Winter Classic - Sabres vs. Penguins

[Ran]

I actaully remember when Hartford, Quebec, Winnipeg, and Edmonton came in the league. I still have the hockey card with the expansion logos. Then Atlanta moved north, 3 of those 4 WHA teams moved south, and the Rockies moved east. I was 9 when we moved down to Washington DC. I couldn't get Goal magazine or those Canadian stations I watched. There wasn't much hockey coverage other than the Capitals, but at least they had a lot of games on network TV. By the time ESPN really picked up the NHL, they were expanding to San Jose, Ottawa and Anaheim. You're right, it is all a blur now.

The Sabres had some decent teams back then...and I got to watch the Daryl Sittler era Leafs, too. You know what's weird? I keep seeing a commercial for a new DVD coming out that compares all of today's players to players from the past...like Ovechkin to Bure and other younger stars to even older players.


The good news is that with HD TV, no one is asking to bring back that stupid glowing puck.

[jjreason]

The good news is that with HD TV, no one is asking to bring back that stupid glowing puck.

The horror...

People thought the deal with US network TV was going to save the NHL (this was before the most recent strike & the new deal/salary cap), but that was dog shit. I remember watching it out of curiosity and laughing because the thing wasn't on the puck all the time. It was really, truly awful - kinda like telling people they were too stupid to watch it normally.

RII - did they have the Hockey Sticker albums down there? For a few years we bought packs of stickers instead of cards, they fit into a cheap paper thing about the size of a magazine that had spots for players from each team, all-stars, trophies, etc. Those were tons of fun to collect, but I wouldn't imagine they were out down in the US.

[Ran]

O Yes!!! but instead of O-Pee-Chee, it was Topps. I also had the football and baseball sticker books. The shiny gold and silver foil stickers were pretty cool. Mine are long gone, but I actually still have an extra Billy Smith sticker in a box somewhere. I think the only difference is that there wasn't any French text in the Topps version. Topps and O-Pee-Chee hockey cards were the same way, except that the OPC sets had more cards. The one that sticks out in to me is that the first Topps Patrick Roy card didn't come up until he was in the league a few years.


Outside of the older US teams, the US coverage of the NHL blows. I haven't watched much of Versus this year, but they were a bit rough starting off. Ducks and Kings games still treat the viewers as if they are new to the game by going over rules and stuff.

[Antropov]

Outside of the older US teams, the US coverage of the NHL blows. I haven't watched much of Versus this year, but they were a bit rough starting off.

Ugh. Thank God I get CBC and that the FSN coverage of the Wings is A-1, because if the only hockey I could see was on Versus I'd slit my wrist and then shoot myself in the face. Their intermission reports aren't half bad, but the jamokes they've got calling the games are absolutely terrible. They have no concept of "announcing", filling down time with personal quips and stories rather than anecdotes and/or points of interest about the game at hand.

[Ran]

Ironically, Upper Deck now owns the name "O Pee Chee". I have a bunch of cards from my youth still. Most are in rough shape, including my Gretzky rookie. But I guess that's what 5 year olds did with cards back then. I played hockey with them on the kitchen floor. The team card was the puck. and 2 cheklists acted as each goal. Then I taped a bunch of them into a notebook because I wanted to make my own hockey magazine, complete with beer ads. Mom yelled at me and I was forced to change it to a Budwiser Root Beer ad.

I bought some vintage Sabres cards on ebay a while back. They were in a lot, so some were Topps and some were OPC.

EDITED: I just love Hockey... Hockey takes the curve out of my stick!!!! - Richard

[Antropov]

I just love Hockey....Hockey takes the curve out of my stick!!!!

What. The. Fuck? When did you become a hockey fan?

[jjreason]

It's hard because you know what else is out there (for coverage). If the US broadcasts were the only thing available, I'm afraid that the idiocy of the commentators might make people change the channel before the puck is even dropped. No wonder the NHL seems mired in luke-warm interest down there....

