Top 5 Puck Junk Articles of 2010

OK, so we are 1 month into 2011, but I saw another blogger do this and I wanted to steal the idea follow suit. So, here are Puck Junk's 5 most read articles of 2010.

5. Vintage Rookie Card Haul - Apparently, hockey card collectors like reading about old hockey cards.

4. Painted Penguin - Everything about this card is just plain wrong.

3. 2010 Blackhawks Training Camp Fest - My recap of the 'Hawks first day of Training Camp. Special guest appearance by the Stanley Cup.

2. 2010-11 Upper Deck Victory review - The first (and so far only) video review I did of a hockey card set.

1. Sports Card Girl is a Scam - My investigation of a fake blogger who was running a link farm under the guise of a cute card collecting female. Apparently, this ruffled enough feathers to merit (in-actionable) legal threats against me.

***
All right, enough about 2010. I hope 2011 is another good year for Puck Junk--and for my fellow hockey card bloggers too.

1991 All-Star Game & Heroes of Hockey Tickets

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Above are my tickets stubs from the 1991 NHL All-Star Game (left) and 1991 Heroes of Hockey and Skills Competition (right--otherwise known as "All-Star Friday."

My Aunt and Uncle had seasons tickets to the Blackhawks games. They took me to a lot of games when I was a kid, and probably were going to take me to the game anyway. But my Grandmother paid them for my tickets to the game and skills competition as an early birthday present.

For some reason, our seats at the All-Star Game were better than our usual seats. Normally, we were in Mezzanine Row H, but for this weekend we were in Row D--4 rows closer than usual. Heck, we sat closer than Gordie Howe, who was in our section but about 5 or 6 rows back from us.

What  I remember from Friday's Heroes of Hockey game:

• Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr did not play in the Heroes of Hockey Game in protest of the poor pensions that former NHLers were receiving. 

• Bobby Hull was also going to boycott the game, but changed his mind since it was in Chicago.

• Some Old Time Hockey pranks were played, such as a puck that exploded after Hawks Alumni goalie Murray Bannerman caught it, and the "puck on a string" gag courtesy of Stan Mikita. 

• In the middle of the game, Mikita decided  to "trade" goalie Bannerman to the NHL Heroes team for Bob Sauve. For the rest of the game, Sauve tended net for the Blackhawks, while Bannerman tended for the NHL Heroes. Strange and ironic, since Sauve usurped Bannerman as the Chicago Blackhawks number one goalie during the 1986-87 season

• At the end of the game, Phil Esposito threw his stick into the stands, and it landed about 4 rows in front of where I was standing. I watched a bunch of grown men grab and pull the stick until one of them emerged victorious.

 The Skills Competition:

• Denis Savard was a surprise All-Star. He was a last-minute replacement for the injured Brian Skrudland. No one knew he was going to be there until his name was announced during Friday night's player introductions. Savard had been traded to the Canadiens the past summer, and got a standing ovation from the Chicago Stadium crowd.

• Bill Ranford was booed by the Chicago fans because he was selected as the reserve goaltender instead of Blackhawks rookie Ed Belfour, who was having a remarkable season.

• In the Accuracy Shooting challenge--where the player has to hit each corner of the net--I'm pretty sure Trevor Linden missed all of his shots. I remember feeling bad for him.

•  Paul Coffey won the Fastest Skater competition. I remember him being kind of a jerk to the guy who interviewed him afterward, giving one-word answers and just generally being rude.

And the All-Star Game itself...

• The National Anthem was AMAZING. The fans at Blackhawks games are always loud during the Anthem, but were extra loud because it was the All-Star Game...and because of an overwhelming sense of patriotism from the Desert Storm war. This still sends chills down my spine...

• But the game itself was actually kind of boring. Really no hitting (though I think Jeremy Roenick checked someone) or physical play.

• Phil Housley got 2 minor penalties in the 3rd period. Otherwise, the game would have been penalty-free.

• When Bill Ranford came in midway through the 2nd period (to replace starter Mike Vernon), the crowd started chanting "Eddie! Eddie!" to both mock Ranford and show their support for All-Star snub Ed Belfour.

• Vincent Damphousse scored 4 goals. Not really a "memory," because I wanted Roenick to win the MVP Award. But still, I don't think I've ever witnessed a player score 4 goals in a game. At least not in person.

• During one of the intermissions, my Aunt ran back from the hallway and told me to come with her--NOW!!!!  We hurried down the corridor, where future first-round draft pick Eric Lindros was surrounded by people asking for autographs. I got my ticket stub signed by The Big E:

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• I was going to bring a Lindros rookie card with me to sell to one of my friends at the game, but didn't for some reason. If only I had brought one--and a Sharpie marker, of course. 

