Card of the Week - Peter Mueller

Rather than focus on the negative news in Devils camp, lets focus on the positive news around the NHL. It appears a number of players who have missed the last bit or all of last season are on the mend including Peter Mueller.

Mueller is an exciting one as he was on a serious hot streak after Phoenix traded him to Colorado. In the 15 games after the trade in 2010 Mueller scored 20 points for the Avs including 9 goals. Life was good and it appeared he was going to return to his Rookie year form when he suffered a huge concussion. Mueller sat out ALL of last year which either means the concussion was very severe or they are treating is very seriously and giving him a fresh start.

I became a Mueller fan (along with Kopitar and Booth) as a result of watching the 2008 WHC in Halifax. Here are a couple photos I took of Mueller:

I actually took the photos from my seat with a pretty cheap camera so I considered myself lucky to see some great hockey from a nice seat.

08-09 OPC Premier Premier Remnants PR-PM
I like this card a lot. Nice design, triple swatch and game-used. The card is numbered 95/100 and the front is really sharp looking. OPC Premier has tended to be in the shadow of The Cup and I find you can pick up some great deals on rookies from this set which are every bit as nice as The Cup ones. The rookies are generally made with a couple swatches and an autograph!

The back side

On the back, like most UD products, there is a nice reminder that Richard McWilliam selflessly is getting us as close to the game as he can and a little wasted space. I like the OPC foil on the corner and the lines give the card a nice look on the back.

How I received the card: I paid $2.99 for this at the my local hobby shop

Beckett Value: 6 - 15 dollars

1990-91 OPC Premier

I must say, when I first started collecting cards it was back in 1990. Not the best time to start collecting if you want any of your cards to have value, but of course an easy time to get started collecting because everyone sold hockey cards back then. Grocery stores, pharmacies, corner stores, department stores and there must have been about 15 card shops in the city I lived in. With that being said, one set from 1990 stood out as being someone rare and that was OPC Premier. This set has kinda always stayed with me over the years as being one I enjoyed. I couldn't stand the lack of stats on the back, but the photography was decent and the card layout was pleasing to the eye.



About a month or so ago, I was able to get my hands on a box of 1990 OPC Premier for $20.00. I couldn't pass up on the opportunity, there are far too many cool rookies in this set to not buy it and see what was inside. The set consists of 132 cards and according to hockeydb.com there were 58 rookies in the set. Some of the rookies like Tie Domi, have OPC Premier as their lone printed RC's. Thus far I have opened almost all 36 of the packs in the box. I managed to get a couple Modanos(2), Jagrs(2), Sundins(2), Fedorovs(2) and Roenicks(3) but I still have three packs left to open and since I have my blog going now, I thought I would share the last three packs over the next little while.





When I opened this pack, I found the standard 7 cards, they were all in mint shape (excuse the poor scans) and I ended up with 3 rookies. Back in 1990, these would have been some pretty decent rookies, but over the last 20 years, only one of the three rookies had a substantial career.








#35 Johan Garpenlov - He started with a lot of potential and was once considered a pretty decent prospect. He never lived up to potential and didn't last long in the NHL.


















#33 Link Gaetz - A tough guy better known for his name and fights than any real hockey abilities. He lasted 65 NHL games where he piled up 412 career minutes in penalties. He moved onto a long career in the minors and semi-pro leagues.













#96 Mike Ricci - This was the best rookie from the pack by far. Thought it really has no financial value, it would be the best Mike Ricci rookie on the market. Mike had a pretty decent career for a solid two-way player. He played nearly 1100 games in the NHL and did win one Stanley Cup in
1996. Though I personally will always remember him as a player with serious crop of hockey hair and a toothless smile that could frighten the Queen of England. Search the internet for Ricci and Queen Elizabeth for more information if you are interested.


In addition to these rookies, I also pulled Rick Green, Pat Lafonatine, Claude Lemieux and Brad McCrimmon. Both Pat and Claude were excellent players and McCrimmon and Green were both solid defensemen. I would definitely say this wasn't an amazing pack, but it was a fun trip down memory lane.