Lost Rookies: 1985-86 OPC Geoff Courtnall

  Geoff Courtnall entered the NHL the same season as his younger brother, Russ.  Russ Courtnall was a 1st round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Geoff was undrafted and signed as a free agent with the Boston Bruins.  Geoff was the late-bloomer of the two.  Russ had more hype, but in the end, it is debatable who had the better career.

  Geoff signed with the Bruins in the 1983 offseason.  Although he had a rather uninspiring season with the Hershey Bears of the AHL, he did get called up and played 4 uninspiring games with the bruins in January.  

  He started the 1984-85 season with the Bruins.  In his first game, within the first minute, he got into a fight with Ray Neufeld.  He must have determined to make an statement to the club.  He scored his first career goal on October 21st, 1984 against Marc Behrend of the Winnipeg Jets.  On January 9, 1985, the brothers played each for the first time in the NHL.  The Bruins won 5-3, and bother brothers, Russ and Geoff, each scored a goal.  Geoff was a regular on the Bruins over the next three seasons, scoring about 15 goals and 35 points each year.

1986-87 OPC Russ Courtnall

  The 1987-88 season was Geoff's breakout year.  He moved his way up through the line-up and was eventually on the 1st line with Cam Neely and Ken Linseman.  He had 58 points in 62 games when he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers, along with minor league goalie, Bill Ranford, and a 2nd round pick to the Edmonton Oilers for Andy Moog.  Courtnall struggled with the Oilers.  He had 8 points in 12 games during the regular season, including a hat trick while playing on Wayne Gretzky's line, and only 3 points in 19 play-off games.  He didn't get much time on the top lines.  The Oilers were deep on the left-wing already with Glenn Anderson, Esa Tikkanen, and Mike Krushelnyski.  On the plus, side, Geoff won a Stanley Cup with the Oilers.

1988-89 OPC Geoff Courtnall

   It was a tumultuous summer in Edmonton during 1988.  The Oilers were a success on the ice, but the team wasn't paying owner Peter Pocklington's bills.  The cash-strapped owner made the infamous Wayne Gretzky trade, which included $15 millions dollars going to Pocklington's pockets.  A few weeks before that, the Oilers made another financial decision.  Geoff Courtnall was a restricted free agent and was looking for a raise.  The Oilers and Courtnall couldn't come to an agreement, so the New York Ranger made Courtnall an offer and he accepted.  As a restricted free agent back in 1988, the Rangers would owe the Oilers compensation for signing Courtnall.  It was basically a trade.  If the Oielrs and Rangers couldn't agree to the compensation, then a NHL official would decide.  For some bizarre reason, the Oilers traded the rights to Courtnall to the Washington capitals for Greg Adams (not the good Greg Adams, the other one).  The Capitals immediately matched the Rangers offer.  The Rangers filed a dispute with the NHL and then took the NHL to arbitration.  They lost both cases.

  Courtnall responded with a career season with the Capitals in 1988-89.  He scored 42 goals and 80 points.  It impressed Topps so much that they decided Geoff deserved to be a 2nd Team All-Star.  In reality, he had finished 4th in voting.  Geoff was finally rewarded with a rookie card.  Although I personally find the close-up headshot of Geoff to be one of the worst cards in the set.  First off, it's a head shot.  Secondly, it's the look on Geoff's face.  Lastly, it's the centering of the picture and the amount of dark space.  So while I was already doing Geoff Courtnall Cards, I decided to update his 89-90 rookie card as well.

1989-90 OPC Geoff Courtnall

   Geoff had a pair of good years while with the Capitals. 
  (After posting, I was enlightened to an incident that should be mentioned.  Courtnall's departure out of Washington was hastened by the Georgetown Limousine Scandal.  Three Capitals players, including Courtnall, were accused of rape by a 17 year old woman.  The District Attorney decline to lay charges in the incident but it made the front page in Washington.  Courtnall expressed disdain with the way he was treated by the press during the investigations.  He requested a trade out of Washington.)
  In the summer of 1990, the Capitals traded Courtnall to the St. Louis Blues for Peter Zezel and Mike Lalor.  Courtnall rode side-saddle to the Hull and Oates show in St. Louis.  He was traded at the 1991 trade deadline, along with three other Blues, to the Vancouver Canucks.  The trade would be considered one of best trades in Canucks history.

