Lost Cards: 1990-91 OPC Borje Salming

  During the 1970s, with the influx of expansion teams and watering down of talent, games in the NHL were often being decided by fists shots, just as much as they were with wrist shots.  The game became far more rough and brawls became more common place.  At the same time, a new group of pioneers were joining the NHL, the Europeans.  They brought along with them a reputation of being highly skilled, but soft, and easily physically intimidated.  In the 1973, Borje Salming was one of three Swedish players to join the NHL. 

  The first Swedish trained player to try the NHL was Ulf Sterner in 1965.  Not used to the physical style of play, Sterner played one season in North America, appearing in 4 NHL games, before retruning to Sweden.  In 1969, the IIHF, hockey's main governing body in Europe, adopted body-checking rules similar to the NHL.  This made the jump from Europe to North America a bit easier.  In 1972,  Thommie Bergman became the second European trained player to play in the NHL, when he signed on with the Detroit Red Wings.  The following season, three players made the jump from Europe, as Salming and Inge Hammarstrom signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tord Lundstrom signed with the Red Wings.  Out of the four Swedish players, it was Borje who made the biggest impact.

  The discovery of Salming was a bit of a fluke.  The Maple Leafs sent scout Gerry McNamara to Sweden to scout Inge Hammarstrom.  Instead he was captivated by Salming.  McNamara was so impressed, he corralled Salming in the team's dressing room and asked him to join the Leafs on the spot.

  Salming notched an assist in his first NHL game, against the Buffalo Sabres on October 10, 1973.  His first goal didn't come until January 23, 1974, against Michel Larocque of the Montreal Canadiens.  Salming finished the season with 5 goals, 34 assists for 39 points.  He finished third in Calder voting for best rookie.  OPC bestowed "The King" with a rookie card in the 1974-75 OPC set, but it was a posed shot, so here's an action upgrade.  

1974-75 OPC Borje Salming (RC)

  Borje quickly became one of the NHL's best defenceman and fan favourite in Toronto.  So enamored were the fans, that Borje was nicknamed "The King".  Over the next six seasons, Salming was a member of the 1st Team All-Star once and five times as a 2nd Team All-Star.  He set career highs with 78 points in 1977-78 and had 19 goals in 1979-80.  More important than any of the statistics, Salming earned the respect of his opponents with his toughness.  Swedish and Europeans were categorized as timid and soft.  In particular, Swedish players were referred to as "Chicken Swedes".  While Salming didn't drop the gloves very often, he played a physical style and refused to be intimidated.  Salming proved that some European players had the determination and toughness to be stars in the NHL.

  OPC/Topps did fairly well with Salming cards, giving him action or on-ice shots for most of his cards.  There was one in particular I felt needed an upgrade, the 1977-78 OPC.  Not only does it suffer from a corny pose, Salming is not even looking at the camera.  

1977-78 OPC Borje Salming

  By the late 1970's, more Western Europeans were coming over.  Eastern Europe was made up of Communist states and the players were not allowed to join the NHL.  In 1979, the NHL had a mid-season three game series, coined the Challenge Cup, with the Soviet Union.  Salming was one of three Swedes, along with 23 Canadians, to play for the NHL All-Stars.  Salming was pointless in three games as the Soviets defeated the NHL All-Stars two games to one.  It would have been cool if OPC had a subset or inserts of the players from the Tournament in the 1979-80 set.  Could you imagine if the set had a Vladislav Tretiak rookie to go along with the Gretzky?

1979 OPC Borje Salming (CC)

  The 1980s were dark days for the Leafs and Salming saw his point totals drop off.  After scoring a career high of 78 in 1977-78, Salming's point total decreased every season for the next 10 seasons.  One part of the issue were injuries.  During the 80's, Salming only played 70+ games twice.  A knee injury in March ended Saliming's 1984-85 season.  The next season he missed over two months due to injury, playing only 41 games.  

  In May of 1986, Salming admitting in an interview that he had tried cocaine "five or six years ago, but not since".  This admission came shortly after Sports Illustrated posted an hockey article of an alleged Edmonton Oilers cocaine problem.  The NHL set their drug rehabilitation program back decades by suspending Salming for the entire 1985-86 season.  By the time the season started, his suspension was reduced to eight games.  