•  My Uncle's cousin--a nice man from Toronto--had a field day getting his program autographed by all the retired NHLers in attendance at the game. I think he got 'graphs from Stan Mikita, Bobby and Dennis Hull, Darryl Sittler, Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr.

• Besides the Upper Deck All-Star Game Sheets, there was one other giveaway at the game: a paper goalie mask, courtesy of McDonald's, that instructs you to "Put your face on when there's a face-off."

Twenty years later, and the thing still fits me well.

War Room - December 7, 2010

Got 'Em! Need 'Em! 

Season 2, Episode 7

Broadcast Date: Dec. 7, 2010

Time: 11 minutes, 6 seconds

Topic
Host extraordinaire Mick Kern and I talk about  the 2010-11 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey Set.

If the above player does not work, you can get the clip here. Just right click on the link, and select either "Save As..." or open it in a new tab or window.

Thanks to Mick Kern and XM Home Ice 204 for providing the audio clip.

Fantasy Draft Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed the 2011 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft on Friday night. The players seemed to enjoy the aspect of picking teams, and emcee James Duthie was a fun host.

Anyway, here are a few random thoughts about the Draft:

Cam Ward was taken first overall by Carolina teammate and Team Staal captain Eric Staal. Ward almost could not keep a straight face when he explained to Duthie that "They [Team Staal] took the best player available."

Photo not available - Artist's conception of "the splitting of the Sedins."

The Sedin Twins will be on separate teams for the first time in their lives!  Daniel went 5th overall to Team Staal, and Henrik went 6th to Team Lindstrom. Rubbing it in, Daniel pointed out that he also got picked before his brother in the Entry Draft in 1999. Henrik retorted that "[Team Lindstrom] took the better twin."

James Duthie on Tim Thomas: "You know you're old when you were drafted by a team that no longer exists." Thomas was drafted in 1994 by the Quebec Nordiques.

Hopefully, Dustin Byfuglien gets to play forward in the All-Star Game. It would be like old times, seeing Big Buff, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews together again on the same line.

Jonas Hiller wore these totally dorky glasses at the draft (someone please send me a pic). Maybe that's why he was the last goalie taken?

Speaking of last, Phil Kessel got picked dead last, but got a car! Seriously. He got a new Honda for being the last guy picked--maybe so his feelings weren't too hurt? Come on, this is the NHL. Don't give us any of that "everybody gets a trophy" nonsense. I can't wait to hear what Mike Milbury has to say about this.

Winning a car for being the last guy picked was dumb, but everything else about the Draft was a lot of fun. I hope the NHL continues this format next year--maybe with goalies as the captains--and I hope that Saturday night's Skills competition is just as entertaining.

And if you haven't done so already, enter the Puck Junk All-Star Game Contest--there's still time!

Sharp Finaly Nets 26th

Patrick Sharp finally scored his 26th goal of the season in Tuesday night's game against the Minnesota Wild. After reaching the quarter-century mark on January 9, he would go goalless in the next 5 games before finally netting number 26.

It's almost as if he got to 25 and then decided to call it a year.

Sharp leads the Blackhawks--and is 5th overall league-wide--in goals. He was also selected to play in the All-Star Game for the first time in his career.

Once Sharp cooled off from the beginning of the season, he's become more or less of a streaky player--3 goals in 3 games here, followed by no goals in 3 (or 4 or 5) games.

Hopefully, hanging with other All-Stars this weekend will help him regain the awesome scoring touch that he had at the beginning of the season.

36 years and counting

Today, I'm 36 years old.

I almost share a birthday with Wayne Gretzky, who was born on January 26.

However, there were some pretty good players who were born on January 27. There was Terry Harper, Brian Engblom, Dave Manson, Carlo Colaiacovo and D.J. King. Oh, and let us not forget one-game wonder Paris Duffus.

But for some reason, every year since 2008 I've fixated on jersey numbers worn by Blackhawks. When I was 33, I talked about Dirk Graham, who wore number 33. 34 was worn by Dominik Hasek for 5 games with the 'Hawks in 1990-91. And 35 was none other than Tony Esposito.

But number 36? Well, Dave Bolland comes to mind. He currently wears 36 for the Blackhawks. He's had that number since he was a call-up from the minors, and did not change it when he became a regular on the team.

