The 90s Goalie Project - Askey me about it

  The 90's Goalie Project was first mentioned in a  post several months ago, and while it has been slow going, it is still on going.  I have added four or five to each Sportlots order. Let's look a few of the newer ones.

1998-99 Upper Deck

Tom Askey had a very brief NHL career, playing seven regular season games and one play-off game.  His NHL career was also winless, retiring with a record of 0-2-1. Tom played for Ohio State University before turning pro.  In four seasons, he went 17-68-10, with a 4.59 GAA.  Yikes, but it drew the attention of the Mighty Ducks who drafted him 186th in 1993.

  When Brian Hayward was traded from the Montreal Candiens, there was a glut of young goalies vying for the back-up job behind Patrick Roy.   Jean-Claude Bergeron was one of those young goalies.  1990-91 was JC's only season with the Canadiens.  In the 1991 expansion draft, the Tampa Bay Lightning selected goalie Fredric Chabot from the Montreal Canadiens.  The Canadiens protected two goalies, Patrick Roy (duh!) and JC Bergeron.  The very next day, either the Lightning or Canadiens realized they got the wrong man, the Lightning traded Chabot back to Montreal for J.C. Bergeron.  It was the first trade in the history of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

  This is an example of not using a player's rookie card.  Pauli Jaks had a rookie card in the 1991-92 Upper Deck update set.  Problem is, that he is part of the World Junior Championship subset.  I am looking for goalies' first NHL card, so his RC was ineligible for this project.  Pauli Jaks has only one NHL card, to go with his one NHL career game.  On January 25th, 1995, after allowing four goals in the first period against the Chicago Black Hawks, the LA Kings would bench Jamie Storr in favour for Pauli Jaks.  Jaks would allow 2 goals on 25 shots in 40 minutes. Jaks returned to Europe in the offseason.

 If you have been a dedicated reader of this blog, which I am sure you are, you already know that Glen Hanlon was the first NHL goalie to allow a goal to Wayne Gretzky and know you will know who was the last goalie the Great One beat.  It was Wade Flaherty.  On March 28th, 1999, Wayne Gretzky scored his 894th career NHL goal in a game against Flahety and the New York Islanders.  For Flaherty, it was the 245th goal scored against him in his career. 

  

$1600 and 30 minutes on eBay. What do you do?

  Drop The Gloves issued a challenge.  Spend $1600 BIN on eBay within 30 minutes.  Here we go!

  1979-80 OPC Wayne Gretzky RC KSA 6.5 - $460 BIN

   I need on of these for my 1979-80 OPC set and I wouldn't settle for anything other than a graded copy.  I'd be too worried about it being a fake otherwise.  I would settle for one graded 6.5 since I don't want to break the bank for it either.

  1970-71 OPC Ken Dryden RC PSA 7 - BIN $499
 
  There is a certain allure about Ken Dryden and his cards.  Perhaps it is because he won't allow any new cards with his likeness to be produce, so therefore, there's not a thousand different cards of him.  That makes his RC an easy choice, especially when dealing with $1600 and only 30 minutes.   










1978-79 OPC Mike Bossy RC PSA 9 -  BIN $145

  Although I rarely got to watch Mike Bossy when I was a child, he became my all-time favourite player.  I already have a few copies of his rookie card but none of them are graded. This card is a classic.

2007-08 UD Cup Mike Bossy Patch/Auto #/15 - BIN $175
  A beautiful on card auto with two two colour patches.  Not the most unique patches but thus was the best one on eBay during my 30 minutes.  I could go through $1600 without adding a Mike Bossy patch/auto card.












  2008-09 Ultimate Collection Cam Neely Patch/Auto #/10 -  BIN $175
  Cam Neely is another one of my favourites while I was a kid.  The patches on this on are great and so is the auto. 






  2010-11 Limited Trios - Wendel Clark, Cam Neely and Rick Tocchet #/99 -  BIN $35
 I overpaid for this one.  There are a few nicer ones already BIN and at a lower price.  But this a card I really want.  If I had more time on eBay, as in days or weeks, I would have waited this one out until a nicer version came out.  By either via fantasy or reality, I will own a version of this card someday soon.







 2010-11 Dominion Pen Pals Ken Linseman and Steve Ott - BIN $25
  This is another card which I overpaid.  I know a couple of these went in the past for $15.  I love the pairing on this card.  It's very well matched.    Linseman has a terrific auto.











 3200ct box of Hockey Cards - BIN $60 + $25 S/H
  The contest didn't mention shipping and handling but I figure I better add it in for this one.  I love going through boxes of hockey cards to see what treasures may lie within.  I don't mean patch or auto cards, even a Bob Corkum or Donald Audette card could trigger a treasured childhood memory or at least bring back the joys of being a kid who could appreciate a card without wondering how much it goes for on eBay.  I just hope this box isn't as Flyers heavy as in the picture.





