a coaching career, starting in the AHL with the Philadelphia Phantoms. Part way through the 2000/01 season, he was promoted to head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. Bill coached the last 54 games of the 82 game season, going 38-16, and winning the Jac Adams trophy as Coach of the Year. The next season saw him go 49-30, guiding the Flyers to first place. He was fired a week later. He has not coached since. You figure it out and let me know.

Hall of Fame - 1990

Sweet 400.

I am a wee late with this since it happened over the xmas break. But goalie Chris Osgood got his 400th NHL win.  Chris is the 10th goalie in history to achieve that feat.

                             Wins  Avg  WPCT
1.  Martin Brodeur *  607  2.23  55.08%
2. Patrick Roy  551  2.53  53.55%
3. Ed Belfour  484  2.50 50.26%
4. Curtis Joseph  454  2.79  48.14%
5. Terry Sawchuk 447  2.50  46.04%
6. Jacques Plante  437   2.37  52.21%
7. Tony Esposito  423   2.92  47.74%
8. Glenn Hall  407   2.49  44.92%
9. Grant Fuhr  403   3.38  46.43%
10. Chris Osgood *  400  2.49  53.91%

As you can see, Ozzy is in pretty good company on that list. The obvious exception is Grant Fuhr, one of the most overrated players in the history of the NHL. This guy was horrible, but was fortunate to play on a team that scored 7 or 8 goals a game.
Ozzy has the 2nd best goals against average and the 2nd best winning percentage. Not too shabby. Chris not only has three Stanley Cup wins, but was the first goalie since Terry Sawchuk to win Cups as a strating goalie 10 years apart.
Chris also has two Bill Jennings trophies as best goalie and is one of only five goalies to score a goal by directly shooting the puck into the opponents net.

With of all that said, Ozzy is probably most famous for being the last goalie in the NHL to wear the 'bucket mask'. Funny how things work.

Is he a Hall of Famer? Looking st those numbers and comparing to others in the Hall, the answer is yes. Either that, or some goalies need to be removed from the Hall.


I wanted to also post his rookie card, but they are in the '93/94 sets when i wasn't collecting. I'll have to find one or two of his for my collection....

1974-75 Topps card #4 Goals Against Average Leaders

Card Features - Doug Favell and Bernie Parent

 Small world the NHL... in the 1973/74 season, the Toronto Maple Leafs sent goalie Bernie Parent to the Philadlephia Flyers for goalie Doug Favell. I guess you could say it worked out well for both clubs. It didn't though, Toronto got screwed... but we'll cover that later on.
Doug and Bernie were actually teammates for three seasons with the Flyers before Philly traded Bernie to Toronto in 1971. Confused? You won't be after this next episode...... (never mind the obscure reference)

Bernie won two Stanley Cups, two Vezina Trophys and Two Conn Smythe Trophys in the two years after this card was released and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984.
Doug is credited with being the first goalie in the NHL to add colour to his mask. Ummm... yeah.

There are some pretty famous names on those lists....

As you can probably tell from looking at the picture, this is one of the very few cards I still need to upgrade from this set. Some young fan decided to scratch out each of their faces with ball point pen. One day I'll find a good upgrade.

Hall of Fame - Bernie Parent 1984
Upgrade needed

1974-75 Topps card #3 Scoring Leaders

Card Features - Phil Esposito and Bobby Clark

 Okay. Last leader card featuring a Bruin for awhile. I promise. What's there to say other than the Bruins of the early '70's were a juggernaut. No team has dominated the scoring charts since like they did.

For my take on Phil, go HERE and read the post for card #1 in this set. For now, we'll concentrate on Bobby Clark.
Bobby was the captain for the Philadelphia Flyers, and at the time this card came out was just about to lead the Flyers in back to back Stanley Cup wins. Bobby went on to lead the NHL in assists in the 74/75 and 75/76 seasons. As well as playing in two of his 8 All Star games.

it's nice to see a picture of Bobby with all his teeth. A rarity for sure.

Hall of Fame - Phil in 1994
                       Bobby in 1987

1974-75 Topps card #2 Top Assists Leaders

Card features - Bobby Orr and Dennis Hextall.

 For the second straight leader card, we feature a Boston Bruin and a Minnesota North Star.
Bobby Orr led the NHL with 90 assists in 73/74. It was the fourth of five times leading the NHL. Bobby added 32 goals to go along with a Norris trophy win that year.

Dennis led the West with 62 assists. That, and his point total (82) would be career highs. Dennis also appeared in his first of two All Star games.

 Bobby Orr was on the cusp of arguably his greatest season. 1974/75 saw him score 46 goals 89 assists for 135 points. Another norris trophy win for top defenceman, and Art Ross win for leading scorer, and a Ted Lindsay Award for Most Outstanding Player as voted by the players. And then, it was over. Training camp in 1975 saw Bobby suffer a serious knee injury, limiting him to only 10 games. After leaving Boston for Chicago, another knee injury 20 games into the season saw Bobby miss over a year and a half of action. He tried a comeback in 1978, but after 6 games, hung up his skates for good. The greatest hockey player besides Gordie Howe. Maybe even better than Howe. Depends on my mood. Over waaaay too soon.

Dennis Hextall had a journeyman's career in the NHL with stops in 6 cities. 12 seasons 153 goals 350 assists. Dennis comes from a hockey family. His father Bryan, brother Bryan Jr, and nephew Ron Hextall all played in the NHL.



Hall Of Fame - Bobby Orr was elected in 1979

1974-75 Topps #1 Top Goal Leaders

Card Features - Phil Esposito and Bill Goldsworthy

 Phil Esposito led the entire NHL in 73/74 with 68 goals. It was the second highest total for Phil. He would pot 61 the following year, but never more than 42 in his final 6 seasons. Phil finished his 18 year career with 717 goals.

Bill Goldsworthy finished with 48 goals in 73/74, good for 5th in the league, but tops in the west. This was Bill's best year. 37 the next year and out of the NHL three years after that. One thing I would love to find, is video of Bill doing the "Goldie Shuffle". A goal celebration dance he did after scoring on home ice.

Both Phil and Bill were traded to the Rangers within three years of this card coming out. They also played together with Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series. And really? Philadelphia? In the west? There's a reason Conferences and Divisions were renamed.


Hall of Fame - Phil was elected in 1994

Deceased - Bill passed away in 1996 from complications due to AIDS. Bill tried to pass on a warning to all young hockey players about the dangers associated with the abundance of Puck Bunnies who make themselves available to all NHL'ers on the road.
Not sure anyone has heeded that advice. Would you?