Before Bolland, Matthew Barnaby wore 36. And so did Alexei Zhamnov (yuck), Chris Herperger (blah!) and Mikhail Yakubov (who?).

Today was just another day. I had a class to teach in the evening. It was the first day of that class for the semester so I spent all day prepping for it (updating the syllabus, writing a homework assignment, etc.)

I did score two presents, though. My Mom gave me a little money to buy what I wanted with it. I'll probably get some cheap cards and a box of card pages.

And Shellie hand-made me a pair of fleece pajama pants.

The pattern reminds me of the Toronto Maple Leafs. But they are so comfortable, I'll wear them anyway :)

Wayne Gretzky is 50

Happy Birthday to Wayne Gretzky, the Great One. We all know who he is. We all know what he's done. The greatest hockey player ever turns 50 today.

For your enjoyment, here is a list of articles on Puck Junk about Gretzky:

• The Top 5 Commercials Featuring Wayne Gretzky - Gretzky was the Great One, but not at acting. 
• The King's New Clothes - Gretzky's 1988-89 Topps and OPC cards bucked the system.
• Woe, Canada! - A retrospective about "The Trade."
• The Fake One - A counterfeit, pre-rookie Gretzky card.
• Gretzky Hallmark Ornament - Hang Gretzky from your Christmas tree.
• Soccer, eh? - Gretz also appeared on a couple of soccer cards.

And to think...if I was born a day sooner, I'd have the same birthday as Gretz--how cool would that be?

Puck Junk All-Star Game Contest

Time for a contest. This one is based on the upcoming All-Star Game and has All-Star themed prizes.

How to Play

1. Post a comment here with your email address and who you think will score the game-winning goal in the 2011 NHL All-Star Game.

2. If the game goes to a shootout, then I will count the Game-Tying Goal as the Game-Winning Goal for purposes of this contest. In other words, don't pick someone who you think will do good in the shootout.

3. You may choose only one player (forward or defenseman), so choose wisely.

4. You may NOT pick a player who has been chosen by someone else, so pay attention to who others have picked. I will also try to mark them off in the list below.

5. If your player does not score the GWG, you will still get a prize if he assists on it

6. The deadline for entering this contest is Sunday, January 30 at 12:01 AM CST. 

The players

David Backes
Dan Boyle
Daniele Briere - Krivo
Brent Burns
Dustin Byfuglien - Al aka "Kazi" / Hockey Miscellaneous
Zdeno Chara - Doomm
Sidney Crosby
Matt Duchene
Patrik Elias
Tobias Enstrom
Loui Eriksson - Casey / Drop the Gloves
Claude Giroux - Dan / The Other World
Mike Green
Martin Havlat
Alex Hemsky
Patrick Kane - Skroeker
Erik Karlsson
Duncan Keith
Ryan Kesler - Davey / The KPL Blog
Phil Kessel - leNouz
Anze Kopitar - Paul / Card Boarded
Kris Letang
Niklas Lidstrom
Evgeni Malkin
Rick Nash - Captain Canuck / Just a Bit Offside
Alex Ovechkin
Corey Perry - Shane / Shoebox Legends
Brad Richards
Daniel Sedin - Michael / Collecting for Kicks
Henrik Sedin
Patrick Sharp - Lenny Ruben / Philly Phan in New York
Jeff Skinner - Tyler / Hockey Gods and Collectibles
Eric Staal
Marc Staal - Matt / Cardboard Conundrum
Steven Stamkos - Brian / Play at the Plate
Paul Stastny
Martin St. Louis - Dave H. / Wax Stain Rookie
Jonathan Toews - Slammin' Sammy
Shea Weber
Keith Yandle

Prizes

In no particular order, here are the available prizes:

1991 Upper Deck Campbell Conference All-Star Sheet - This was given to me at the 1991 All-Star Game in Chicago. It is numbered 09871 out of 15,000. (More info here)

1991-92 McDonalds All-Star complete set with holograms - The first-ever McDonald's hockey card set is comprised of 25 cards and 6 holograms. It shows players from the 1991 All-Star Game.

1991 and 1992 NHL All-Star Ballots - Did any of you save these "back in the day?" If not, then you can win a pair of these un-punched beauties. No hanging chads here.

Who Wins What?

1st Place - for the contestant who correctly guesses the GWG scorer. First place winner gets first pick of the above prizes.

2nd Place - for the contest whose chosen player gets the first assist on the GWG. Second place gets next pick of above prizes.

3rd Place - for the contestant whose chosen player gets the second assist on the GWG. Third place gets whatever prize is left.