  It took a few season, but the Canucks made a run for the Stanley Cup in 1994.  The Canucks had six players they had acquired from the Blues in trades on their roster.  They also had Greg Adams, the good one.  Courtnall had four good seasons with the Canucks, including a pair of 70 point seasons.  In April of 1995, the Canucks traded for Geoff,s brother, Russ.  A few months later Geoff left the team as a free agent.
  Geoff returned to the St. Louis Blues for the 95-96 season.  During the 1997-98 season, Geoff suffered an eventual career ending concussion.  He missed four months during that season but returned for the play-offs.  After playing 6 games in 1999-00, Geoff retired due to post-concussion syndrome.
  Geoff eventually moved back to Victoria and now works in real estate and investing.  Geoff, and his brother Russ helped fund the Archie Courtnall Centre, a mental health facility in Victoria.  Geoff battled with alcohol after retiring. Geoff's father Archie also battled alcohol and depression.  Archie committed suicide in 1978, when Geoff was 16.  It took Geoff almost a decade to better his demons, and now he is committed to helping others.
  Courtnall never received had a rookie card until the 1989 atrocity.  Since his 83-84 season was a bust, I don't think he would have earned one until the 1985-86 season.  

1985-86 OPC #278 Geoff Courtnall (RC)

1985-86 COP #278 Geoff Courtnall (RC)

The Lost Bossys: Baseball Edition Pt 3

  So awhile back I started doing the Topps/OPC baseball designs and I figure what better way to motivate myself than to feature Mike Bossy.  If you missed it, Part One is here, and Part Two is there.  Part Three took me a little longer due to two factors, one was moving, and the other was that I felt the 1987 Topps/OPC is a sacred design, reserved only for baseball.  1987 was the first baseball pack I ever opened.  So it felt weird putting a hockey player in the frame, but I did it.  And you know what, it works.  You could say the wood panelling represents the hockey stick.
  So the digital cardboard baseballification of Mike Bossy is complete.  I flipped flopped between OPC and Topps.  Some cards just look better as Topps due to the frame design, otherwise I went with OPC, or neither.  If I had to pick a favourite, I would go with either the 1983 or 1985.   Which design do you think goes best for hockey?

1985 OPC Baseball Mike Bossy

1986 OPC Baseball Mike Bossy

1987 OPC Baseball Mike Bossy

Lost Cards: 1984-85 OPC Dale McCourt

  First off, the good news is that I pulled my computer out of storage and I hooked it up.  Which means I can work on making up more Lost Cards.  I had this one already 75% done before the move so it was a quick one to finish.
  Dale McCourt was a highly touted teenager.  He was the CHL player of the year in 1977.  The Detroit Red Wings selected him first overall in the 1977 Amateur draft.. He finished his rookie season with 72 points in 1977-78 and finished 4th in Calder voting for top rookie.  The Calder was won by Mike Bossy that season.  McCourt led the Red Wings into the play-offs and the team beat the Atlanta Flames in the first round before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup winners, the Montreal Canadiens.  It was a big turnaround for the Red Wings, but they felt like they were missing a key piece.
  That key piece was a goaltender.  In the 1978 offseason, the Red Wings sign restricted free agent Rogie Vachon.  Free agency was quite a bit different back in the 1970 than it is today, it basically did not exist.  A NHL team held your rights until they decided they didn't want you anymore.  At the time Rogie was 32 years old and a 13 year NHL veteran.  So when the Red Wings signed Vachon, they owed the Kings equalization.  Which meant the Wings had to send players to Los Angeles Kings as compensation for signing Vachon.  This form of free agency effectively negated the "free" in free agent.  If the teams could not come to an agreement for compensation, then each put their offer into a NHL Arbitrator and live by the arbitrator's decision.  The Red Wings offered Bill Lochead and Jim Rutherford.  The Kings asked for Dale McCourt.  Like everything else in the 1970s, the Dead Wings lost.
  Except, McCourt would not live by that decision. McCourt was fiercely loyal to the Red Wings.  McCourt refused to go to Los Angeles and filed a case that ended up with the Supreme Court in America.  The court awarded an injunction that allowed McCourt to continue to play with Detroit until the matter was decided.  The Red Wings and Vachon had a dreadful season.  McCourt basically equaled his previous season, scoring 71 points.  The debacle of compensation hung over everyone's heads for the 1978-79 season.
  The Kings even offered McCourt a $500,000 a year contract, which would have made him one of the highest paid skaters in the game.  Not to mention the chance to play with Marcel Dionne, one of the top scorers of the 1970s.  Who ironically, forced equalization a few seasons before when the Kings signed him as a free agent away from Detroit.  McCourt later claimed that he would have gone if traded, since trades are part of the game.
  Eventually the Kings and Wings came to terms with alternative compensation.  In August of 1979, the Red wings sent Andre St. Laurent, and two 1st round picks (Larry Murphy and Doug Smith) in exchange for the rights to Dale McCourt.  Officially, McCourt was a Red Wing again.
  Unfortunately, OPC/Topps didn't get the memo in time.  So sure that McCourt would be forced to play with the Kings, they airbrushed into a Kings uniform for the 1979-80 set.  Since the OPC set is released later, they had time to add in a "Now with Red Wings" to the card.  It is certainly one of those oddball cards from the 1970s.  It gives me a chance to correct that error.