  1989-90 OPC Dave (David) Volek RC - BIN $1
  Last, but not least, is a David Volek rookie card.  Volek scored the game seven overtime goal that sent the heavily favourite, and defending Stanley Cup champs, the Pittsburgh Penguins to the golf courses, while the New York Islanders, and a very young me, went to cloud nine.  I do already have this card, but I got when I got the 1989-90 OPC factory set as a kid, well before Volek's goal, but he deserves a place amongst my Hockey Greats RC collection.  I was looking for a Graded copy but there was none on eBay.  According to the PSA population report, there is only one 89-90 Volek RC ever graded by them.  It was a 10.  In comparison, journeyman NFL QB Billy Volek has had 135 of his SP Authentic rookie card sent in to be graded.




  So there it is, $1600 in 30 minutes, or less.  Every dollar spent.  Check out the contest at Drop the Gloves to see what other bloggers are buying and for a chance to enter as well.

Photoshop: Vintage Goalie Masks

  I have been playing around in Photoshop with the filter.  The majority of it, I'd deem uninspiring.  Although I really like the two pictures below.   Doug Favell's sunburst mask, and Jacques Plante as a Toronto Maple Leaf.

Doug Favell

Jacques Plante

   While Jacques Plante is famous for being the first goalie to regularly wear a mask in the NHL, Doug Favell is actually the first ever NHL goalie to play with a painted mask.  On October 31st, 1971, Doug Favell was a victim of a prank by Philadelphia Flyers trainer, Frank Lewis.  Frank painted Favell's mask all orange.  Favell played that night and became the first goalie to played with a painted mask.  The trend caught on and it helped spur on some of the great masks ever since.

  But the story doesn't end there.  After receiving a new mask, Doug Favell was approached by the HHOF for the mask.  Favell gave the HHOF the mask and it was on display for years, before it was realized that the mask on display was a fake.  Through an extensive search, the real mask was found in the storage rooms of the HHOF, mysterious repainted.  The story does have a happy ending as Favell was able to get his original Mask back, since technically he never "donated" the mask, and has had it restored.  For more details on the story, check out this website. 

TTM Success: Dan Daoust

 Dan Daoust had a hot start to his NHL career in 1982-83, collecting 52 points in 52 games as a rookie.  He followed that up with 74 points in 78 games, then he started to change.  In his third season, he dropped to 54 points in 79 games.  Over his last five seasons, Daoust scored matched his point total from his sophomore year, although it took 313 games to do so.  Daoust had turned into a second line scorer into a third line checker and penalty-kill specialist.  He left the NHL in 1990 but went on to play several more seasons in Europe.   I vaguely remember watching Daoust while I was a child, but I do remember the name.  It's just a fun name to say.  Da-ohhh!

2012-13 Fleer Retro with 1992-93 Fleer Ultra Retro

  I am excited about the insert sets in 2012-13 Fleer Retro.  In particular, I love the 92-93 Fleer Ultra Insert set. I don't think I'll be busting a box at $200+.  I got suckered in by Panini Signatures, so I learned my lesson, for the time being.  I am planning on going to the Toronto Sports Card Expo and I will definitely be hunting down the new 92-93 Fleer Ultra inserts.  I have some good childhood memories with that set.  In the meantime, I put together a template and fired out some cards for guys who weren't part of the set.

Steve Ott

Brandon Prust

Chris Neil

Kevin Westgarth

Matt Martin

Brian McGrattan

2013 Trade Deadline Update

  The 2013 NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone.  Let's use that an excuse to make some retro update cards for some of the players traded in the days leading up the deadline.


  Brenden Morrow is following up his second least productive season in the NHL, with his least productive.  Morrow had 11pts in 29 games this year with the Dallas Stars before being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  In seven games with the Pens so far, Morrow has one goal and one assist.  The Pens don't need Morrow for his scoring as much as they need him for his grit and toughness.










  The St. Louis Blues added a few veterans to its blueline at the trade deadline.  One of them was Jay Bouwmeester, whom the Blues acquired from the Calgary Flames.  While not expected to produce offensively, Bouwmeester had three assists in his first three games as a Blue









  Ryane Clowe was goalless in 28 games with the San Jose Sharks.  Hardly the type of player you'd think would create a buzz at deadline time.  The New York Rangers were interested and Clowe paid immediate dividends, scoring twice in his first game as a Ranger.








  The biggest name at the trade deadline was Jarome Iginla, who was reported to be traded twice in the same evening.  The first time to the Boston Bruins, and then to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  So far, Jarome has not lit up the scoresheets in Pittsburgh, having one goal and one assist in his first five games as a Pen.  Can Jarome win that elusive Stanley Cup this year with the Pens, or maybe he'll need to pull a Raymond Bourque and stick around for another year.






  There were two big name goalies on the block at the trade deadline, neither of them moved.  Roberto Luongo is still in Vancouver and Miikka Kiprusoff announced his plans for retirement, just so he could stay in Calgary.  That left Ben Bishop, the odd man out in Ottawa, to be the biggest name, and size, goalie to be moved at the trade deadline.  Bishop has started all four games for the Lightning since the trade, including a shutout in his Lightning debut.