  The 1986-87 season got worse for Salming.  On November 26, 1986, Salming suffered one of the more infamous on-ice injuries.  After being knocked down in the goal crease, Salming had his face stepped on by Gerard Gallant, who was being pushed backwards over Salming.  Salming received 250 stitches in his face.  The "Chicken Swede" returned to play in two weeks with a giant scar running up his face.  Salming looked more like a James Bond villain than a hockey player, white kitty-kat and all.

  Salming played 16 seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs.  His last card as a Maple Leaf was in the 1988-89 set, a warm-up shot.  Not a fitting way to cap Salming's time as a Maple Leaf.

1988-89 OPC Borje Salming

  Salming signed as free agent with the division rival Detroit Red Wings during the 1989 off-season.  Salming was tired of losing and was hoping a chance at a Stanley Cup.  Salming joined the Red Wings in time for OPC to give him the airbrush treatment.

1989-90 OPC Borje Salming

  The switch of teams for Salming saw a switch of fortune for those teams.  The Red Wings went from first place in the Norris to last and out of the play-offs.  While the Maple Leafs, who had missed the play-offs  the previous season, climbed the standing to 3rd in the Norris.  Salming played in 49 games, netting 19 points.  1989-90 was Salming's final season in the NHL.  He returned to Sweden to play three more seasons, including the 1991 Canada Cup and 1992 Olympics.  In 1996, Salming became the first European-trained NHLer to be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

  Salming's retirement from the NHL left him out of the 1990 junk wax boom.  I kept it old school and created a 1990-91 O-Pee-Chee to cap off his career.

1990-91 OPC #533 Borje Salming

1990-91 OPC #533 Borje Salming

One Sheet, One Star: Mike Gartner

Mike Gartner

2001 HHOF

708 Career Goals

17x 30 goal scorer

  I believe Mike Gartner heads up the list of players who were very good for a long time category in the Hockey Hall of Fame.  He only has one 50 goal season and one 100 point season.  He was a little better than a point-per-game during hockey's offensive heyday of the 1980s.  He never won an award or made a post season all-star team.  What he did do was score 30 or more goals in 15 straight seasons and netted 708 goals for his career.  
   Mike Gartner started his professional career with the WHA's Cincinnati Stingers.  The Stingers were one of two WHA teams that were not included in the NHL's absorption of the WHA.  That left Gartner eligible for the 1979 NHL Draft.  The 1979 draft was extremely deep due to the lowering of the age restrictions and the availability of several young stars who had played in the WHA the previous season.  Gartner was selected 4th overall by the Washington Capitals.

  Gartner's best season was with the Capitals in 1984-85, scoring 50 goals and 102 points.  His blazing speed and scoring prowess helped him get selected to the 1984 and 1987 Canadian Canada Cup teams. Gartner would call the 1987 Canada Cup the highlight of his career.  He was never able to win a Stanley Cup, but did win two Canada Cups.  Gartner had 9 points in 17 Canada Cup games.

  The Capitals were a very good regular season team, but could never make it our of the Patrick division in the play-offs, regularly losing to Islanders in post season play.  Near the 1988-89 trade deadline, the Capitals made a traded to get grittier.  They sent Gartner and Larry Murphy to the Minnesota North Stars for Dino Ciccarelli and Bob Rouse.  The following season at the trade deadline, Gartner was on the move again, back to the Patrick division, to the New York Rangers.
  Gartner would come close to scoring 50 again in 1990-91, making a serious push for it as he scored 8 goals in the last 7 games.  Instead he had to settle for hockey's Cy Young award, with 49 goals and  20 assists.  Things really started to look up for the Rangers as the "Messiah" Mark Messier was acquired for the 1991-92 season.  Messier did deliver the Stanley Cup to New York in 1994, unfortunately Gartner was a victim of the Oilerization of the Rangers.  The Rangers boasted six former Cup winning Edmonton Oilers on their Cup wining team.  Gartner was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 1994 trade deadline for Glenn Anderson. 
  While with the Leafs, Gartner made it out of the second round, as the Leafs lost in the semi-finals to the Vancouver Canucks.  Gartner never won a Stanley Cup during his career.  The following season marked the end of Gartner's 15 straight 30 goal seasons, since matched by Jaromir Jagr.  While the shortened lock-out season made getting 30 goals difficult, Gartner was only on pace for 26 goals over a full season.
  Mike notched two more 30 goal seasons, one with Toronto in 1995-96 before being traded to Phoenix, where he notched his last.  He retired as a Phoenix Coyote with a total of 708 career NHL goals.
  Gartner did win one award of note in the NHL.  In 1993, he was selected as the All-Star MVP after scoring a record four goals, which he shares with a few other players. Mike played in  seven All-Star games and won the fastest skater competition three times at the skills competition.