If no one correctly guesses the player who scores the GWG in the Cup-clinching game, then everyone moves up a place. 

If any prizes are left over, then winners will be chosen at random using Random.org

Everyone who enters will get (if they wish) a random All-Star card from the 1991-92 McDonald's All-Star set.

Finally...

If you have a blog, please let others know about this contest. I would love to see all 36 players get picked.

And if you like this blog, please become a follower. That will keep you in the loop for the next contest.

2010-11 Donruss box break #1

I bought four boxes of 2010-11 Donruss Hockey Cards back in late December. I didn't have time to open them until early January, and didn't have time to post about my results until now. So, without further delay...

Results for Box #1

224 Base Cards - You get 10 cards per pack instead of 8. Take that, Upper Deck! Of course, the base set is bigger, but so what? I'd rather get 10 cards instead of 8 in a $3 pack.

6 Rated Rookies - Brock Trottier, Bobby Butler, Carter Hutton, Nick Palimieri, Justin Falk, Phillip Larsen

Hits
Why save these to the end when this is what everyone wants to see NOW!!!!

1 Rookie Showcase Threads Jordan Eberle - Normally, I hate jersey cards--especially "event worn" jersey cards like this one. But this...is actually pretty cool. This was worn by Eberle in the 2010 Rookie Showcase, which is a pretty well-known event among hockey card collectors. Plus this card is numbered 213/250, meaning that there aren't 5,000 copies of this floating around.

Boys of Winter Phil Kessel jersey card - True, I don't like getting jersey cards, but this one was done right. The swatch matches the photo (meaning it's not a jersey piece from a Bruins' jersey). Plus, the blue swatch actually looks kind of nice against the white background. AND it is of a pretty good player.

Boys of Winter Jeremy Duchesne jersey card - Who?

Inserts

2 Fans of the Game - Bieber! I got the Bieber! I also got Pamela Lee Anderson. I was really hoping to get Michael Ontkean.

1 Tough Times - Nice! Very cool-looking card that resembles the front page of a newspaper--remember those?

2 Ultimate Draft -  Ugh! This looks like your typical, run-of-the-mill Upper Deck insert. I got Tobias Enstrom and Jeff Carter. I'd rather have gotten more of those Tough Times inserts.This may be the dumbest insert in the Donruss set.

3 Boys of Winter - No, wait--THIS might be the dumbest insert set in Donruss. Like Garfield Minus Garfield, this is a jersey card minus the jersey. What's the point? I got Mike Modano, Matt Carkner and Steve Valiquette.

1 Les Gardiens -These cards are clear, have rounded corners and are made of plastic. They also say "the goalies' in the pictured player's native language.

Parallels
Why does Panini bother with parallels? They're not even that interesting..

Martin St. Louis "Proof" card - See that little gold word in the upper-left corner? That makes this card special. This one of Tampa Bay Lightning RW Martin St. Louis is numbered 085/100.

Nicklas Lidstrom "die cut" card - At first I thought this card was defective--improperly cut at the press. Nope. It is in fact a numbered parallel insert. This one is serial-numbered 01/30. I think that merits a penny sleeve and toploader.

One box in and I'm enjoying this set. No, I still don't want jersey cards, but at least two of the three I got are good enough to trade to someone who does. The Fans of the Game and Tough Times inserts are cool, while the Ultimate Draft and (jersey-free) Boys of Winter are no worse than what I'd get in a pack of Victory.

Finally, check back Tuesday for a contest. 

Video: 1991 NHL All-Star Weekend

Year: 1991
Length: 11 minutes

This video clip  shows highlights from the 1991 NHL All-Star Weekend  January 17 to 19, 1991 in Chicago. It is from a  VHS tape that the Chicago Blackhawks sent their season ticket holders.

There are many interviews with great players like Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Jeremy Roenick and Mark Messier. It also addresses the controversy of goaltender Ed Belfour being snubbed as an All-Star selection.

Here's a quick rundown of what's in the video:

• 0:10 to 1:45 - All-Star skills clinic & autograph session
• 1:46 to 4:05 - Heroes of Hockey Game
• 4:06 to 7:47 - NHL Skills Competition
• 7:48 to 10:55 - 42nd NHL All-Star Game

The video is a bit long, so I understand if you don't want to watch it. However, I took a screen shot from the 2:20 mark:

Yes! My 15-year old self is in the background of Dennis Hull's interview. 

This was after the All-Star skills clinic held on Thursday. I honestly don't remember seeing myself back in the video "back in the day," so I was quite surprised to see this while digitizing the footage.

