Lost Cards: 1988-89 OPC Willi Plett

  Willi Plett is the career leader in all statistical categories for players born in Paraguay.  Willi Plett is the only player born in Paraguay to play in the NHL.  His parents immigrated from Russia to Germany and then to Paraguay after World War II.  Willi born in 1955, moved with his family to Canada in 1956.

  Drafted in the 5th round, 80th overall, in the 1975 Draft, by the Atlanta Flames, Plett made his debut on December 17, 1975 against the Minnesota North Stars, notching two shots on goal in a 3-2 loss.  Plett played 4 games for the Flames in 1975-76, without scoring a point or a penalty minute.  He spent the majority of the season with the Tulsa Oilers of the CHL.  Plett had 9 points in 9 play-off games as the Oilers won the Adams Cup as CHL Champions.

  Plett made a big impact with Flames in 1976-77, culminating with winning the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie.  Willi began the season in the CHL but was recalled after scoring 12pts and 68 PIM in 14 games.  His first career NHL goal came against Gary Simmons of the Cleveland Barons on November 12, 1976 in a 3-3 tie.  Plett scored 7 goals and 7 assists in his first 10 games.  For the season, Plett scored 33 goals, 56 points and 123 PIM.  He led the Flames, and all NHL rookies in goals.  

  Plett was rewarded with a fitting rookie card from OPC, with him pictured sitting in the penalty box.

  The next three seasons were a bit of a disappointment for Plett, as his scoring totals dipped from his rookie season.  He had 43 points in both 77-78 and 78-79 before dropping to 32 in 80-81.  In the same stretch his PIM increased each season, a trend that would continue during his tenure with the Flames franchise.  The Flames were a disappointment in Atlanta as well.  Although they were better than .500 in the regular season during Plett's four seasons, the team lost in the first round each year, going a cumulative 2-10 in those four play-offs.  Off the ice, the situation was more dire, as the team struggled to have 10,000 home attendance for its games and were playing in an out-of-date arena.

  The team was sold and relocated to Calgary for the 1980-81 season.  OPC gave the team the airbrush treatment for its set, removing the logo from the jerseys.  A few seasons later when the Colorado Rockies moved to New Jersey, OPC took a set of early or pre-season photos and had all the players in their new uniforms.  I'm going to give Plett the Rockies/Devils treatment and update his 1980-81 card in a Calgary Flames jersey.

1980-81 OPC Willi Plett

  The move to Calgary seemed to energize the team and Plett.  In Calgary's first NHL game, Plett a goal and two assists.  Plett set, or tied, career highs in several categories, including goals, 38, and points, 68.  He seemed to particularly like playing in Calgary, scoring 25 goals and 46 points in 38 home games.  The Flames finally won a play-off round, with Plett scoring the series winner in double-overtime, as they advanced all the way to the Conference Final.  Plett had 12 points in 15 play-off games.

  There was a dip in Plett's scoring the next season, as he dropped to 21 goals and 57 points.  Plett set a Flames record, since broken, with 288 PIM.  The Flames as a team regressed, as they dropped from 92 points to 75 in the regular season, and were swept in the first round by the Vancouver Canucks.

  In the 1982 offseason, Plett, along with a 4th round draft pick, was traded to the Minnesota North Stars for Steve Christoff, Bill Nyrop, and a 2nd round draft pick.  It's a unremarkable trade as neither of the draft picks amounted to anything, Nyrop opted to play in Germany instead of Calgary and Christoff was dealt away after a season.  

  Plett score a goal and assist in his first game as a North Star and two minutes into his in second game, he got suspended for 7 games for a retaliatory lumberjack chop with his stick to the back of Greg Stefan's head.  Plett finished the season with 25 goals, 39 points, 170 PIM in 73 games.  Prior to this season, Plett had increased his PIM total in each of his 6 full seasons as a Flame.  Plett had a card in the 1983-84 OPC set.  It turned out to be his last during his career.