Hey Mike, where's your 'stache?

   So where does Gartner rank in terms of greatness?  He never had a high peak but played a very good level for a very long time.  Is he really deserving of the HHOF? 
 

One Star, One Sheet; Brett Hull

Brett Hull

741 career goals

1991 Hart winner

2 Stanley Cups

2009 HHOF

  Whoa, what's up with the Flames card?  I went a bit out of order on the release dates on this one.  That card is from a insert set from 2003 -04 Topps, called the Lost Rookies.  (*insert shameless plug* I do lost rookies too, check them out)  I included this post-pre-rookie (huh?) to have his Flames days represented.  I was a big Flames fan as a kid as Hull was blowing up in the early 1990s.
  Hull was drafted by the Flames 117th overall in the 1984 draft.  It's not like the Flames didn't know they had a future star on their hands.  He had the lineage, being Bobby Hull's son.  He scored 50 goals in 67 games in the AHL in 1985-86.  In 52 games with the Flames in 86-87, Hull scored 26 goals and 50 points in 52 games before being traded.  True, the Flames picked up two pieces of their 1989 Stanley Cup winning team in Rob Ramage and Rick Wamsley.  Still, you have to wonder what if the Flames kept Hull. 
  Hull would set the league on fire as a St. Louis Blue.  In 1988-89, he scored 41 goals in his first full season with St. Louis, and then followed it up with seasons of 72, 86, and 70 goals.  In 1990-91, Hull won the Hart Trophy as league's MVP.  It was Hull and Oates mania.  His 86 goals are the highest by a player not named Wayne Gretzky. 
  Hull scored 50+ goals in five consecutive seasons.  He only one of six players to have five consecutive 50 goal seasons and was also the last to do so.
 Gretzky and Hull would be united after the Blues won the Gretzky trade sweepstakes in late February of 1996.  The expected explosion of offense never materialized.  During 15 regular season games together, Gretzky only set up three Brett Hull goals.  The Blues lost in the second round of the play-offs in seven games to the Detroit Red Wings.  Gretzky left via free agency in the off-season.  Hull and the Blues would also be disposed of by the Red Wings in the play-offs in the two following seasons. 
  In 1998, Hull signed as a free-agent with the Dallas Stars.  For the first time in his career, his team would make it past the second round, and this time they would win the Stanley Cup, albeit on a questionable triple overtime goal.  At least Brett is above rubbing it in....

  Hull played three season with the Stars, winning one Stanley Cup.  He would repeat that with the Detroit Red Wings; three seasons, one Cup. After the lost season of 2004-05, Hull retired five games into the 2005-06 season as a Phoenix Coyote.  Making him the second 700 goal scorer to retire as a Phoenix Coyote. Any guesses on the other one?
  I don't have much to say on Hull since he was such a well covered player through out his career.  I guess I should mention that he is the son of HHOFer Bobby Hull and they hold the record for most career goals by a father and son.  Perhaps if the Flames never traded him I would be in the mood to go more in-depth on him. 

