Lost Cards: 2000-01 UD Vintage Zarley Zalapski

  Zarley Zalapski was drafted 4th overall in the 1986 NHl entry draft.  What is particular interesting is that he never played college or major junior hockey.  He was drafted from the Canada National team.  Prior to 1988, professionals were not allowed to compete at the Olympics.  The lure of the 1988 Olympics on home soil was enough for a few top prospects to join Team Canada.  There was also coach Dave King who was beginning to make a name for himself.  Three players from the Canadian National team were drafted in the 1st round in 1986.
  While 1988, was the first year professionals were allowed to participate in the Olympics, the NHL did not schedule a break in thier schedule, so few NHLers were able to join.  The roster for the Olympics was a mixture of amateurs, prospects, ex-NHLers, NHL hold-outs and a few players who were granted leave by thier teams.  Hopes were high for Team Canada, who had performed well in tournaments prior to the Olympics.  Unfortunatley, the last-minute influx of a few NHL players, did not boolster the team as expected.  Team Canada finished in 4th place.

1988-89 OPC Olympians - Zarley Zalapksi

  After the Olympics came to an end, several of the amateur players, including Zalapski, made the jump to the NHL.  Zalapski had an assist in each of his first two NHL games and had a 4 point night, including his first career goal against Ron Hextall and the Philadelphia Flyers.  Zarley finished the season with 11 points in 15 games.  In 1988-89, Zarley scored 45 points in 58 games and was selected to the All-Rookie team.  It was enough to get Zarley his first OPC card in the 89-90 set.  I wasn't very impressed by it so I created a 88-89 OPC rookie for Zarley.

  After another injury shortened season in 89-90, Zalapski was finally healthy, but the addition of Larry Murphy to a blueline that already included Paul Coffey, made Zalapski expendable.  The Penguins had an excess of offence but a lack of grit on the backend.  Zalapski was part of the blockbuster deal at the trade deadline with the Hartford Whalers, than sent Ron Francis and Ulf Samuelsson to the Penguins and helped propel the Pens to two back-to-back Stanley Cup Championship.  Zalapski would have his best offensive season while with the Whalers, scoring 20 goals in 92-91 and 65 points in 92-93.  Zalapski was traded to the Calgary Flames at the 1994 trade deadline.  Zarley would slide down the depth charts with the Flames, before a knee injury caused him to miss almost the entire 1996-97 season.  Zalapski continued to struggle during the 97-98 season and was traded to the Montreal Canadiens to finish the year.  Zarley signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers in 1998 off-season, but failed to make the team out of training camp.  Although Upper Deck thought it would get a head start and included Zarley as Ranger in their 1998-99 set.
  Zarley went overseas in 1999 but returned to North America to play in the IHL.  During the season, the injury bug bite the Philadelphia Flyer's blueline and Zalapski was signed to fill in the gaps.  Zalapski began his Flyers career like he did his NHl career, notching assists in his first two games.  After that, Zalapski failed to score a point in ten more games.  As players returned from injury, Zalapksi's ice time disappeared.  While Zalapski would not play in the NHL again, he would continue to play pro hockey, either in North America or Europe, until 2008.
  In 2017, Zalapksi passed away due to a heart disease.
  Zarley's brief stint with the Philadelphia Flyers did not warrant a cart from any of the major card companies, so I decided to create one.  It was an easy choice as to which design to use.  The 2000-01 UD Vintage set was my favourite design from that season.  This was before retro or vintage sets were popular.

Lost Rookies: 1985-86 OPC Dave Gagner

  Dave Gagner was highly touted entering the 1983 NHL Entry Draft.  The big knock against Dave was his size, 5'10".  Although ranked as the 7th or 8th best prospect, Gagner was still on the board when the New York Rangers scooped him up as the 12th overall pick.
  Before signing with the Rangers, Gagner joined the Canada National team and represented his country in the 1984 Olympics.  Gagner led Team Canada with 5 goals and 7 points.  He would go home without a medal as Canada, finishing fourth, was shutout in its final three games.

