Top 30 NHL Players of All-time: #27

So what you don't know is this is round 2 of this post. As a flash back to the early days of this blog, Blogger decided to vomit out my post when I hit published and dismiss all my supposed "save" that were automatically done while creating it. Now that I have that out of the way, I am also willing to bet a number of you know who is next on the list based on their similarities to #28. Joe Sakic.

#27. Joe Sakic. Quintuple gold medal club (WC, WJHC, 2 Cups, Olympic Gold and World Cup). He’d win a Hart, Pearson and Smythe trophies and be named to the All-Star team 3 times. His 1.19 PPG is 12th all-time which is impressive given the number of dead puck era seasons he played.

89-90 Topps Rookie

What I enjoy so much about the rookie card is you get a chance to see one of the few players who wore 88 for the Quebec Nordiques.

89-90 OPC Autographed Rookie

When you look at the careers of both Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman before retirement and after, there are so very many similarities for these two boys from British Columbia. Both lead struggling franchises to the promised land more than once as a Captain and with very similar career points per game numbers. 

What separated them for me and why Joe is 27th on my list goes down to the minor details. Truth is I'd love to have either of them as the centre-piece of my franchise and with the right tools you'd have a champion. Both wound up in the HOF and both won Cups, Smythes and other league awards. They'd even both win Pearson trophies but Sakic would also get a Hart. Yzerman would win a Selke but while you'd consider him the superior defensive talent between the two, it's worth even noting that Sakic also garnered Selke votes and finished second in Selke voting back in 2001.  

In the end it was a gut feeling and a stat that broke the tie for me. My gut feeling was if I had to pick one, I'd go with Sakic over Yzerman. Sakic was a slightly better producer in the postseason (greater than a PPG compared to Yzerman who was a little less than a PPG). Finally when you compare their career PPG in the regular season Sakic edges out Yzerman 1.19 to 1.16. That's how close they are, but when you consider the lean scoring years while in their prime Sakic had to endure and put these numbers that is saying something. 

According to hockey-reference their career numbers are close but the edge once again goes to Sakic with more points in less games based on career totals. Sakic has 1696 adjusted points to Yzerman's 1650 and when you consider Sakic played over 100 fewer games, Sakic gets the 27th spot.

Thanks for stopping by, I'll be along shortly with number 26. 

Sakic Patch

Just when it seems like I have uncovered every good deal and gem at my LCS, I end up turning over another rock and find myself another. 

09-10 Artifacts Joe Sakic Frozen Artifacts Blue Patch/Jersey /25

 

I have always liked Artifacts and when I have bought packs I generally have done OK, but never pulled a card like this one! My LCS had this baby in the display case with a price of just 15 bucks! Talk about priced to move, with packs generally running in the 10 dollar range, this is a steal. The card is the blue version of the Frozen Artifacts insert set which includes a patch piece and a jersey piece and is just numbered to 25.

What I like most about the card is the beautiful three colour patch you get. The silver glimmers in the light, the blue pops nicely and the white has a pretty neat texture to it. This baby was easily worth three times what I paid for it to me and the card easily is one of the better patch cards in my collection. Having not owned any game-used Joe Sakic memorabilia to this point, I sort of think this card was a long over-due purchase.

Joe Sakic TTM

I was very happy to open this package. I enjoyed writing the letter almost as much as receiving the cards. Two cards, two autos and less than two months. What more could a fan hope for!



Thanks Joe








Check out the other card signed card and the rest of the story at Dirty Dangle.com!

#5 - Value Vintage Sets - 89/90 OPC

When I was shopping online last month, I wanted to make my funds stretch as far as they could. Certainly my card collection is far from complete and there were a few holes I wanted to start filling. Most collectors in my age and financial demographic probably have the early 90's nailed down to the extreme and then some sets here and there depending on interests etc.

Well I decided that I needed more vintage sets and I went and got myself a couple for under a 100 bucks total. I based my choices on the best value and substance in the sets. Then I thought it would make a good serial on my blog so I am going to share what I think are the top 5 Value sets from 1970-1989.

Number 5 on my list is the 89-90 OPC Set.

Why you ask? Here are some of the redeeming qualities:

330 Cards

Sets can be had for under the BV of 20 bucks

Great Hall of Fame players and rookies in the set

Design is simple and attractive

You can afford to build the set from packs if you wish (boxes of 36 packs under $40)

The OPC set also has some rookies that can't be found in the Topps version (Fleury, Corson, Tugnett etc.)

Card design:

Here is what the front of the cards look like.

The front looks clean with blue trim on the top and bottom (which is prone to chipping) and a "marble-ized" sides which tend to be a little off centre (my scans ended up all looking off-centre as I used a camera).

Backside of the cards

The back shows both season and playoff stats along with player vitals. Again like the front, the cards look clean and simple.

Key card:

Without a doubt is the Joe Sakic RC.

Joe front side
Joe backside

The BV for the set is 10-20 dollars with the Sakic rookie listing at 5-12 dollars which is a significant percentage of the set.

Other notable cards:

There are plenty of other cool cards in the set including early career cards of Mario Lemieux, Patrick Roy, Brendan Shanahan, Adam Oates, Brett Hull etc.

Hull 2nd year card.

The rookies:

The set contains a fair number of Hall of Fame and star rookies (59 Rookie Cards in total). The rookies include Theo Fleury, Brian Leetch, Joe Sakic, Craig Janney, Derek King, Tony Granato, Ron Tugnutt just to name a few.

Linden RC

Fleury RC

This set is no where near the greatest ever created but there are many intangibles which make this set a great value. The rookies, the stars, the design of the cards and the fact that they can all be yours for much less than a box of 11-12 Victory Hockey all suggest it is jam-packed with value.

I added this set to my collection in the early 90's. I probably bought 2 boxes with of 89-90 OPC and have two complete sets as a result. Certainly the smart way would be to pick up a set at a show or card shop to avoid those pesky shipping charges. Either way, it certainly can be had on the cheap and I think is a must for any hockey card collector.

Do you agree it is a good value? Let me know!