One Star, One Sheet: Dale Hawerchuk

Dale Hawerchuk

2001 HHOF

1409 Career Points

518 Career Goals

1982 Calder winner

    For a player who put up some gaudy numbers, Hawerchuk is not considered among the elites.  Perhaps it was because he wasn't flashy, played in a small Canadian market, or never had any play-off success.
   Hawerchuk had plenty of success in his pre-NHL days.  He led the Cornwall Royals of the QMJHL to back-to-back Memorial Cups championships in 1980 and 81.  His dominating play in junior, 183 pts in 73s games in 1980-81, made him the clear cut number one pick for the Winnipeg Jets in the 1981 draft.
   Aided by Hawerchuk, the Jets went from being worst in the league, with 32 points in 80-81, to a playoff team with 80 points in 1981-82.  At the time, it was the largest point increase by a team.  Hawerchuk became the 2nd rookie to score 100+ points and was awarded the Calder trophy.
  Dale would led the Jets in scoring every season he was a Jet, never averaging less than  a point per game in a single season.  Hawerchuk's best season came in 1984-85.  He scored 53 goals and 130 points to finish 3rd in the scoring race. He was voted to the 2nd team All-stars and was a runner up for the Hart trophy.  Another highlight for the Jets in the 1984-85 season was having six players score 30 or more goals.  The 1984-85 Jets are only one of three teams to have accomplished this.
  In terms of team success, the Jets only won two play-off rounds during Hawerchuk's years as a Jet, while losing eight, including five sweeps.  The Jets suffered from playing in the Smythe division during the 1980s which was owned by the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames during that decade.
     The hiring of Mike "Mikhail" Smith as GM of the Winnipeg in 1988, was the beginning of the end for Hawerchuk in Winnipeg.  According to Hawerchuk, “Mike Smith had come in and taken over as the GM in Winnipeg and was making some big changes, things were getting so bad in Winnipeg that I finally asked Smith to trade me.”  Which is a bit ironic since Mike Smith coached the 1980-81 Winnipeg Jets and helped cement the 1st overall choice in the 1981 draft for the Jets.  Smith went 2-17-4, as the third and final head coach of the Jets that season. 
  At the 1990 NHL draft, Hawerchuk and a 1st round pick, was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for a Phil Housley, Scott Arniel, Jeff Parker and the Sabres 1st round pick.  The Jets would select Keith Tkachuk and the Sabres took Brad May.
  Hawerchuk was no longer the 100+ point man he was in Winnipeg but still put up a point a game or better in his first four seasons with the Sabres until an injury plagued season in 1994-95.  Even though the Sabres were a more talented team than the Jets of the 1980s, with Pat Lafontaine, Alexandr Mogilny, Grant Fuhr and Dominik Hasek, they fared no better in the playoffs.  During Hawerchuk's five seasons in Buffalo, the Sabres won one play-off round while losing five.
  After the 1994-95 season, Hawerchuk signed a free agent contract with the St. Louis Blues.  Hawerchuk was reunited with coach Mike Keenan, who had coached Hawerchuk in two Canada Cups and also in Junior B when Hawerchuk was only 15 years old.  Hawerchuk struggled to put up points with the Blues, netting 41 in 66 games before being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers.
  Hawerchuk played two season for the Flyers before retiring due to a losing battle to hip injuries, which had plagued him for a few seasons.  He finally played a NHL game in May, as the Flyers went all the way to the Stanley Cup finals in 1997, before getting swept by the Detroit Red Wings.
  Hawerchuk would later go into coaching and is currently the coach of the OHL's Barrie Colts.
  So once again, where does Hawerchuk rank in terms of greatness. If you consider his point totals and then consider the team he had to work with during his prime years with the Jets, you can't help but to be impressed with how many points Hawerchuk amassed.

Rk	Player	From	To	GP	G	A	PTS
1	Dale Hawerchuk	1981	1990	713	379	550	929
2	Thomas Steen	1981	1990	667	186	388	574
3	Paul MacLean	1981	1988	527	248	270	518
4	Laurie Boschman	1982	1990	526	152	227	379
5	Doug Smail	1981	1990	646	178	198	376
6	Brian Mullen	1982	1987	372	124	172	296
7	Dave Ellett	1984	1990	458	91	197	288
8	Dave Babych	1981	1986	321	67	210	277
9	Randy Carlyle	1983	1990	424	69	197	266

 

Imagine if....

  In possible the worst trade ever in the history of hockey, on May 22nd, 1970, the California Golden Seals traded away their first round draft pick in the 1971 Amateur Draft, Francois Lacombe and cash to the Montreal Canadiens for the Canadiens 1st round pick in 1970 and Ernie Hicke.  The Golden Seals would draft Chris Oddleifson with Montreal's 10th overall pick in 1970.  The following year, the Canadiens would use California's 1st overall pick to select Guy Lafleur.  Great trade by Canadiens GM Sam Pollock, but what in the world was the Golden Seals GM, Frank Selke Jr, thinking?
  In 1969-70, the season before the trade was completed, the Golden Seals made the play-offs, and the Canadiens had not.  Although that was the last season where one division was all expansion teams and the other was all Original Six teams.  The Seals made the play-offs with 58 points, good for 4th place in the West.  The Canadiens finished with 92 points and they finished 5th in the East after losing a tiebreaker to the New York Rangers.  So, perhaps Selke Jr was thinking the Seals were on the way up and the Canadiens were on the way down, and that the 1971 pick would be a late first rounder and not the first overall.  Assuming he gave a damn about draft picks in the first place.

