It took awhile for Norm Foster to make the NHL. Originally drafted 230th overall, in the 11th round of the 1983 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins, Norm did not make his NHL debut until 1991.
Norm was drafted straight out of the BCJHL. He opted to go to college instead of junior hockey and played four seasons with Michigan State University in the NCAA. During those years he was able to win two different championships. He won a Gold medal as a member of Team Canada in the 1985 WJHC. Norm backstopped Michigan University to the 1986 NCAA Championship, winning top goalie of the tournament.
Norm 's first professional season was 1987-88, with the Milwaukee Admirals of the IHL. After that, he spent three seasons in the AHL before making his NHL debut during the 1990-91 season. With starters Reggie Lemelin, and then Andy Moog, going down to injuries, Norm found himself as the #1 goalie in Boston... for a week. It didn't start out too good with Norm losing 6-2 against the Pittsburgh penguins in his NHL debut on February 2, 1991. He bounced back the next night with his first career win, which was also against the Pittsburgh Penguins. His last game as a Bruin was a 6-5 win against the Oilers on February 7th. After playing three straight games for the Bruins, Norm was benched as Lemelin made his return from injury. Foster finished the season with the Cape Breton Oilers of the AHL.
Norm had a rookie card in the 1991-92 Upper Deck set, but was shutout of all other sets. In fact, that was the only NHL card ever produced of Norm. I couldn't find any usable pics of Norm as a Bruin so I couldn't add anymore Bruins cards to Norm's portfolio.
Although Norm changed franchises to start the 1991-92 season, he didn't change teams. He was traded from the Bruins to the Edmonton Oilers for a 6th round draft choice, but he remained a member of the Cape Breton Oilers of the AHL. With back-up Peter Ing playing poorly in Edmonton, and starter Bill Ranford twice going down to injuries, Foster was called upon to play a career high 10 games during the 1991-92 season. He went 5-3-0, .891, and 2.79. Including allowing only 6 goals during four game winning streak. It wasn't enough for the Oilers, as the team made a trade with the Quebec Nordiques for back-up Ron Tugnutt.
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| 1992-93 Fleer Ultra Norm Foster |
With Tugnutt now in the fold, Foster found himself again starting the season in the AHL. He would never return to the NHL. Although he signed with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1993, he never played a game for the team. He retired after the 1994-95 season.
3rd and 4th string goalies tend to get forgotten about by the card companies. There are goalies who played in several NHL seasons with several different teams but yet only have 12 cards - all rookie cards. For some reason, Norm Foster jumped out at me as someone who needed another card. This was also my first go at the back of 1992-93 OPC. I think it went pretty good, although there was a large amount of space to fill with text, and since I am not bilingual, meant I needed twice as a much to say on the back.
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| 1992-93 OPC #397 Norm Foster |
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| 1992-93 OPC #397 Norm Foster |
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