I will forever remember
Glen Hanlon for his oddly shaped helmet, even more so than his
crotch grab card, which I pulled out of a pack as a child. One thing that many may not remember is Hanlon's time with the Blues. Acquired from the Canucks at the 1982 trade deadline, the Blues had hoped Hanlon would provide support for starting goalie, and All-Star,
Mike Liut. Instead Hanlon quickly played his way out of St. louis, beginning with surrendering seven goals in
his Blues Debut vs the Winnipeg Jets. Hanlon was traded to the New York Rangers during the 1982-83 season. Hanlon faired much better with the Rangers, and then Detroit Red Wings, where he led the league in Shutouts with 4 in 1987-88. Hanlon retired from the NHL after being left unprotected and then passed over in the 1991 expansion draft.
 |
| 1982-83 OPC #399 Glen Hanlon |
|
|
| 1982-83 OPC #399 Glen Hanlon |
_____________________________________
Update July 7, 2020
Hanlon got into cards early in his career but had a few years left out of caught during warm-ups, so I am going to appease the legions of Hanlon fans by adding or updating several cards.
Glen had a rookie card in
1979-80. He also received cards in the
1980-81 and
1981-82 sets. A common theme in the cards were inaction. All pictures were from warm-ups. So below are some action re-skins. Hopefully the 1981-82 is familiar to you. it was part of the
1981-82 OPC Goalie Reboot project.
 |
| 1979-80 OPC Glen Hanlon |
 |
| 1980-81 OPC Glen Hanlon |
 |
| 1981-82 OPC Glen Hanlon |
OPC omitted Hanlon in the 1982-83 set, a problem I rectified in the original post. In 1983-84, OPC didn't have a single New York Rangers goalie in the set. Starter Eddie Mio was traded to the Red Wings in the offseason and got airbrushed into a Red Wing for the set. Hanlon did make an appearance in the 1984-85 set, but would disappear again until he resurfaced as a Red Wing for 1987-88.
 |
| 1983-84 OPC Glen Hanlon |
 |
| 1985-86 OPC Glen Hanlon |
 |
| 1986-87 OPC Glen Hanlon |
Hanlon made regular appearances on cardboard as a Red Wing, and other than 1989-90, they were in full gear. Hanlon ended the 1990-91 season in the minors and never got a card in the 1991-92 sets. Hanlon switched to the combo mask very late in his career. it was actually hard to find a suitable picture of him in that mask for a 1991-92 card.
 |
| 1989-90 OPC Glen Hanlon |
 |
| 1991-92 OPC Glen Hanlon |