Ernie Hicke RC

  Prior to the 1969 draft, the majority of young stars were already own by teams through the sponsoring of junior teams.  Basically a NHL team would buy a junior team and then they would exclusive rights to negotiate contracts with those players.  For example, the Boston Bruins bought the Oshawa Generals, just so they could sign a 14 year old Bobby Orr to a contract.  So when the Seals traded the pick to the Canadiens, no player who had been acquired through the draft had made an impact in the NHL.  The first 10 picks from 1969 had combined for 18 points in 44 games.  Even earlier draftees that would go to stellar careers had yet to become stars, players such as Ken Dryden, Syl Apps, Pete Mahovolich and Brad Park.  So the draft did not hold the same importance as it does today.
  The Seals had a history of trading the Montreal Canadiens 1st round choices.  From 1968 to 1973, Montreal Canadiens acquired five first round picks from the Seals.  The other two first round picks prior to Lafleur, Jim Pritchard, 3rd overall in 1968, and Ray Martrynuik, 5th overall in 1970, failed to make an impact in the NHL.  They combined to played zero games in the NHL and 2 WHA games. The following two had a bit more success, Michel Larocque, and Tom Lysiak.  All of the other 1st round picks were traded to the Canadiens prior the 1971 pick and all were traded to the Canadiens by Frank Selke Jr.
  The Canadiens also needed a future face of the franchise.  In the 1968 and 1969 Amateur drafts, the Montreal Canadiens were given cultural choices.  The had the option to forfeit their first round choice in exchange for picking two french-Canadian players with the 1st and 2nd overall picks of the draft.  In 1969, they selected Michel Plasse and Roger Belisle.  In 1969, they selected Rejean Houle and Marc Tardif.  while not bad players, they paled in comparision to the top french-Canadian in 1970, Gilbert Perreault.  With not being able to select Perreault with a cultural selection, the Canadiens were still looking for a heir apparent for Jean Beliveau as the next great francophone Montreal Canadien star. 

    The Canadiens had their eye on Guy Lafleur.  A star in the QMJHL, Lafleur scored 103 goals in 1969-70 and then followed it up with 130 goals in 1970-71.  Even if the Seals didn't finish last, there was also Marcel Dionne available at the draft.  But that wouldn't do for the Canadiens,  they traded aging star Ralph Backstrom to the Los Angeles Kings during the 1970-71 season.  The Kings had finished last in the NHL the previous season and were near the bottom of the standing again, challenging the Seals for last.  In hindsight, the trade seems unnecessary.  At the time of the trade, the Kings were the fourth worst team in the NHL, the Seals were the worst, although closely followed by the Vancouver Canucks.  The Kings were a .400 before the trade, and were basically a .400 team after the trade.  Perhaps the trade had a psychological effect on the Seals.  The Seals were by far the worst team in the NHL after the Backstorm trade, only wining 6 of their remaining 28 games. They dropped like a rock and cemented their last place finish.
  In the end, the Canadiens got Lafleur and the rest is history.  Stanley Cups, accolades, trophies and the Hall Of Fame would await Lafleur.  For the Seals, Hicke was their second leading scorer in 1971 and Oddleifson would go onto a decent career, although he never played a game with the Seals.
  So while we came up with a few possible reasons that might have factored into the Seals trading away the pick, we couldn't find a real answer.  The conspiracy theorists like to point our Frank Selke Jr's links to the Montreal Canadiens.  His father was their legendary GM in the 40s and 50s, and Selke Jr worked for the Canadiens as the publicity manager for years before joining the Seals as GM.  So he had a lot of ties to the Canadiens.   Although Frank Selke Jr had a horrible track record as a GM, he is a extremely well respected man and was a huge factor in the growth and support of Canada's Special Olympics program.  Perhaps he was just in way over his head as GM of the Seals.
  Frank Selke Jr would resign in November of 1970.   The team would have six GMs in its first five years.  Future HHOFer and New York Islanders architect, Bill Torrey, would take over as GM after Frank Selke.  He would resign after a month.  
  But could you imagine if the Seals had held onto the pick and had drafted Lafleur?  Would the Seals still be in California?  Would the Canadiens still dominate the 1970s?

Mystery Pack, Mystery HHOFer?

  I had a great time at the Toronto Sportrscard Expo and I use that for material for future posts.  Another thing I try to do on my holidays is to hit the Dollar Stores and grab some mixed packs.  I usually stay strong and keep my spending restricted to the $1 mixed packs but every now and then I double down and get the $2 Surprise Box.