National Hockey Card Day is February 12

Upper Deck will continue National Hockey Card Day for a third year in a row--or NHCD as us cool kids call it.

On Saturday, February 12, 2011, hockey card collectors in Canada can get a free pack of hockey cards at their local card shop or at participating chain stores. The cards themselves are from a special, 16-card NHCD set that will feature some of Canada's most popular players.

That's right--this year the set will have an extra card, whereas the previous two NHCD sets had 15 cards.

Personally,  I wish Upper Deck would also have NHCD in the United States. Yes, hockey is "Canada's sport," but the U.S. has 80% of the NHL teams. Go figure. Plus, there is greater opportunity to grow the hobby in the U.S. with such a promotion.

What if Upper Deck were to have International Hockey Card Day next year, and give out cards in Canada and the U.S.? They could even take it a step further and give out different sets in each country.

While the NHCD set strictly has Canadian players (Gretzky, Crosby, Lemieux, Toews), the United States counterpart could feature some awesome American players from past and present (Joe Mullen, Chris Chelios, Jim Craig, Ryan Miller). And you'd end up with collectors in one country trading with collectors in the other country so as to get both sets. This idea has potential. 

Would someone pick me up a complete 2011 NHCD set?  I will gladly trade for this year's set (plus a wrapper), or purchase one if the price is right.

Chris Nilan Was Almost an All-Star

Custom card by Sal J. Barry

Former enforcer Chris Nilan almost played in the 1991 All-Star Game. His controversial selection changed how All-Star rosters are picked.

Back in the day, the coaches of each All-Star team would select the reserve players. Fans still voted for the starters, but it was up to the coach to choose the rest of the team.

Enter Boston Bruins head coach "Mad" Mike Milbury, who coached the Wales Conference team. Milbury picked Bruins enforcer Chris Nilan over more, ahem, traditional choices like Guy Lafleur or Kirk Muller.  

He *is* smiling. Can't you tell?

Milbury loves tough guys and physical play. Of course that's meant in the most manly, bludgeon-each-other-over-the-head way possible. Nilan, who had 277 penalty minutes in 41 games with the Bruins in '90-91, fit that to a T. He had the numbers all right...just not the numbers one would normally consider for inclusion in the mid-season classic.

In the end, Nilan did not play due to a broken ankle, and the NHL changed how reserve players were selected. Now a panel decides what non-starters are in the game, instead of leaving it up to the coaches.

What I never understood, though, is why Chris Nilan did not get an All-Star card.

The 1991-92 Pro Set Hockey set featured cards of players from the 1991 All-Star Game. All of the players.

Except for Nilan.

Yes, Nilan was injured. But so were these players...

Brett Hull also sat out due to injury. His inclusion on an All-Star card is understandable, as he was voted to the starting lineup.

Brian Skrudland was another controversial selection by Milbury. Skrudland was a defensive forward--and a fine one too. He also sat out because he was injured, but still "suited up" for this trading card photo.

The player who replaced Nilan in the All-Star Game was Bruins' teammate Dave Christian.

But nowhere on Christian's card is it noted that he was a replacement for Nilan.

Click to see much larger.

Did the NHL tell Pro Set to exclude Nilan from the set? Perhaps. Nilan was not in the game, and most likely not at the pre-game photo shoot either. Thus no photo. But removing any mention of him seems just like the strange, yet spiteful, kind of thing the NHL would do.

It is as if the NHL wanted everyone forget that Nilan was going to play in an All-Star Game. And if it wasn't for Wikipedia and my All-Star Game program, they might have gotten their wish.

It looks right...but feels wrong.

1991 All-Star Game Puck

This hockey puck is a small--yet important--piece of memorabilia from my 1991 All-Star Game collection. The front shows the All-Star Game logo.

Unlike previous years' logos that used a "shield shape," the 42nd NHL All-Star Game logo is a round shape that fit perfectly on the surface of a hockey puck, leaving very little "black space."

The flip side shows how old school this puck really is. It's got the old black-and-orange NHL logo and a facsimile autograph of then league president John A. Ziegler Jr. Remember Ziegler? He's the guy who lost his job because of the 1992 NHL player strike.

Anyway, I'm not much of a puck collector per se, but I do like commemorative and/or special types of pucks. I think pucks were usually in the $3 to $4 range by then, but this one probably cost $5.

Question: Have you ever bought a commemorative--or otherwise special--hockey puck? What was it for? How much was it? 
I guess that's really 3 questions. Post your thoughts below.