  Marian Gaborik put up two 40 goal seasons in New York in the past three years but found himself in the doghouse in 2013 and eventually as a Blue Jacket.  For the first time ever, the Columbus Blue Jackets found themselves as buyers at the trade deadline and they made a splash by trading for Gaborik.  Gaborik has welcomed the move, scoring 5 points in his first 4 games for Columbus.








  The Philadelphia Flyers, a pre-season favourite to contend, are one of the biggest disappointments of the season.  Currently, sitting in 12th place in the East, it appears the Flyer won't even make the play-offs, but atleast they got tougher.  The Flyers acquired Jay Rosehill from the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Rosehill, who had not played in the NHL this season, joined the Flyers just in time for a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Rosehill made the Leafs pay, beating up Leafs tough guy Colton Orr and also scoring the game-winning goal as the Flyer won the game 5-3.





  Jaromir Jagr found himself on the move, joining his third team in two seasons.  In his Bruins debut, Jagr would score the lone goal in a 1-0 Boston Bruins victory over the New Jersey Devils.  Jagr, who turned 41 this season, is looking for that elusive third Stanley Cup, after winning two in his first two seasons. 









   Derek Roy is the third former Dallas Star to be included in this update.  Roy was traded to the Vancouver Canucks to help provide some scoring depth.  Roy, who has been a borderline point a game player in his best seasons, has started slow with the Canucks, notching one assist and four shots on goal in three games since the trade. 

TTM Success: Randy Moller

  Randy Moller was a part of two "firsts" during the 1982 World Junior Hockey Championships.  He helped Team Canada win it's first Gold Medal in the tournament's history and he was part of the first ever pair of brothers to play for Team Canada in the same year.  Randy, and his brother Mike, were the only set of siblings to play on the same Team Canada squad until the Hamilton brothers, Dougie and Freddie did it in 2012.  Randy played 815 games over a 13 year career.  He played a defensive style of game but he wasn't afraid to rough it up, earning over 100 minutes in penalties in 11 of his 13 seasons.  He also played a large role in the Good Friday Massacre, albeit, Chris Nilan didn't give him much of a choice.  Moller retired in 1995 as a Florida Panther and currently does play-by-play on the radio for the Panthers and is also the Panther's Alumni president.

Here's a clip of some Moller's more memorable goal calls as a play-by-play man.

1981-82 OPC Goalie Reboot Complete

  The 1981-82 OPC Goalie Reboot is complete.  In total, I redid 32 original cards and added 44 more, including a few one game wonders.  All goalies from the 1980-81 season are included except for three. who I couldn't find any picture for.  I wasn't able to make an improvement on every single original goalie card but overall I think the reboot definitely puts the boots to the originals.  There is a lot more action shots and a lot more masks.  So what do you think?  Which card is your favourite? 

For most posts, I did two teams per post.  Here are the links to each team's post.

Boston Bruins		Buffalo Sabres		Calgary Flames
Chicago Black Hawks		Colorado Rockies		Detroit Red Wings
Edmonton Oilers		Hartford Whalers		Los Angeles Kings
Minnesota North Stars		Montreal Canadiens		New York Islanders
New York Rangers		Philadelphia Flyers		Pittsburgh Penguins
Quebec Nordiques		St. Louis Blues		Toronto Maple Leafs
Vancouver Canucks		Washington Capitals		Winnipeg Jets

TTM Success: Jean Beliveau #2

  One of my first TTM requests was to Jean Beliveau, after waiting over a year, I sent him another request.  The first request took 403 days, and the second request took 73 days.  For my second request, I had even bought another 06-07 Parkhurst card.  The beauty in this return is the UD Trilogy Frozen in Time Ice card.  It's thick acetate and parts of the card is transparent.  It's an amazing looking card and numbered out of 999.  Beliveau is truly one of the NHL's greats. 

Photoshop: Lemieux and Robinson

  Found a cool picture of Hockey Hall of Famers, Mario Lemieux and Larry Robinson.  I really loved it since it had Lemieux in the bright yellow Penguins jersey.  The Pittsburgh Penguins only used the bright yellow jerseys for three seasons, from 1981/82 to 83/84 and during the 1984-85 preseason..  That dates this picture as Mario Lemieux's first pre-season..  The bright yellow jersey was originally a third jersey for the Penguins, used only for Sunday home games.  In the 83/84 season, it became their primary home jersey.  It was used during the pre-season in 1984-85 before being retired.  I think it'd be sweet for the Penguins to bring them back as a third jersey.
  When I found this picture, I couldn't help put to play with photoshop on this.  I wish I was trained in it but I mostly do trial and error.  It was expensive to buy, but I've used it enough to get my money's worth.  I like the effect I used on the background in the first picture but then I like how the players in the background become anonymous in the second picture. What do you think?

  Also, who is that guy over Mario's shoulder?  I swear I have a hockey card of him looking just like that.  I can't name him.  Here's a close up.  It's bugging me that I can't name him.  Can anyone name him?