1979-80 OPC Dale McCourt (Corr)

  In the end, the Vachon signing was a sign of the time for Detroit in the 1970s.  Vachon played poorly in Detroit and never felt comfortable.  And one of the 1st round picks they traded turned into a HHOF defenceman, in Larry Murphy, 8th overall.  The other draft pick, Doug Smith, was the 2nd overall pick.
  McCourt had a couple of point-per-game seasons with the Red Wings until the team attempted a shake-up in December of 1981.  McCourt, along with Mike Foligno, were sent to the Buffalo Sabres for veterans Danny Gare and Jim Schoenfield.  They lost in that trade as well.  The Red Wings were one of the worst teams in the NHL until the Yzerman era.
  McCourt never found his place with the Sabres.  While skilled offensively, he was not a fast skater and did not fit with star forward Gilbert Perrault.  He also clashed with Scotty Bowman over defensive responsibilities.  In October of 1983, after scoring four points in five games, McCourt was released by the Sabres and made a free agent.  Toronto Maple Leafs signed him, with no equalization needed.
  Things seem to click for McCourt while in Toronto.  After taking a few games to get adjusted, he had 22 points in 16 games.  Then after that, he hit a wall.  At one point, he had one point in 16 games.  After finishing the 1983-84 season with the Leafs, the former 1st overall pick left the NHL at age 27 and took his game to Europe.  He retired from professional hockey in 1991.  His last NHL card was in the 1983-84 set.  He never had a card in a Leafs uniform.
 Dale had an interesting career.  He was a highly touted player who fizzled out of the NHL at an early age.  He had several good seasons but never made the jump to stardom.  His biggest impact was challenging the NHL and refusing being awarded to the Los Angles Kings as compensation.  The court battles and uncertainty took a toll on him.  He became one of those "what if" players.