Back to cards/stickers for just a sec - the O Pee Chee factory was in London, ON (where I grew up). It was super common for kids to have rolled up sheets of uncut hockey cards, as it seemed the factory workers weren't monitored too carefully with respect to taking stuff home. They'd get traded around like gangbusters. At one point I had 2 sheets from the same year - one of which had a Denis Savard rookie on it, as well as a Gretzky 2nd or 3rd year card and an early Kurri - probably from about 1980 or 1981.... stupidly, I traded them for a box of Upper Deck baseball cards in 92 or 93 when I was hot into those.

I believe Topps and O Pee Chee had a deal to reprint each others cards to a certain extent - our baseball cards were O Pee Chee, but they were Topps reprints. My brother still has an O Pee Chee Jerry Rice rookie card!

[Diabolical]

No more instigator penalties.

Unless the motherfucker is wearing a visor. Then he should get a match penalty as well.

*Looks at "anropov's" avatar*
Hypocrite.


I once pulled a Topps Yzerman rookie out of the pack about 10 years ago. I put it in a hard cade as soon as I got home where it sits today. It is still my favorite card in my collection. Too bad it wasn't O Pee Chee, or it'd be worth double (or more).
I celebrated by eating the gum...which turned to dust when I bit it.

[Antropov]

*Looks at "antropov's" avatar*
Hypocrite.

Meh. Nik isn't a fighter. That's why Toronto still employs Darcy Tucker.

Besides, he's European. Don Cherry loves those guys and the visors they ALL wear.

[Ran]

Well, if we're going to start bragging about our hockey card collections...

I have:

Yzerman rookie as well. It's Topps (and according to the Beckett I have, it is $40. The OPC is $100).
Gretzky's rookie (and a bunch from the early to mid 80s) most of them aren't in good shape
Rookies of Mario Lemieux(x2), Mike Bossy, Ray Borque, Doug Wilson, Jari Kurri, and Peter Statsny. They are all Topps, so they are worth squat compared to the OPC cards JJR might have.

[jjreason]

Only "hads" here, I'm sad to say - all I've got nowadays is a Hall of Fame calendar with about 10 autographs on it & the first year of Upper Deck hockey cards tucked away (I fucking LOVED Upper Deck for the first 3 years of its existence). I recall distinctly having cards from the Great One's rookie year (the set with the blue borders), and lots from Stevie Y (and Patrick Roy's) rookie year and tons from in between. My bro still has those two tucked away, far from where I can get my mitts on them.

I remember collecting the stickers more clearly - but I'm absolutely CERTAIN Ray Bourque's rookie card was the #1 card of one of those sets - the ones with the team name in big letters across the bottom third of the player pic....

.... (upon searching it out) piss me off, it was the second year card. Not sure what happened to all of mine, I really don't remember getting rid of them, just that they were gone after a few years of not paying attention to them. Amazingly, my dad remembers granma throwing his out - he kept them pressed in an old phone book apparently. I have dreams of the 50's Parkhurst Gordie Howes or whatever he might have had back then....

[Ran]

3 year extension for Osgood. $1.5M/year deal. Probably not a bad idea considering no one knows when Hasek will retire.

[Antropov]

3 year extension for Osgood. $1.5M/year deal. Probably not a bad idea considering no one knows when Hasek will retire.

And even if he did and through some miracle Detroit signed a goalie of Hasek's caliber, a mil and a half isn't bad for a quality backup.

[jjreason]

I agree. Manny Legace has NOT been good for the Blues this year (from what I've seen - but in fairness the Blues haven't been good for him, either), so it's looking more and more like our front office made the right decision. I give them props, I thought it was a mistake bringing Ozzy back.

[blingbling]AO's a rich bitch, eh? [/blingbling]

[Ran]

Manny Legace made the All Star team. He is 17-10-2 with a 2.05 GAA and .922 save%. I'd say he's doing ok.

I don't think AO will even be the highest paid player. He's going to make $9M/year the first 6 years and $10M after that. At the rate the salaries are creeping back up, $10M will probably be a good deal by then.