88-89 OPC Tribute: Doughty, Price and Clarke

  Future Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty becomes the Kings first entry in the set.  I really wanted to find a good hockey card picture of him in the retro jersey but had no luck.

#12 - Drew Doughty

  Apologies to Carey Price and his Heritage Classic mask, but the best appearance by a goalie in the outdoor game still goes to Jose Theodore.

#13 - Carey Price

  Legend Bobby Clarke makes the cut.  A 1987 HHOF inductee, his greatest contribution to Canadian Hockey was breaking the ankle of Valeri Kharlamov.  Clarke's swing helped set-up the greatest moment in the history of Canadian hockey.

#93 - Bobby Clarke

Another great Legends video, although the editing is not the best on this one.

88-89 OPC Tribute; A Sabre, a Shark and a Legend

   Thomas Vanek is a two-time 40 goal scorer and actually led the league in +/- in 2006-07 with a +47.  Check out this sick overtime goal.

#10 - Thomas Vanek

  Joe Thornton is the only player in league history to win an Art Ross or Hart Trophy while being traded during that same season,which he accomplished in 2006-07.  Is Jumbo Joe a HHOF?  Perhaps... barely.

#11 - Joe Thornton

  Speaking of HHOF, Peter Stastny, inducted in 1998, is the next legend to be added to the set.  As tremendous as his on-ice accolades are, his off-ice story is just a riveting.  Peter, along with brother Anton, were the first European players to defect to the NHL while still in the prime of their careers.  The brothers, and Peter's pregnant wife Darina, escaped communist ruled Czechoslovakia, via Austria and arrived in Canada in August of 1980.  As punishment for the brother's defection, a third brother, Marian, was kicked off the Czechoslovakian National Hockey team and put under police surveillance.  Marian would later join his other brothers in Quebec the following season, 1981.  Today's young European stars owe a debt of gratitude to the courage and determination the Stastny brothers showed in 1980.

#92 - Peter Stastny

  I am really liking these Legends of Hockey videos.  Although I wish this one spoke more of his defection rather than Peter checking out the Nordiques muscles.

88-89 OPC Tribute; 1st Page complete

With card #9 being added, we now have our first page for our binder.  Steven Stamkos' card is the first of the post 88-89 expansion teams to be included.  I had to come up with the colour scheme.  The colour scheme of rest of set looks mostly random.  I am sure if I looked hard enough I could find a theme but instead I chose to go with the ugly colour theme that seems to scream throughout the original set.  I was cheering for the Lightening to go to Finals just to see more of Stamkos's beard.  I swear his face aged at least 10 years during those playoffs.

#8 - Steven Stamkos

Jimmy Howard had a few, very brief, stints with the Wings over three seasons before an All-Rookie team performance in 2009-10 cemented him as the Red Wings #1 goalie.  Keep your eye on the puck, Jimmy.

#9 - Jimmy Howard

88-89 OPC - Iginla, Pronger and Chara

Here's the next three cards in my 88-89 OPC Tribute Set.  Jarome Iginla makes an appearance with card #5 in the set.  Originally drafted by the Dallas Stars, Iginla was traded before ever playing with the Stars for Joe Nieuwendyk, a trade that worked out for both teams.  In the 2010-11 season Iginla notched his 1000th career point and in the upcoming 11-12 season, he should get his 500th career goal.  I have this feeling that Iginla will take the Ray Bourqure route.  A player that had spent his entire career with one team, getting close to the Cup but never winning, gets traded to a contender in his final years for a last shot at a Cup.  Good luck, Jarome.

#5 - Jarome Iginla

Mr. Nasty, Chris Pronger, has been around forever it seems.  He has come a long way from the babyface Pronger that entered the league in 1993. A battle scared veteran know for his Stanley Cup puck stealing and nasty demeanor, Pronger is the only defenceman to win the Hart Trophy since Booby Orr won back-to-back Hart Trophies in 1971 and 1972.  A first ballot HHOF?  I think so.

#6 Chris Pronger

Just throw an Arnold Schwarzenegger yell on this card and it's perfect.  My only other comment is; Mike Milbury is an idiot.

#7 Zdeno Chara

2011-12 Pinnacle Sneak Peak

  Pinnacle has released a sneak peak of their 2011-12 Pinnacle line-up.  I completed the 2010-11 Pinnacle base set since I loved the photography of the cards and I am hoping this sample card of Tyler Seguin is representative of the entire set.  A very nice looking card.  I am also hoping the rest of the base set is set up horizontally such as this card and the Ice Breaker card of Cody Hodgson.  

  The 2011-12 Pinnacle has a much early release date than last years.  This set should is scheduled to hit the shelves in late November.  No word on the set size, but this one is already on my to-do list.

2011-12 Pinnacle Tyler Seguin

2011-12 Pinnacle Ice Breaker Cody Hodgson

88-89 OPC Legends; Mike Bossy

  Stealing from today's OPC to go with what I stole from yesteryear's OPC, the set will include Legend cards. I am just not labeling them as any different. They'd be short-printed ofcourse, if they were ever printed.  We'll throw them after the regular base and the first one, Mike Bossy, will be card #91.
  Mike Bossy is one of the best goal scorers in NHL history.  Only the second player to score 50 goals in 50 games, the first rookie to score 50 goals, career leader in goals-per-game and a 1st ballot Hall of Famer.  He scored 50 goals in every season he played except for his last season, when a back injury caused him to retire.  Bossy was my favourite player when I was a child and he gets the honor of being the first Legend to be included in this set.

#91 Mike Bossy

Don't know Bossy?  Watch and be educated.

88-89 OPC Tribute; Card #4 Steve Ott

  Time to add some grit to the line-up. Steve Ott, an 8 year verteran, is the next to be added to the set.  Ott had 252 hits last season, which ranks him in the top ten for the second year in a row.  He scored over 20 goals in 09/10 and is a willing to drop the gloves, as this fan's youtube tribute will attest.  The video also shows his versatility, taken on stars, such as a Jarome Iginla, and top tier enforcers, such as Dan Carcillo.  If you hate Steve Ott, then we know he's not on your team.
  You may also notice, that I fixed the border.  I had forgotten to charge the border colour on the other cards. I will likely go back and rectify the error on the other cards.

#4 - Steve Ott