1984-85 OPC #406 Dale MCCourt

1984-85 OPC #406 Dale McCourt

OPC Goalies: 1980-81

  One of the things I been doing while my own computer sits in a storage container is going through the goalie cards of the OPC sets from 1980s.  I have been doing this by using the Trading Card Database website.  It appeared that there was no easy way of just viewing goalie cards for each set on the site, so started making Lists of goalie base cards for each set in the 80s.  I didn't include any All-Star, League Leaders, In Action or other subsets.  Just focused on the base cards.
  The first list I made was for the Goalies of the 1980-81 OPC set.  This was at a time when most goalies still wore masks, but some were already moving over to the helmet and cage or the combo mask, as introduced by Dave Dryden.  Unfortunately, OPC was still mainly using pictures from warm-ups for goalies, so masks were a rare sight in their sets at the time.  At least warm-up shots were a step up from the posed shots that littered the 70s.
  For the 1980-81 set, only seven masks and one cage made the set.  There were 28 other goalie cards that did not feature a goalie wearing a mask or helmet.  Only seven cards in the set could be considered action shots.
  There were a few curious omissions from the set.  Gerry Cheevers was not included since he retired in the offseason, although it would have been nice to have a career capper for him.  Although this oversight gave me a chance to add Cheevers to the Lost Cards series on this blog.  Also curious was the omission of Mario Lessard.  There was actually no Los Angeles Kings goalies in the set.  Canadiens #1 netminder Michel Larocque never made the cut, instead OPC inserted Canadiens rookie Richard Sevigny.  Sevigny only played 11 regular season games and none in the play-offs.  It would also been nice to see Rob Holland in the set.  Rob played 44 career games, with 34 of those coming in the 1979-80 season.  He never had a OPC card made of him.
  For the strange additions, the biggest head scratcher is Doug Soeteart.  Soeteart played 8 games in 79-80 and a total of 51 over the past five seasons, but OPC decided this was the year to have a Soeteart rookie card.  With the addition of Soeteart, the New York Rangers had three goalies in the 80-81 set.  Jim Craig made the set but based on the his Olympic play and Gold medal for the USA, it's difficult to argue against his inclusion.
  For top cards of the set, there is not a lot to choose from.  All the images are from the Trading Card Database website.  Here are my runner-ups.

1980-81 OPC #333 - Ron Low

  I considered docking points on this card since it is the same picture used for Ron' Low's card in the 1979-80 OPC set.  The only thing they changed was the "Now with Oilers".  In the 79-80 set, they had "NOW WITH NORDIQUES".  I guess the proper utilization of capital letters was an improvement.  The rest of goalie cards in this set are just too bland.  There are actually only three painted masks in the set.

1980-81 OPC #31 - Mike Liut

  Mike Liut had a classic mask while with the Blues.  Although it's a bit odd that he went to a plain white mask after donning a much more elaborate design while playing with the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA.

1980-81 OPC #190 - John Davidson

  I have to give the nod to John Davidson for being the top goalie card in the 1980-81 set.  it was a close call between him and Liut but Davidson's card screams 1980.  First , you have the painted mask.  Next is the exaggerated crouch positioning.  Lastly, is the net to goalie ration.  Even with a goalie on his back in today's game, there is less net showing.  One of the reasons there were so many goals back then.

  As for the worst goalie card in the set, that dishonour goes to Bob Sauve.  This is actually Sauve's fourth OPC card, all with the Sabres.  After two photo-day shots, he actually had a pretty nice card in the 79-80 set.  Sauve led the NHL is GAA in 1979-80 and OPC rewards him with another photo-day head shot.

1980-81 OPC #266 - Bob Sauve

  Overall, the 1980-81 OPC set is massively unsatisfying for a goalie card collector.  While at 35 goalies, it's one of the biggest sets for goalies, but the picture selection is dreadful overall.  It's the first set of the 80s, and certainly the forerunner for worst set, with regards to goalies.

