Top 30 NHL Players of All-Time: #28

The next two picks on my list were really really difficult to rank and I only knew they must be on my list. Many will think they need to be much higher and I probably agree with you. However, at the same time I feel they both may have been victims of just playing in an era with so many superstars.

#28. Steve Yzerman. Steve was a winner both individually and as a leader of a team. 3 Cups, Triple Gold Member and many other medals. He won the Selke, Pearson, Conn Smythe and Masterton showing he can do it all. Over 600 goals and 1700 points also prove his remarkable abilities. 


84-85 OPC Rookie

 How do you place someone so great on a list of other amazingly great players? I had a very difficult time with this. In the end I tried my best to weigh all factors. Offensively Steve was superb including a season I still am in awe (65 G, 90A, 155 PTS). For his career he's among all the elite (top 10 in all three offensive categories). As a leader he was also among the games best and perhaps as good as Messier if you ask me. Defensively, the man was top 5 in Selke voting 5 times and perhaps if underrated in any area it may be in this. He did an excellent job rounding out his game in the second half of his career earning him a spot among the greatest of the great and that's why he's 28th on my list.

So...why isn't he higher? One really surprising fact is Steve only was ever named to the year end AS teams once. I know guys like Wayne and Mario made it difficult for him to get the recognition he deserved but in the end I had to place him here and I hope to prove myself in the coming posts.

Thanks for stopping by, #27 is every bit as good as #28.

05-06 ITG Ultimate Memorabilia - Double Auto/Memorabilia - Steve Yzerman/Ted Lindsay /34

I am going to try and get caught up on some posts for my blog as well as some of the others ones I write on in the coming month. With that being said, I have a small week long vacation with the family coming up this weekend so I guess there will be a little gap before I really get going so here are a couple posts on cards I picked up in the last couple months.

First off is an auto I gave up in trade and worked on replacing. My old Stevie Y was from the 09-10 UD Ice Set which was a very nice on card glacial graph. However, I wanted to try and get another because the first one I had I really liked and I felt I might luck into a deal if I didn't mind stickers or ITG.

Well, I managed to spend less on this than I did the last. I also managed to get much for my money, check it out!

05-06 ITG Ultimate Memorabilia - Double Auto/Memorabilia - Steve Yzerman/Ted Lindsay /34

Two HOF'ers for the price of one. Included are game worn swatches from Terrible Ted and Stevie Wonder. I love the bulging piece of "Sweater" you get with Ted Lindsay and the dreaded white swatch from Steve Yzerman actually looks really nice on this card. I was able to land it for less than what I paid for my original and while it has two sticker autos, I really don't card because everything else about this card including scarcity is amazing.

Here is a close up of the card. I sometimes am tempted to crack it out if its coffin but I know that will ruin some value if I ever decide to try and flip it so for the meantime it will stay safe in its case. So with this card I now have a swatch, auto and rookie(s) of Steve Yzerman completing the trifecta of him and I have two of three for Ted Lindsay with the most important rookie missing still.  

09-10 UD Ice Glacial Graphs Steve Yzerman

Continuing the trend of HOF autos, here is the next one I landed in the last year. My first and only Steve Yzerman auto. In hindsight, I probably should have put some white paper on the back when I scanned it because the black top of the scanner cover takes away from the autograph. With that being said, the rest of the card did end up pretty cool too....

This is a 09-10 Glacial Graph which is a busier looking card than my favourite 05-06 Glacial Graphs but I still like the card. Good use of colour and space with an "ice" background. 

Steve signed this card with a blue sharpie and like all Glacial Graphs I have seen, it is an on acetate auto. Steve included his number with this signature which is always a bonus to me. I thought about rescanning to show the auto off better, but the card is now in a one screw screwdown and I don't see it coming out any time soon :)

Whenever I get a chance I will try and chase a player's Glacial Graph, are there any collectors out there who target a specific auto release (Autofacts, Brushstrokes, Signature Sensations etc.)? Normally I do a small write up about the player, but time is a little short today so if you are more curious about Stevie Wonders pro hockey stats, check out this. His 155 point season will always stand out in my mind, but his performance at the 89-90 World Hockey Championships is pretty cool as is his 6th place in all-time regular season points with 1755.

#4 - Value Vintage Sets - 84/85 Topps

I think from now to number one the list will be a little more interesting because I felt that #2-4 could all be rearranged and with the right argument I could certainly buy into a person's opinion on the matter. But really, like most people's blogs they are just opinion pieces anyway so here is why I think 84-85 Topps is the 4th best value vintage set out there.

Here are the redeeming qualities to me:

The set is from the mid-80's which was the height of fire-wagon hockey!

Tonnes of star players in the set as well as a crop of new up-coming stars

It was the first Topps set produced since 81-82 so there are a few "First Topps Cards"

It was harder to build by packs because of 66 single printed cards in the set

17 Rookie cards in a set of just 165 Cards

Steve Yzerman rookie!!!

Card Design:

I really like the design of this year. On the front you get an action shot and a head shot. Also you see the name, team and position the player was playing. Really just a nice classic design certainly has the mid-80's feel to it.

The back side
The back is equally nice featuring vital information, stats and a small write-up back the player. Here Wayne averaged more than a goal a game for the second time in his career and won the Stanley Cup.

Key Card:

Without a doubt the key card in the set is the Steve Yzerman rookie. This card wasn't double printed so it holds its value rather well. The book price on this one is 15 - 40 dollars which is a pretty decent price to own an Yzerman rookie!

Steve front side

Steve back side
Like the Sakic rookie on my #5 set, Stevie Y's card value makes up a large percentage of the set price, in this case, 80% to be exact.

The rookies:

Even though there are only 17 rookies in the set, some of them are pretty good ones. Rookies include Dave Andreychuk, Tom Barrasso, Pat Verbeek, and Pat Lafontaine.

Pat Lafontaine Rookie

Other notable cards:

In addition to the rookies, there are some other cool cards like a Oilers era Gretzky which you have already seen, and cards from stars like Bossy, Coffey, Bourque, Savard and other typical mid-80's stars.

Wayne Gretzky All Star front side

All-Star back side

As you can see this is a pretty cool set. What makes it an especially good value is that you can own a set that is over 25 years old for very little. This set lists for 25-50 dollars in the Beckett but I have seen them go on eBay for less than 25! Definitely worth the price of a typical blaster box!

I bought my set which is in amazing shape in the early 90's for 45 bucks. Certainly haven't made any money off that purchase but my enjoyment of flipping through this set every now and again is worth paying a little more for it a long time ago and certainly a set I am going to continue to enjoy going forward.

It is worth noting, if you have the money...the 84/85 OPC is phenomenal as well. Addition rookies of Chelios, Neely and Gilmour make it a more attractive set but at 5 times the price a collector has to ask themselves is it worth it? Or should you own the Topps set and buy the missing rookies as singles? Lucky for me, I was given the 84/85 OPC set as a gift in the mid 90's so I have both plus a few singles of Gilmour and Chelios (no extra Neelys though).