  Decreasing PIM was a trend that found Plett being a healthy scratch from the Stars line-up early in the 1983-84 season.  Plett and coach Dave Mahoney were having differing views as to Plett's style of play and amount of ice time.  16 games into the season, Plett had 6 points and 25 PIM.  Frustrated by Plett's decreasing truculence, Plett was benched.  Plett must have hot the message.  After retruning to the line-up, Plett had 33 points and 291 PIM in 55 games.  He set a career high with 316 PIM during the 1983-84 season.  

1984-85 OPC Willi Plett

  The following season was marred by injuries for Plett.  He missed time due to shoulder and groin injuries, which would resurface during the rest of his NHL career.  In 47 games, Plett scored 14 goals, 28 points and 157 PIM.  He had a good play-offs, scoring nine points and 67 PIM in nine games.

1985-86 OPC Willi Plett

  The 1985-86 season saw the continued decline of Plett's offensive numbers, while shoulder injuries continued to limited him.  Plett scored 10 goals, 17 points and 231 PIM in 59 games. 

1986-87 OPC Willi Plett

    The trend continues as Plett fails to score double-digits in goals for the first time in his career.  He has 6 goals, 11 points and 261 PIM in 67 games played.

1987-88 OPC Willi Plett

   Plett's time in the Black and Blue Norris Division had taken a toll on him.  In the 1987 offseason, the North Stars signed up and coming enforcer Basil McRae as a free agent.  As the beginning of training camp, Plett was traded to the New York Rangers.  Plett never played a regular season game with the Rangers, as he seemed a bit hesitant to fight during the preseason.  He was left unprotected for the waiver draft and was picked up by the Boston Bruins.  

  Plett set career lows in goals, assists and points, while racking up 170 PIM in 65 games.  Willi had a bit of a resurgence in the 1988 play-offs, with points and 74 PIM in 17 games.  The Bruins lost in the Stanley Cup final against the Edmonton Oilers.  Willi retired in the 1988 offseason.  

  His career started out with a lot of promise.  He was one of the top power forwards in the game at the turn of decade in 1980.  Injuries and age caught up with him.  Willi was the NHL career play-off PIM leader when he retired.  He is currently 5th on the list.  

  OPC/Topps dropped Willi pretty quickly after his trade to the North Stars.  It's really surprising he didn't get a card in the 19854-85 set, the last of the decade to have 396 cards.  By the time he was in Boston, he was shell of his former self and had been long off of OPC's radar.  I did this picture and design used on another blog, but it didn't give Willie an authentic 1988 OPC treatment as it didn't list his entire career stats on the back.  With the lack of an official career caper and missing in action in the OPC sets for the last half of his career, I decided I would do a Lost Card career caper of Willi Plett.  

1988-89 OPC #274 Willi Plett

1988-89 OPC #274 Willi Plett

TTM Success: Allan Bester

  The diminutive Allan Bester was a childhood favourite of mine.  Being a big goalie fan, and growing up near Toronto, I spent many afternoons playing road hockey and pretending I was Allan Bester.  I believe I had a better GAA than Bester during those years.  Toronto was a horrible place to play as a goalie during the 1980s.  While Bester performed admirable under those circumstances, his legacy was paled by an overtime goal scored by Sergio Momesso in the 1990 play-offs.  A Momesso slap shot, taken from the blueline, went between Bester's legs.  The St. Louis Blues took a three games to zero led the the series and would eventually win in five games.  Bester would spend the majority of the next eight years as a minor league goalie.  In 1996, after suffering a slew of goalie injuries, the Dallas Stars signed Bester to a contract.  Bester would finish his NHL career with a ten game stint with the Stars.  Allan signed 4 of 4 and kept a copy of the picture as offered.

TTM Success: Neal Broten

  Neal Broten is a member for the US Hockey Hall of Fame.  He was part of the Miracle on Ice team that shocked the hockey world by beating the USSR and winning Gold in the 1980 Olympics.  Teammate Ken Morrow would win a Stanley Cup a few months after the Olympics, Broten would have to wait 15 years before becoming the only other Miracle on Ice player to also win a Stanley Cup.  In the process, he became the first American born player to score a Stanley Cup wining goal.