Lost Cards: 1985-86 OPC Steve Shutt

  Steve Shutt was inducted into the HHOF in 1993.  Drafted 4th overall in the 1972 draft by the Montreal Canadiens, Steve was one of four first round draft picks by the Canadiens that year, and was easily the most successful.  The Canadiens acquired the draft pick used on Shutt, back in June of 1968.  They traded minor league goalie Gerry Desjardins to the Los Angeles Kings for a 1969 1st rounder and a 1972 1st rounder.  They used the 1972 pick on Shutt.  The Montreal Canadiens GM Sam Pollock helped craft the Canadiens dominance during the 1970s by trading away aging role players for high draft picks to the expansion teams of the late 60s.
  One of the drawbacks of being selected by the Montreal Canadiens was the depth of that team.  Like other prospects, Shutt was brought along slowly.  He scored his first goal against Phil Myre of the Atlanta Flames in a 4-4 tie on December 2, 1972.  For his rookie season, Shutt would often be a healthy scratch and scored only 8 goals and 16 points in 50 games.  He followed it up with 35 points in 70 games the next season.
  1973-74 was a big season for the future of the Montreal Canadiens.  Young star, and future HHOFer, Guy Lafleur finally broke out and scored 119 points, which was more than his past two seasons combined.  Shutt earned a spot on the top line with Lafleur and had the first of his 9 consecutive 30 goal seasons.  Shutt and Lafleur would be linemates for the next decade.  Shutt had his best season a few years later in 1975-76, setting a then record by a left winger, 60 goals, as well as 105 points.  This was in the midst of the Montreal Canadiens winning four straight Stanley Cups from 1976 to 1979.  During the four straight Cups, Shutt had 61 points in 53 play-off games.
  The end of the Canadiens dynasty coincided with the retirement of goalie Ken Dryden in 1979 and the pieces started falling away.  Shutt's production began to slip as linemate Guy Lafleur battled injuries.  Shutt scored 35 goals in 1982-83, the last of his nine consecutive 30 goal seasons.
  Early in the 1984-85 season, frustrated by his ice time being cut and his reduced role with the Canadiens, Shutt requested a trade.  He was traded to the Los Angeles Kings for future considerations in November of 1985.  Shutt tallied 41 points in 59 games as a King, but did not fit into the Kings future plans.  At age 32, he was the second oldest player on the roster.  The Kings had an option to return his contract to the Canadiens and did so.  Shutt didn't suit up for the Canadiens but was able to retire as one.  Which was nice for Shutt since the Canadiens at that time gave a retirement bonus worth one year's salary to its veterans.
  Although Shutt grew up a Toronto Maple Leafs fans, and enjoyed lack of pressure while playing for the Kings in Los Angeles, he will always be best remembered as a Montreal Canadien.  Which makes seeing him in the yellow and gold a bit jarring.  His solo season with the Kings, and subsequent retirement, did not make the cut of the slimmed down 1986-86 OPC set.  So here is his 1985-86 OPC Lost card.

1985-86 OPC #277 Steve Shutt

1985-86 OPC #277 Steve Shutt

Lost Rookies: 1988-89 OPC Adam Graves

  For some reason I always group  Adam Graves  and Ray Sheppard together as the same type of player and career.  They both debuted in the NHL in 1987-88.  They both played for the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers early in their careers.  In 1993-94, they both set a career high with 52 goals.  Their second best total was 38 goals each.  Both were goal scorers who had more goals then assists.  Both signed as free agents in 1991 to the teams they had their most success with during their career.
  Graves did have a longer career, 1124 GP vs 817 GP to Sheppard.  Was a grittier player, earning 1224 PIM to Ray's 212.  Graves also was a 2nd Team All-Star in 1994 and is a two time Stanley Cup Champion.  Still, the similarities are close enough to give credence as to why I associate the two so closely.
  One difference I didn't mention was that Sheppard made an immediate splash in the NHL, as a runner-up for the Calder trophy in 1988, and earning himself cards in the 1988-89 and 1989-90 OPC sets.  On the other hand, Graves's career started out much slower and he didn't get a rookie card until the 1990 card boom.  So to try to even up the scorecard on the Graves-Sheppard similarities, here's a 1988-89 OPC Lost Card of Adam Graves, as well as a 89-90 OPC.

1988-89 OPC #269 OPC Adam Graves (RC)

1988-89 OPC #269 Adam Graves (RC)

1989-90 OPC Adam Graves

Blog Status Update

 It's been a while since I posted.  I have been on the move of late and have yet to settle down.  My computer that has all my files, Photoshop, and custom cards, was packed up into a moving box and is still not in possession.  Even if I did have it, I don't think I'd be setting it up until I reach my final destination.  I do have a couple of older posts in draft, which I will try to finish up and post.  Otherwise, the blog will likely be fairly quiet for the next month or two. 
  Unless I actually buy and post about some real hockey cards, now that I back down south, as opposed the Arctic, it's easier to get my hands on some new wax.  Granted I was at a small show the past weekend and didn't buy a thing other than a $10 wax box of 1991-92 OPC.  I just don't have any interest in modern hockey cards.  And the vendors seem to have little interest in dragging out their boxes of early 90s singles.  Although I really do appreciate the collation in modern boxes as opposed to early 90s OPC.  40% of the box I bought were doubles or even triples. Not to mention the minus one card per pack due to the gum.  If anyone else is collecting 91-92 OPC, drop me a line.  I am still about 100 cards short myself from a complete set and I have 100s of doubles and triples.
  Regardless, the blog, and myself, will be fairly sporadic until I am resettled.