1984-85 OPC Olympians Dave Gagner

  Gagner made his debut for the Rangers season opener in 1984.  He scored his first goal, a shorthanded marker, against Pete Peeters of the Boston Bruins on October 28, 1984.  Gagner struggled to find ice-time with the Rangers during his three year tenure with the team.  Splitting time between the New Haven Nighthawks of the AHL, and the Rangers of the NHL, Gagner scored 27 points in 80 NHL games over three seasons.  A change of scenery didn't jumpstart Gagner, as he was traded to the Minnesota North Stars for the 1987-88 season, netting 19 points in 51 games.  Gagner did start to find his stride as the season progressed, scoring 15 points in his last 22 games.
  Gagner did get a great start to the 1988-89 season.  Playing on a line with Stewart Gavin and Basil McRae, Gagner scored 4 points vs the Boston Bruins in the season's second game.  Gagner eventually played himself onto the top line and finished the season as the North Stars leading scorer.  Gagner led the North Stars in scoring twice and topped the 40 goal mark twice during his time as a North Star.  In 1991, the North Stars lost in the Stanley Cup finals to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Gagner had 27 points, and led the team with 12 goals.  He led the team with 6 points in the finals.
  The North Stars changed their name to the Stars and moved to Dallas in 1993.  Gagner moved on in 1995, in a trade that sent him to the Toronto Maple Leafs.  In Gagner's final four seasons, he would suit up for five different teams (Stars, Leafs, Flames, Panthers and Canucks).  He retired in 1999.
  Perhaps my favourite hockey card of all-time is Dave Gagner's1991-92 Pro Set Platinum card.  There is something about that action shot that gives me the giggles.  Dave did get a rookie card in the 1988-89 OPC set after his first season in Minnesota.  He never got a New York Rangers card, so here is his Lost Rookie card, from the 1985-86 OPC set.  Also, a bonus 86-87 OPC of Dave.

1985-86 OPC #271 Dave Gagner (RC)

1985-86 OPC #217 Dave Gagner (RC)

1986-87 OPC Dave Gagner

Lost Rookies: 1984-85 OPC Marc Behrend

  Marc Behrend was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets, 85th overall, in the 1981 NHL Entry draft.  Behrend was the 10th goalie taken in the draft.  At one point, three of the goalies taken before Behrend were in the top ten for career wins by a goalie.  Those goalies were drafted by the Oilers, Flames, and Rangers.
  It took a few years for Behrend to make it to the NHL.  Behrend played college hockey for the Wisconsin Badgers, and won NCAA championships in 1981 and 1983.  Each time, Behrend was selected as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.  He is the only player to win the award multiple times by himself.  Lou Angotti also won the award twice, in 1960 and 1962, but shared the award with two other players in 1960.  Marc would make another stop before joining the Jets in 1984.  Behrend played for Team USA in the 1984 Olympics.  There was no medal for Behrend, as the team finished seventh.
  Behrend made his NHL debut a week later and his first NHL start was a 6-5 overtime lose to the Edmonton Oilers.  About another week later, he recorded his first win, a 7-3 pounding of the Los Angeles Kings.  Teammate Dale Hawerchuk set a NHL record that night by recording 5 assists in a single period.
  In his NHL career, Behrend would play 39 regular season games and 7 play-offs games, including the first ever series clinching victory for the Jets, vs the Calgary Flames in 1985.  In Winnipeg, Behrend found himself stuck behind Brian Hayward on the depth chart.  After leaving the Winnipeg Jets, Behrend would take over the starting job from Patrick Roy...  for the Sherbrooke Canadiens of the AHL. (Okay, so Roy only played 14 games for Sherbrooke, including 13 in the playoffs, and albeit the claim is a bit melodramatic, it has a nice affect.)
  Marc would retire from professional hockey in 1987 and become a firefighter in his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin.  He never received an NHL card, and only had a single team issued card while with the Jets.  Below is what a 1984-85 OPC Marc Behrend rookie card may have looked like.

1984-85 OPC #401 Marc Behrend (RC)

  I also decided to through in a bonus card.  A 1984-85 OPC Olympic subset of Marc Behrend.

1984-85 OPC Olympians - Marc Behrend