88-89 OPC Tribute; Getzlaf, Green, and Hull

  The captain of the Anahiem Ducks, Ryan Getzlaf, led his team in hits in the regular season and the play-offs. This card likely captures one of his 189 hits from last season.  Can't you just see #11, Danny Cleary, on his ass a second from now.  Even though Getzlaf missed 16 games, he still ended up in the top 15 in points last season.



#20 - Ryan Getzlaf

  This card is for the Sidney haters, Mike Green mauling Sidney Crosby during the 2010/11 season's Winter classic.  The offense seems to dropped out of Mike Green's game last season as he dropped from a point per game player in 2009-10, to average less than half a point per game in 2010-11.  Having trouble scoring, Green contributed in other facets, by increasing his block shot total while playing 26 less games compared to the previous season.


#21 - Mike Green



  The Golden Jet, Bobby Hull, once had his slap shot clocked at 118.4 MPH.  He has 610 career NHL goals, along with 303 WHA goals.  When Bobby Hull left the NHL to play for the Winnipge Jets in the WHA, he gave the fledgling league instant creditably.



#97 - Bobby Hull

I love how he talks about the fans and signing autographs.  I should put something together to try to get an auto TTM.



Remember to check out the updated checklist.  The link is on the right side of page, or you can view the 88-89 OPC Tribute Checklist here.

88-89 OPC Tribute; Brodeur, Tavares and Orr

  A contender for the title of best NHL Goalie ever, Martin Brodeur's name is attached to a few career records for goalies, such as Wins and Shutouts.  Did you also know that Brodeur holds the record for most saves and shot against in a career?

#18 - Martin Brodeur

  With #1 overall pick in the 2009 Entry Draft, the New York Islanders selected John Tavares.  Fortunately Mike Milbury was already long gone, so Tavares will be on the Island for a while, especially after signing a 5 year, 33 million dollar deal this week.

#19 - John Tavares

Don Cherry's favorite hockey player, Bobby Orr, is the next legend in the set.  There are arguments for Bobby Orr being the greatest player in NHL history.  He revolutionized the way defencemen played and introduced a level of offense from his position that was never seen before and possibly since.  The Hockey Hall of Fame waived the three year waiting period for Bobby Orr and he was inducted the summer after his retirement.

#96 - Bobby Orr

  The return of the Legends videos.  This is a fantastic series.

Hitting Captains

  Ryan Callahan has been named the 26th captain of the New York Rangers.  Which is exciting news for me.  Another power forward making the rank of captain   It was just earlier in the week that David Backes was named captain of the St. Louis Blues.  I also got to give a shout out to Dustin Brown, captain of the Los Angeles Kings.  All three players have the potential to be part of the 200 and 30 clubs this year.  That's hits and goals.
  In 2010-11 there were three member of the 200 and 30 club, Backes, Brendan Morrow and Alexander Ovechkin.  In 2009-10 there were no players in the 200 and 30 club.

Dustin Brown, Ryan Callahan and David Backes RCs

88-89 OPC Tribute: Sedins and Coffey

  Which Sedin twin would you rather have on your team?  Henrik or Daniel?  Both have won an Art Ross trophy.  Henrik won a Hart Trophy as league MVP but Daniel won the Ted Lindsay trophy, which the leagues most outstanding players as voted by the players.  Can't decide?  Why not have both?

  Henrik Sedin won the Art Ross and Hart Trophy in 2009-10 and has led the league in assists the past two seasons.  If had watched the 2010-11 play-offs, you may remember this moment.  The Vancouver Canucks had finished off the San Jose Sharks and were advancing to the Stanley Cup Final, and some genius decided it'd be great to dumped confetti on the ice.  All the Canucks were tip-toeing around, trying not to fall, while trying to salute the fans.  If you don't remember that moment, you are likely thinking that Henrik has thrown his arms up and is about to beg, "Please don't hit me!" to some member of the opposing team.

#16 - Henrik Sedin 

  Daniel Sedin was the second Sedin twin to win an Art Ross Trophy.  In 2010-11 he won the Art Ross and Ted Linsday trophies.  After I originally finished the card, I had to change it.  The problem was the goalie, Pekka Rinne, was staring at me and giving me the creeps.  It doesn't look like he is watching the puck.  I changed the centering of the card so atleast Pekka's evil glare wouldn't be dead center of the card.  I bet Daniel scored on this shot since the goalie was too busy looking at the camera.