  The Surprise Box usually has 3-4 smaller packs of 4-5 cards, and sometimes a sealed pack of cards or supplies.  In this particular pack, it included a mixed pack that claimed  "1 Guaranteed Hall of Famer".  Perhaps you can check out the cards and help me find the Hall of Famer.

    Out of these five players, none are currently in the HHOF.  So who does Prestige consider a guaranteed HHOFer?  First off, we can eliminate Wayne Presley and Anatoli Semenov.  Presley, a one time 30 goal scorer, spent the majority of his career on the checking line and never won any awards.  Semenov didn't come to the NHL until he was 28 and proceeded to play for six teams in seven years.  Jonathan Quick has had a great start to his career, with a Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe, but it is way too early to even think about Quick in the HHOF, let alone issue a guarantee.  Quick still needs several great years to get into the HHOF talk.  Remember how hot J.S. Giguere was at one time?
  Pat Verbeek scored 522 goals, good for 34th all-time.  Verbeek retired in 2002 and has yet to be elected to the HHOF.  Verbeek was never a dominant player during his era and accumulated his career totals while playing 1424 games over 20 seasons.
  That leaves Curtis Joseph.  Joseph retired in 2009 but was passed over in his first year of eligibility for the HHOF in 2012.  While Joseph has some impressive career numbers, including 454 career wins, he has never been truly great.  Joseph has never won any major individual honours nor has he won a Stanley Cup.  A win the 1996 World Cup could have helped his cause, but instead Joseph, and Team Canada, lost their last two games in huge upset by team USA in the final.  I never thought of Joseph as an elite goalie.  Unless there really is a "Toronto Bias", then I can't see Joseph being called to the Hall.
  What do you think?  Was there a guaranteed HHOFer in that pack?

Photoshop: Vintage Goalie Masks

  I have been playing around in Photoshop with the filter.  The majority of it, I'd deem uninspiring.  Although I really like the two pictures below.   Doug Favell's sunburst mask, and Jacques Plante as a Toronto Maple Leaf.

Doug Favell

Jacques Plante

   While Jacques Plante is famous for being the first goalie to regularly wear a mask in the NHL, Doug Favell is actually the first ever NHL goalie to play with a painted mask.  On October 31st, 1971, Doug Favell was a victim of a prank by Philadelphia Flyers trainer, Frank Lewis.  Frank painted Favell's mask all orange.  Favell played that night and became the first goalie to played with a painted mask.  The trend caught on and it helped spur on some of the great masks ever since.

  But the story doesn't end there.  After receiving a new mask, Doug Favell was approached by the HHOF for the mask.  Favell gave the HHOF the mask and it was on display for years, before it was realized that the mask on display was a fake.  Through an extensive search, the real mask was found in the storage rooms of the HHOF, mysterious repainted.  The story does have a happy ending as Favell was able to get his original Mask back, since technically he never "donated" the mask, and has had it restored.  For more details on the story, check out this website. 

TTM Success: Jean Beliveau #2

  One of my first TTM requests was to Jean Beliveau, after waiting over a year, I sent him another request.  The first request took 403 days, and the second request took 73 days.  For my second request, I had even bought another 06-07 Parkhurst card.  The beauty in this return is the UD Trilogy Frozen in Time Ice card.  It's thick acetate and parts of the card is transparent.  It's an amazing looking card and numbered out of 999.  Beliveau is truly one of the NHL's greats. 

Photoshop: Lemieux and Robinson

  Found a cool picture of Hockey Hall of Famers, Mario Lemieux and Larry Robinson.  I really loved it since it had Lemieux in the bright yellow Penguins jersey.  The Pittsburgh Penguins only used the bright yellow jerseys for three seasons, from 1981/82 to 83/84 and during the 1984-85 preseason..  That dates this picture as Mario Lemieux's first pre-season..  The bright yellow jersey was originally a third jersey for the Penguins, used only for Sunday home games.  In the 83/84 season, it became their primary home jersey.  It was used during the pre-season in 1984-85 before being retired.  I think it'd be sweet for the Penguins to bring them back as a third jersey.
  When I found this picture, I couldn't help put to play with photoshop on this.  I wish I was trained in it but I mostly do trial and error.  It was expensive to buy, but I've used it enough to get my money's worth.  I like the effect I used on the background in the first picture but then I like how the players in the background become anonymous in the second picture. What do you think?