TTM Success: Pat Verbeek

  The Little Ball of Hate, aka Pat Verbeek, had 2905 PIM during his career.  That is the most PIM by player who scored 500 or more goals in his career.  He had three seasons where he scored over 40 goals and also had 200+ PIM.  He's the only player in NHL history to accomplish that feat.  Verbeek spent his early career on poor teams, the New Jersey Devils and Hartford Whalers.  In his first 12 seasons, there were only two seasons Verbeek was on a .500+ hockey team.  In the 1996 off-season, Verbeek signed with the Dallas Stars and helped the team go from 66 points the year before to 104 points in 1996-97 and won a Stanley Cup with the Stars in 1999.  Behind Dave Andreychuk, Verbeek has the second most career NHL goals from a player who has been passed over by the Hall of Fame. 

 

TTM Success: Enrico Ciccone

  Enrico Ciccone  made his NHL living with his hands.  He led the NHL in PIM in the last lockout-shortened  season of 1994-95, with 225 PIM.  A fan favourite, Ciccone would play for seven teams in his career, with two stops in Tampa and Washington.  Ciccone now works as a hockey analyst in Quebec.  I love the inscription on the Dallas card, "Keep Punching!"  

TTM Success: Brent Gilchrist

  Brent Gilchrist  played 792 games during 15 seasons in the NHL.  Gilchrist was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens and was traded away to the Edmonton Oilers just before the 1992-93 season, as part of the deal that brought Vincent Damphousse to Montreal.  While the Habs went on to win the Cup that season, Gilchrist would eventually get to sip from Lord Stanley's Cup in 1998, as a member of the Detroit Red Wings. Injuries would hamper Gilchrist for the rest of his career, playing in only 29 games the following two seasons.  Brent would eventually suffer a career ending back injury while playing for the Nashville Predators, in a game against one of his former teams, the Edmonton Oilers.
  I once read in a TTM forum, a collector complaining about Gilchrist's auto.  How that is it just a big B and G.  I think he has a cool signature.  Some players you can't make out a single letter of their auto.  His auto has some panache to it, while still being legible.

Did You Know...  

Brent Gilchrist is the NHL's all-time career leader in games played, 

goals, assists and points for player who wore #41. 

Whoops, I did it again

  Every now and then I'll buy a card without seeing it.  Sometimes it's just base cards from Sportlots.com but other times I buy cards off of SportsCardForum without seeing a scan.  When the cards come in the mail, it's like ripping into a wax pack, except you know what you're getting, but you still don't know what they look like.  I bought a 2003-04 Topps Pristine Marty Turco autograph as part of a lot purchase from a member on SportsCardForum.  A week later, I saw an awesome looking Turco autograph on eBay and my opening bid won the auction.  The card in the auction?

  The nice thing is that this is a great looking card.  A scan does not do it justice.  Its shininess can only be appreciated in person.  Also, I spent a little over $5 total on the pair, so it is an easy mistake to swallow.  Unfortunately Turco's return to the NHL has not been as pleasant.  He sports the worst save percentage of any goalie who has played over 100mins this season. His return to the NHL has actually cost him 3 spots on the all-time career GAA leaders, dropping him down to 17th overall.  The only good thing that could occur if the Bruins repeat, will be if Turco gets his name on the Cup.

  Update:  Argh.  After posting this, I found out Turco is not eligible to play in the Stanley Cup Finals.  Since he was signed after the trade deadline, he cannot play in the play-offs.  That sucks.

TTM: Dave Reid

Dave Reid was a defensive specialist in the 1990s.  He lead the league in shorthanded goals in 1990-91 and is 24th all-time in career short-handed goals.  Mr. Reid won two Stanley Cups; in 1999 as a member of the Dallas Stars, and in his final season, 2001, with the Colorado Avalanche.  Dave Reid is currently the General Manager of the Peterborough Petes.  He also has one of the nicer signatures that I have collected so far.

