Mr. Jean Beliveau 1931-2014

A sad and tragic day as Mr. Jean Beliveau passed away late Tuesday night at the age of 83. I wasn't ready for this. It hit me. Hard. Harder than I thought possible. Hockey will never be the same.

 

The greatest captain in NHL history is gone forever.

 

He didn't have the most goals, or the most points. But he still was the greatest hockey player ever.

 

I don't want to get too caught up in his career numbers, as that isn't what made the man... but for you younger readers...

When he retired he was the leading scorer of the Montreal Canadiens. He currently ranks second. He has the most points scored in the playoffs. Still. By a very large margin.

507 goals, 712 assists for 1219 points in 1125 games.

10 All Star games

2 Hart Trophies

1 Art Ross trophy

1 Conn Smythe trophy

oh.... and 17 Stanley Cup Rings. 17. What's in your jewelry box?

 

But that's not what will be missed. It's him. His presence. It cannot ever be replaced.

 

The greatest Canadien ever, and an even greater Canadian.

 

The only thing that ever transcended his greatness on the ice, was his greatness off of it.

 

Mr. Jean Beliveau. August 31, 1931 - December 2, 2014

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?

I can't help myself....

I've been preaching about sticking to cards off of my wantlists... saving money... sticking to a plan... And while I've been 90% successful at it, I have to admit, I keep straying.
I'm weak. And I have a problem. That's the first step, right? Admission?
Anyways... at the last card show I picked up a few cards that were not on any of my lists.
Charlie Simmer, game used purple kings jersey /99 for a dollar. A DOLLAR! ARE THEY INSANE?

some of you may not have been paying attention, but Charlie is one of favourite non-Canadiens players from the 80's. It doesn't hurt that he now lives in Calgary and I've run into him a few times. The last time he even remembered my name. I'm now officially worried it's because the next time we bump into each other will result in a Bench Warrant.

And would it kill Panini to use a little colour on their cards? Especially on an 80's Kings card??!!

Next a Jean Beliveau Dominion base card /99. Cost, $3

What kind of world are we living in where base cards are /99 AND $3 is considered a really good price?
Again, some colour would be nice.

Last up today is a little fella who doesn't get much hobby love, even from Canadiens collectors. Not sure why, because from what I remember, he was our best player for quite some time.
Mats Naslund game used Team Sweden jersey.

Cost? A buck. Not complaining.... but this and Charlie cost me less than that base card I just showed you........
Cats and Dogs, living together........

Cardboard Ketchup - Ice Cold Edition

Continuing the story from Waxaholic, I'll put up highlights from two trade/gift packages... The first is from The Angels In Order. Yeah, I know. Hockey cards from a baseball guy in Texas who roots for the Angels. Go figure. But I'll take 'em. Tom said he could help with my quest to complete the '92/93 UD set, and sent over 22 cards off of my list.

I was wondering what Rob was smiling about,  and then I saw the half naked chick in the background.

for my Vancouver Canuck friends... Kirk McLean. This was the period when goalies still wore leather or 'leather look' pads, but had them colour co-ordinated to their team colours.

a Teemu Selanne Young Gun.... although I thought his rc was earlier..... Hmm.....

The next lot is from Casey of Drop the Gloves fame. We all know Casey is a Bruins fan, but we like him anyways. Although when the first card I saw out of the envelope was a Rene Bourque card, and then another.... I thought I had been Bipped.
But then Chipper appeared, and then the package really took off quality wise....
I saw that some of you recived cards from Casey at the same time and posted cards from the '70/71 Topps set. Casey must've found a shoebox in an attic somewhere, 'cause he sent me some too.

On Right Wing, the Roadrunner, Yvan Cournoyer

on Defence, sorry, I forgot it's American Topps. On Defense, Jacques Laperriere

his Defence Defense partner on the blue line, Terry Harper.

At Center, Ralph Backstrom.

On Left Wing, Pete 'Little M' Mahovlich.

we have a substitution! At Center, Jean Beliveau!

That is one hell of a lineup. If I could trade Backstrom for the Montreal Goalie in this set, Rogie Vachon.... it would be unbeatable.

Ah heck, put Backstrom in net and this lineup would probably still win the Cup.

Thanks for the cards boys!