1981-82 OPC Reboot - Flyers and Penguins

Philadelphia Flyers

  The Broad Street Bullies, once again bullied their way through the league.  The Flyers led the league, and set a franchise record, with 2581 PIM.  The Flyers were solid in net, finishing second in the league for the fewest goals against.  Rookie Rick St Croix finished second in the league in GAA and Pete Peeters was fourth.

Rk            Player Pos Age GP  W  L T/O  GA   GAA SO  MIN
1      Pete  Peeters   G  23 40 22 12   5 115  2.96  2 2333
2   Rick  St.  Croix   G  26 27 13  7   6  65  2.49  2 1567
3         Phil  Myre   G  32 16  6  5   4  61  4.07  0  900
          Team Total         80 41 24  15 241  3.01  4 4800

1981-82 OPC #245 Pete Peeters

  Pete Peeters took the reigns of starting goalie in the 1979-80 season after Bernie Parent retired.  I think Pete Peeters is one of the most underrated goalies from the 1980s.  He had the second most wins and second best GAA in the 1980s.  Also, according to hockeyreference.com, he has the 10th best career adjusted GAA of all-time. 

1981-82 OPC #252 Rick St Croix (RC)

  1980-81 was Rick St Croix's best season by far.  Granted he played one more season for the Flyers before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1982-83 season.  His stats with the Flyers; 38-26-16, 3.23 GAA.  With the Maple Leafs; 11-28-2, 4.63 GAA. 

Pittsburgh Penguins

  The Penguins limped into the play-offs, going 3-6-4 in their last thirteen games.  They finished 15th overall and had to face the second overall team, the St. Louis Blues.  The Penguins battled and made it all the way to double overtime in game five before bowing out.  The Penguins relied heavily on Greg Millen, playing him in 63 games, but lost Millen via free agency in the offseason.  When it was time to produce the set, OPC decided not to include any goalies for the Pittsburgh Penguins, making them the only team without a goalie card in the set.

Rk        Player Pos Age GP  W  L T/O  GA   GAA SO  MIN
1    Greg  Millen   G  23 63 25 27  10 258  4.16  0 3721
2     Nick  Ricci   G  21  9  4  5   0  35  3.89  0  540
3    Rob  Holland   G  23 10  1  5   3  45  5.01  0  539
      Team Total         80 30 37  13 338  4.22  0 4800

Bonus Penguins

1981-82 OPC Greg Millen (Pens)

    Greg Millen did have a card in the 1981-82 OPC set, but he was given an airbrush job and was featured as a Hartford Whalers.  That card was featured in an earlier post.  I decided I had to give Greg Millen a Penguins card since he was the man between the pipes for the Pens in 1980-81.  In the off-season, the Penguins and the Whalers engaged in a bidding war for Greg Millen.  On June 15th, Millen signed with the Whalers, netting Millen a pay increase from $40,000 a season to $160,000. 

1981-82 Nick Ricci (RC)

  Nick Ricci was being groomed as the goalie for the future, but he never made it.  He played 19 games over four seasons for the Penguins before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs.  he played two more seasons in the minors before retiring. 

1981-82 OPC Rob Holland (RC)

  First off, there are two things wrong with this card.  The uniform dates the picture from the 1979-80 season.  Also there is the big logo on top of the picture.  I could not find a good Rob Holland picture on the internet.  So I had to borrow one off eBay.  I guess I should mention that Classic Hockey Images has hundreds of classic goalie pictures available for sale.  Check out their other items.  Holland's NHL career only lasted two seasons.  Before the 1981-82 season, he was traded to the New York Islanders and spent his final six professional seasons in the minors.

Penguins Update

1981-82 OPC Michel Dion

  Michel Dion was signed by the Penguins with the hopes that he would back-up Greg Millen for the 1981-82 season.  Instead Millen was lost via free agency and Dion would go on to represent the Penguins in the 1982 All-Star game.   With his distinctive bird beek mask in Penguins colours, Dion'd first season would be the only bright spot in his Penguins career as then team would go on a two year nosedive, winning the Mario Lemieux sweepstakes for the 1984 draft.

1981-82 OPC Paul Harrison

  Worried about their goaltending depth, the Penguins traded for veteran Paul Harrison during training camp of the 1981-82 season.  Harrison would only play 13 games for the Penguins before being lost on waivers to the Buffalo Sabres in February of 1982.