88-89 OPC Tribute; Benn, Stastny and The Nuge

#56 - Jamie Benn

  Jamie Benn has started strong in 2011-12, with 8 points in 9 games.  In 2010-11, Benn had 56 points in 69 games including a six game goal scoring streak.  Benn, drafted 129th overall in the 2007 draft, has never played a regular season game in the minor pro leagues.  Although he did play 24 play-off games in 2010, when he led the Texas Stars in play-off scoring and to the Calder Cup Final.

#57 - Paul Stastny

  Paul Stastny comes with a hockey lineage.  His two uncles, Anton and Marian, played in the NHL.  Oh, and his Father, HHOFer Peter Stastny play a bit too.  2010-11 was Paul Stastny worst year for points per game, 0.77.  He hopes to rebound and buil on some his early season success.  His 78 ponts as a rookie were good enough to land him on the 2007 All-Rookie Team.

#125 - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

  Ryan Nugent-Hopkins hopes to set a record by having the longest last name ever to grace the Calder Trophy and perhaps a few other trophies by the time he is done.  He already holds the distinction of having the longest name of any 1st overall pick.  "The Nuge" has started hot with 5 goals in 8 games, including a hat trick against the Vancouver Canucks.

88-89 OPC Tribute: Morrow, Brown, and Lafontaine

#40 - Brenden Morrow

 Dallas Stars captain Brenden Morrow was a member of the 200 and 30 club last season.  Morrow scored 33 goals, a personal best, and delivered 225 hits.  Morrow has won an Olympic Gold Medal, the World Cup of Hockey, a World Hockey Championship and a Memorial Cup.  He missed winning the Stanley Cup by one season, as his rookie year came the year after the Dallas Stars won the Cup.  In the last of the major Hockey Championships, he received a silver medal in 1999 in the World Junior Hockey Torunamanent.
  As a teenager, Morrow was not drafted by any Canadian Major Junior team.  He was a walk on for the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League.  Two years later, he was a 1st round pick by the Dallas Stars.

#41 - Dustin Brown

  Dustin Brown is the second player in this post who was on my league winning hockey pool team.  In 2010/11, Brown was two goals shy of creating the 300 and 30 club.  His 300 hits was good for 3rd best in the NHL.  It was the second year in a row that Brown finished in the top 3 in hits.
  When he is not scoring goals and delivering bodychecks, Dustin enjoys the Price is Right and going crazy.

#106 - Pat Lafontaine

  On the eve of the 1981 regular season, the reigning Stanley Cup champs, the New York Islanders, traded Bob Lorimer and Dave Cameron to the Colorado Rockies for the Rockies 1st round pick in the 1983 draft.  Two full seasons later, The Islander were still winning Stanley Cups and although the Colorado Rockies had become the New Jersey Devils, they still sucked.  The draft pick ended up being the 3rd overall pick and the Islanders picked Pat Lafontaine.
  Lafontaine would go on score 1000 points in his career, including a career best and record for an American-born player, 148pts in 1992-93 while playing for the Buffalo Sabres.  Lafontaine's career was hampered by injuries and was eventually forced to retire due to concussions.  He played his last game in 1998 and was inducted into the HHOF in 2003.

88-89 OPC Tribute; Card #4 Steve Ott

  Time to add some grit to the line-up. Steve Ott, an 8 year verteran, is the next to be added to the set.  Ott had 252 hits last season, which ranks him in the top ten for the second year in a row.  He scored over 20 goals in 09/10 and is a willing to drop the gloves, as this fan's youtube tribute will attest.  The video also shows his versatility, taken on stars, such as a Jarome Iginla, and top tier enforcers, such as Dan Carcillo.  If you hate Steve Ott, then we know he's not on your team.
  You may also notice, that I fixed the border.  I had forgotten to charge the border colour on the other cards. I will likely go back and rectify the error on the other cards.

#4 - Steve Ott