  Also, who is that guy over Mario's shoulder?  I swear I have a hockey card of him looking just like that.  I can't name him.  Here's a close up.  It's bugging me that I can't name him.  Can anyone name him?

TTM Success: Bernie Federko

  Bernie Federko was a star center with the St. Louis Blues from 1976 to 1989, before finishing his career with a final season as a Detroit Red Wing.  He is also generally known as the whiping boy for the HHOF lack of standards.  While Federko scored 1130 points in 1000 games, he was never considered a dominant player in his era, never won any post season awards and only once led the Blues past the second round of the play-offs.  In his 14 year career, he only played in the mid-season all-star game twice.  I am not sure if he was injured every year at that time but Brian Sutter or Rob Ramage would represent the Blues instead of Federko.

 

  So does Federko belong in the HHOF?  Many people say he is vastly underrated.  He played on a small market team who never achieved any post season success.  If you look at Federko's teammates, he never had a 1A type player.  In New York, there was Bossy-Trottier.  In Edmonton, Gretzky-Kurri.  In Montreal, Lafleur-Shutt.  In Quebec, Stastny-Goulet.  In St.Louis, Federko linemates were the like of Brian Sutter and Wayne Babych.  With Federko's help, Babych was a 50 goal scorer in 1981 and Sutter consistently put 30 goal seasons.  It wasn't until the mid 1980 when, fellow future HHOFers, Joey Mullen and Doug Gilmour proved the skill level to help Federko put together three straight 100 point seasons.  Unfortunately, both Gilmour and Mullen would suffer similar fates, being traded to the Flames, albeit in different seasons.  While the Blues didn't have any play-off success, Federko consistently found the scoresheet in the postseason.  Federko scored 101 points in 91 post season games.  Federko would eventually be traded to the Detroit Red Wings in a deal that gave the Blues Adam Oates.  Federko would play a single season in Detroit before retiring.
  What do you think?  Is Federko the poster boy for the HHOF low standards?  Or is he the poster boy for the under-rated small market superstar?

TTM Success: Peter Stastny

  I have covered Peter Stastny a few times before on this blog.  First time I posted his legends card from the 88-89 OPC tribute set, briefly covered his defection to Canada, and the second time was my first ttm return from Peter.  This time, let's look at the numbers.  From the 1980-81 to the 89-90 season, only Wayne Gretzky scored more points than Peter Stastny.  Stastny scored 100 points or more in his first six seasons and was the first NHL "rookie" to score 100+ points.  His 70 assists is still a record, which he now shares with Joe Juneau.  In his rookie season, Stastny set a rokie by scoring a combined 14 points in consecutive games, including a rookie record of 8, 4 goals and 4 assists, versus the Washington Capitals.  When he retired, he was tanked 11th in career points, 1239.  As of the end of the 2011-12 season, he ranks 36th all-time.  He was inducted into the HHOF in 1988.  Stastny is a strict one-per-request signer and I am passively pursuing the 2006 Parkhurst set.  This is the 26th card I have signed form the set.

TTM Success: Jean Beliveau

  It took 405 days to get this return back, but I am extremely happy with it.  Jean Beliveau is one of hockey's greatest players.  He won 10 Stanley Cups as a player and another 7 as an executive with the Montreal Canadiens.  Beliveau was the first ever winner of the Conn Smythe trophy, back in 1964-65.  At age 39, in his 20th season, Believeau scored 76pts in 70 games, good enough for 9th spot in the league scoring race.  Beliveau finished his career with 507 goals and 1219 points.  He was a first ballot HHOFer in 1972.  I sent this request back in October of 2011.  This is my longest return and first to make the round trip of a calendar year.  Definitely worth the wait.

TTM: Red Kelly

  To say Red Kelly was a two way player, would be an understatement.  Red Kelly spent the first 13 seasons of his career with the Detroit Red Wings.  As a defenceman, Kelly won four Stanley Cups, 2 Lady Byngs, 1 Norris, and was a 1st team All-star 6 times, and twice a 2nd team All-star.  After a botched trade with the New York Rangers in 1960, Kelly was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs.  In Kelly's first game as a Leaf, he lined up as centre and played the majority of the remainder of his career there.  He won four more Stanley Cups and another Lady Byng trophy.  His 8 Stanley Cups is the most for a player who had never played with the Montreal Canadiens.  Leonard "Red" Kelly was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969.  Kelly also coached over 700 NHL games and was the inaugural coach of the Los Angeles Kings.

