Another season in the books and this time it is the Penguins that raise the Stanley Cup. This one is their fourth in franchise history and the second in the last decade. In honour of their Cup win, here is a Stanley Cup!
90-91 Pro Set Stanley Cup Hologram NNO /5000
Holy crap, that scanned like.....crap. Well, I am going to say this card isn't mint and really isn't close. But it does look far better than that in person. With that being said, I find the 75th Anniversary Hologram to be a much much better looking card. In person I would say the card is pretty decent and more importantly another one crossed off my bucket list of white whales. Sadly the trade I announced fell through and I didn't let that deter me and I was able to sell the box I was going to trade and buy this card AND others so not bad if you ask me.
Here is the back side of the card. It is hand numbered and you can read a little history on Lord Stanley's Cup.
Thanks for checking in and I hope to share a few fun mail days I received in the past while! Congrats Pens fans, hope it is was a great ride!
One post I have been meaning to do since I started this blog was one about the song Fifty Mission Cap by the Tragically Hip. The song is about Bill Barilko and his final NHL game and following tragic demise. What I like about the song is not just it's a very interesting story, not just because it describes a card from my favourite set of all time but also because it references a hockey card I actually owned before I even heard the song. When the song came out and I listened to the lyrics I knew exactly what they were referring to and that just added to my enjoyment of all things related to Fifty Mission Cap.
1951-52 Parkhurst #52 The Winning Goal
I wish I owned this card. Still on my want list and without a doubt one of the best hockey cards ever made and definitely one of the best from the 1951 set. Just sheer awesomeness. Because Bill went missing after this season, he wasn't actually included in the 1951-52 Parkhurst set because they just featured players from the 1951-52 season as opposed to players who played in the previous season so for some fans, this card is Bill Barilko's rookie.
As iconic I believe the previous card was, it was actually this next card from the 1991-92 Pro Set Series 1 set that The Tragically Hip reference. The photo is a zoomed out and larger than the Parkhurst one but still the same iconic scene.
Back side
Here is the back side of the card which was references in the song.
Fifty Mission Cap
Bill Barilko disappeared that summer
He was on a fishing trip
The last goal he ever scored
Won the Leafs the cup
They didn't win another till nineteen sixty two
The year he was discovered
I stole this from a hockey card
I keeped tucked up under
My fifty-mission cap
I worked it in
I worked it in to look like that
It's my fifty-mission cap
It's his fifty-mission cap
And I worked it in
I worked it in
And I worked it in to look like that
And I worked it in to look like that
Bill Barilko disappeared that summer (in nineteen fifty one)
He was on a fishing trip (in a plane)
The last goal he ever scored (in over time)
Won the Leafs the cup
They didn't win another till nineteen sixty two
The year he was discovered
In my fifty-mission cap
I worked it in
I worked it in to look like that
It's my fifty-mission cap
It's his fifty-mission cap
And I worked it in
I worked it in
And I worked it in to look like that
And I worked it in to look like that
It's my fifty-mission cap
It's my fifty-mission cap
It's my fifty-mission cap
It's my fifty-mission cap
The early 90's was an ever growing world when it came to sports cards and the same could be said for the NHL draft. It slowly grew from a back room activity to an arena event with spectators. 1991 was also the year that everyone was going after Lindros including the card companies. Score owned his exclusive rights but that didn't stop Upper Deck and Pro Set from finding loop holes. Upper Deck put out "Canada's Captains" in their 1990/91 UD High Series and Pro Set came out with CC1.
Pro Set on the heels of their debut, came out with an insert set and autographs inserted into packs. The insert set was not advertised and you could end up with a few of these cards in a box or none. Eventually after the dust settled, the CC (collectable card?) consisted of 9 cards. 4 could be found in series 1 and 5 in series 2. The first four were The Draft, The Mask, Pat Falloon and Scott Niedermayer. The second batch, CC5-9 consisted of leaders from the 90-91 season.
I actually remember the 1991 draft because the Devils owned Toronto's pick thanks to the Tom Kurvers deal and I was hoping all season they would finish last and the Devils would land Lindros. It never happened of course and Quebec would never get Lindros either despite having the first overall pick. But what Quebec did get was far more than Lindros' value and the Devils did well themselves. Here is the card:
1991/92 Pro Set The 1991 NHL Draft CC1
Look at the hustle and bustle. A far cry from the 1971 NHL draft which was held in a posh Montreal Hotel. This draft would be a pretty impressive one if you considered just the first round alone.
Here is the back and the whole reason for the card was player number 1. Some of the other names aren't too shabby either. Niedermayer, Forsberg, Matvichuk and Rolston. Kovalev wasn't a slouch and neither was Markus Naslund. Everyone one except Brent Bilodeau would play in the NHL. Half of these players would score at least 300 career points and some of the best picks ended up later in the draft. Ray Whitney went 23rd overall and Ziggy Palffy would go 26th.
Looking back on the draft, I am glad we had the third pick as things turned out very well for the Devils.
