Lost Cards: 1986-87 OPC Lucien Deblois

  Lucien Deblois has a fun name to say.  At least it was when I was a kid, and when I say it out loud today as an adult, yeah, it's still a fun name.  Deblois finished his career 7 games shy of 1000.  He had 552 points over 15 seasons.
  Deblios was drafted in the first round in both the WHA and NHL drafts in 1977.  He was selected 8th overall by the New York Rangers in the NHL and 9th overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the WHA.  Deblois chose the NHL and began the season wit the Rangers.  He scored his first NHL goal against Doug Favell of the Colorado Rockies, November 2nd, 1977.  Deblois would go on to be a Cy Young award finalist scoring 22 goals and 8 assists.  This effort was also enough to garner Deblois with a rookie card in the 1977-78 set.
  Deblois, along with four other players, were traded by the Rangers early in the 1979-80 season in a deal with the Colorado Rockies for Barry Beck.  After two more 20 goal seasons, three in his first four seasons, Deblois was traded to the Winnipeg Jets for Brent Ashton.
  Lucien had a pair of 50 points seasons before a career year in 1983-84, setting career highs across the board with 34 goals, 45 assists and 79 points.  The following offseason, Deblois and the Jets had a contract dispute which led to his trade to the Montreal Canadiens for Perry Turnbull.  Deblois was never able to find his scoring touch in Montreal, netting 54 points in 112 games over two seasons.  He did win a Stanley Cup in 1986, but after netting 0 points, and a -4 in 11 games, Deblois never played a minute in the Finals.
  By this time Deblois was more of a depth piece as he began a journeyman's journey by signing up for a second tour of duty with the New York Rangers.  Three years, 184 games and 74 points later, Deblois returned to La Belle Province of Quebec, this time signing as a free agent with the Quebec Nordiques.
  Deblois played a role in the Eric Lindros sweepstakes in 1991.  The Toronto Maple Leafs had infamously traded away their 1991 1st round pick to the New jersey Devils for Tom Kurvers the previous season, assuming their fortunes were going nowhere but up; turns out they were quite wrong.  20 games into the season, the Leafs and the Nordiques were the two worst teams in the league, so a deal was worked out to benefit both clubs.  The Leafs traded a prospect and draft picks to the Nordiques for three veterans, including Deblois.  The trade solidified the Nordiques tank job, finishing last overall, and the Leafs improved to 2nd last overall and saved themselves the embarrassment of trading away the golden ticket in the Lindros sweepstakes.  Instead the New Jersey Devils were stuck with selecting future HHOFer Scott Niedermayer.
  Deblois was traded from the Leafs during the following season, 1991-92, to the Winnipeg Jets.  Deblois retired at the end of the season, with the franchise he had the most personal success with.
  OPC seemed to forget about Deblois after his trade to the Montreal Canadiens.  He did get a horrific airbursh job for the 1984-85 set but didn't reappear until in a card until the 1990 junk wax boom.  So before getting to his "official" Lost Card, I thought I would throw in a 1988-89 OPC of Lucien during his second stint as a NY Ranger.

1988-89 OPC Lucien DeBlois

  And here is the Deblois Lost Card, a 1986-87 OPC while he was a member of the Stanley Cup Champions, the Montreal Canadiens.  Bon Appetit.

1986-87 OPC #274 Lucien Deblois

1986-87 OPC #274 Lucien Deblois