Eric Lindros: HHOFer or Oversized Brat?

In the mid 1990s, no player inspired awe and fear, as Philadelphia Flyer's Eric Lindros.  His brute force and puck skills helped to make him one of the most dominating players the game has ever seen.  But a star that shines that bright, tends not to shine very long.  Concussions began to derail a great career and off the ice feuds tarnished his legacy.  

1990's Hottest Card

TTM: Bill Gadsby

Bill Gadsby played 20 seasons in the NHL, totaling 1276 games while playing for the Black Hawks, Rangers and Red Wings during the Original Six era.  Gadsby was a 1st or 2nd Team All-Star seven times in his career.  Gadsby led all defencemen in single season scoring three times and finished in the top five eight straight seasons from 1955 to 1962.  Gadsby never won a Norris Trophy or a Stanley Cup during his 20 year career.  44 of his career 67 play-off games came during his last 4 seasons in the NHL.  The Red Wings lost in the Stanley Cup finals three times during his final four seasons.  He was elected to the HHOF in 1970.  Mr. Gadsby signed 2 of 2, c/o home.  It's cool how he signed the 2006 Parkhurst in silver.  Thank you, Mr. Gadsby.

TTM: Mike Gartner

  Mike Gartner scored 30 goals or more in a record 15 consecutive seasons.  Gartner is one of 6 players to score over 700 goals in a career.  He finished his career with 708 goals and 1335 points, which helped him earned membership into the HHOF in 2001.  Gartner was never able to find post-season success.  The closest he got was 1994 with the Toronto Maple Leafs.  The Leafs lost in the Stanley Cup semi-final.  Gartner was a trade deadline acquisition from the eventual Stanley Cup Champions, the New York Rangers.  Mike Gartner holds the record for most career games played, 1432, without ever playing in the Stanley Cup Finals.  Today, Gartner is an active volunteer and owns a few hockey rinks in the Toronto area.

Mr. Gartner signed 3 of 3 c/o National Training Rinks in 37 days.  Thank you Mr. Gartner.

TTM : Howie Meeker

Howie Meeker is a legend of hockey.  Meeker won four Stanley Cups, and a Calder Trophy, in 8 years with the Toronto Maple Leafs, before being forced to retire due to a back injury.  His contributions to the game of hockey are much greater than his NHL playing career.  He revolutionized the role of the color commentator by providing more in-depth analysis and the use of the telestrator.   Meeker also gained popularity by providing honest commentary and calling it how he saw it.  Meeker has been very opinionated about the (lack of) hockey skills being taught to kids and hosted his own segment on Hockey Night in Canada called  Howie Meeker's Hockey School during the mid-1970s.  Howie was inducted to the HHOF in 1998.   Mr Meeker signed my card and added two pictures.  On the Parkhurst card, Howie first signed in black but then started going over it in blue.  A great return from a true legend of hockey.

TTM: Al MacInnis

Al MacInnis was inducted into the HHOF in 2007.  Renowned for his blistering slapshot, MacInnis is one of 5 defenceman to ever score 100 points in a single season.  For his career, MacInnis scored 1274 points, 3rd best amongst defencemen.  His numbers could have been even better if an eye injury didn't cut his career short at 23 seasons.  In his final full season, he was a Norris finalist and a 1st Team All-Star.

Mr. MacInnis signed 4 of 4 and kept a copy of each picture as offered.  Cards were sent to the St. Louis Blues.

TTM: Milt Schmidt

Milt Schmidt is one of the all-time great Boston Bruins.  He was involved with the Boston Bruins from 1936 to 1975, as a player, coach and general manager.  Milt won 2 Stanley Cups as a player and 2 more as a GM.  Is he known as being part of the "Kraut Line", playing alongside childhood friends, and fellow HHOFers, Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer.  I sent Milt $5, which he donates to Cancer Research.  I read that he won't sign for free due to so many of his cards showing up on ebay.

TTM: Frank Udvari

Frank Udvari was an NHL referee from 1951 to 1966.  In 1966, he became the supervisor of Officials and was inducted into the HHOF in 1973.  Udvari was the referee during the 1955 game when Rocket Richard went postal and was subsequently suspended for the playoffs, inciting the Richard Riots.   Mr. Udvari signed my card and picture.  On top of that he sent a signed 8x10 picture of his HHOF display and a signed biography sheet from the legends of hockey.net.  He paid for the larger envelope and postage.   A generous return from a HHOFer.