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Before I begin this post, I want people to know I don't necessarily endorse the consuming of Molson products. True some of them are tasty and down right yummy, but others are pretty gross. I have not purchased any Molson products from my local liquor establishment, but rather picked up the following from my LCS.

Typically I don't fall for gimmicks like free cards in stuff and I almost never chase these cards, but my guys at the LCS were drooling all over these cards and I felt bad because they loved them so much and I really couldn't care less, so I bought them out of pity. Fact is they are always amazing guys for deals and really spending 5 bucks on three cards I really didn't care much about is no big deal in the grand scheme if it made them happy in the process.

However, I have grown to not mind these cards mainly because of what they represent. My three most favourite NHL seasons! The set as a whole is 92 cards featuring the champions from each season the NHL has produced the Stanley Cup Champion. So if a team has won it since 1918, there is a card for that year. Being a Devils fan, there are three that were of interest to me. Here they are:

1995 Stanley Cup Champions

This ranks as my favourite of the three. I was a teenager at the time and I had been cheering for the Devils for 8 years by this point. I had endured some bad times, and some painful times by this point. I remember the 88-89 season was tough and I even got teased for being a Devils fan. Then 1994 came along and we had a great run and fell oh so close to the Rangers. But after a short lockout, the Devils came on strong at the end of the season and were hot at the right time. We rolled over the Red Wings in the final to win our first Cup. I actually have the final game of that series on VHS where my man Billy Guerin had 3 points and Mike Peluso wept like a child on the bench. I LOVED that year.


2000 Stanley Cup Champions

After the 95 win and missing the playoffs in 96, the Devils put together a few weak playoff appearances before the 2000 season. However, the 2000 season will be best remembered for how strong the Devils were ALL season. We finished the season with a solid 103 points(which was lots prior to the three point games of today) and what some people don't realize is were finished second in the entire NHL in goals scored. In the following season, the Devils would lead the NHL in scoring which is often forgotten because of the huge emphasis the media was putting on their trap style approach to defense. I really enjoyed this Cup win because it was the second time and after the first I wasn't holding out much hope that I would have a chance to see one again so this came as a bit of a surprise.

2003 Stanley Cup Championship

This was the last time we won the Cup and by this point I had just got accepted to do a Bachelor of Education degree at Ottawa U, and I was working back home for the summer and I had every night dedicated to watching playoff hockey. I had just gotten rid of my girlfriend at the time and I must say life was simple. Work, golf, hockey and repeat. I think I will best remember this Cup for those reasons, and the 400 dollars (total) I won in two playoff pools. To celebrate the last I Cup even got cornrows in my hair with red, white and back beads. Do I regret anything, maybe the corn rows, but it was very awesome and definitely another highlight of my life.

So these cards even though I had no interest in them initially, they did bring back some fun season memories and were worth 5 bucks to me. For those curious, here is the back view of the corn rows, I will never show the front view online!

I kept them in my hair for about a week, and then I shaved my head. 1 full year of growing my hair and not cutting it, gone in 60 seconds.