#17 - Daniel Sedin

  The next Legend to be added is Paul Coffey.  Paul Coffey has a long list of records and accolades.  He is a 3 time Norris Trophy winner, 4 time Stanley Cup winner, holds records for most goals, 48, in a season by a defenceman, most goals (12), assists (25) and points (37) in a single play-off season, and the longest point scoring streak (28 games) by a defenceman.  He also holds the record for most career shorthanded goals by a defenceman with two career SHG.  He also holds the record for most teams played on (9) by a hall of famer.  Considering his best years were with Edmonton, you'd think it'd be easy to get a good picture of Coffey in an Edmonton jersey.  You'd think wrong.  I only found two pics that could have made the front of the card and I searched much longer compared to any other card so far.  I had to settle for this picture, but at least it shows off the classic Oilers jersey of their dynasty years.

#95 - Paul Coffey

  I wanted to add a Legends of Hockey video to the end of each Legend but once again, there is no Legends of Hockey for my selected Legend.  Not only that, there are videos that make the cut to be added to this post.  It is amazing that such a great player and arguably the second best offensive defencemen ever, gets so little love from the internet community.

Pack Break: 2010-11 Zenith

  Had a big mail day yesterday.  I had orders from eBay, D&A Cardworld, SportLots and Sportscardforum all come in.  Cards that came in ranged from personal collection, set building needs, boxes and rummage sale inventory. 

  One of the items from D&A Cardworld was a pack of 2010-11 Panini Zenith.  It was the last item I ordered.  It was a impulse buy.  I believe I added it since I saw some Zenith cards on eBay and I liked the design.  I really wished I hadn't.  Here's what I got.

  I really do like the design of the base cards.  The background is very simple and clean, it really draws your eyes to the player image.  I just wish I got some better cards.  I am indifferent to the players I got. (Yes I am indifferent to Brad Marchand.)  The Belfour in a Sharks jersey is sight you don't see often, but it's only a novelty to me.  The pack hit, the one in a box insert, was the Red Hot Parallel of Niklas Backstrom.  It is the only semi-interesting card of the pack.  It might be useful as a trader or to get a buck or two from eBay.
  Anytime you buy a $10 pack of cards, you are taking a gamble.  From a resell perspective, I lost.  These 5 cards can be bought for $2.29 + S/H on Sportlots.  From a personal interest perspective, I lost as well.
  So I guess I'll never do that again.  Although we all know I will.

88-89 OPC Tribute; Backes, Nash and Dryden

  David Backes was recently names the team captain by the St. Louis Blues.  A first time All-Star in 2010-11, Backes is a regular on the hits leaderboard.  He has back-to-back 200+ hit seasons.  He likely has more than just back-to-back but I can't find a website that show player stats for hits prior to 2009-10.  Does anyone know of such a site?

#14 - David Backes

  Oh, Rick Nash, what could you do if you ever had a 1st line center to play with?  Nash has been the Blue Jackets leading scorer for past 4 years,and has led the team in goals for the past seven.  No other Blue Jacket has had over 27 goals or 64 pts since Nash's Rookie year in 2002-03.  But life isn't all bad for Rick Nash.  He won an Olympic Gold Medal in 2010 and he bears a striking resemblance to myself.  Looking good, Mr Nash!

#15 - Rick Nash

  As a certain song says, it's better to burn out than to fade away.  Ken Dryden won 6 cups in 8 years and numerous accolades before retiring at age 31.  But I don't think he was burnt-out, perhaps just bored.  In his retirement years Dryden has surmounted other challenges including broadcasting, writing a few books, and winning a few elections.  We could only imagine what kind of career stats Dryden could have had if he had player another several years, or how many more Stanley Cups the Canadiens would have won.
  This is the first card that I actually edited the player image.  The original image struck me as the perfect image but the background had to be fixed.  It was a small job but I think it came out pretty good.

#94 - Ken Dryden

  I couldn't find a Legend of Hockey video for Ken Dryden.  It's like trying to find a Ken Dryden Upper Deck card, it must be out there somewhere, but where? So I found these instead.  If you are fan of Indian music, then this then check out this Ken Dryden tribute video, otherwise we'll check out how the legendary NHL career of Ken Dryden began.

September 11th Tribute

In tribute to the brave men and women from the Fire Department of New York, who risked their life on September 11th, 2001.

Fire Department of New York City