Hockey Cards

With round 2 of the NHL Playoffs coming near to a close, I wondered which of the remaining teams' goalies had the best assortment of cards out there. I'm looking at the difference between quantity, quality and value. I wanted to show off the best cards of each player that I have in my collection but with all the craziness of my life, I haven't had the time to find, pull, and scan any of them. I started typing this post when the last game of Round 1 ended. It's only now seeing the light of day.So how do we go about doing this??? A head-to-head card stat matchup is just what we need. Now you can hem and haw about the fact that I used the Beckett Online Checklist to assist in my endeavors but it's only a guide, not the Bible. I didn't have the time to spend on final sale prices on Ebay or anything so this is a "just for fun" post to make a comparison.Maybe I will do a Round 3 matchup with the winners (or maybe not) Round 2 - Western Conference Semi-Finals (Chicago Blackhawks vs. Detroit Red Wings)The Hawks and Wings have a long, storied history of playoff battles being that they are both Original 6 teams. They won't be facing each other as much starting next year but at least we have the Playoffs to reminisce. For both teams thus far, they have gone with one guy in net.Corey Crawford vs. Jimmy HowardCorey Crawford354 Cards11 Rookie Cards122 Memorabilia24 Autographs194 Serial Numbered CardsTotal Imaginary Contrived Value: $2128.30Average Card Value: $6.012005-06 Rookie CardsJimmy Howard701 Total Cards17 Rookie Cards260 Memorabilia129 Autographs459 Serial Numbered CardsTotal Imaginary Contrived Value: $8845.45Average Card Value: $12.622005-06 Rookie CardsThe edge here obviously goes to Howard since he has the volume but if Crawford can continue to anchor a successful Blackhawks squad for a few more years, his cards will only increase in number and value.Round 2 - Western Conference Semi-Finals (San Jose Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings)Who says hockey is dead in California? We have two teams facing each other for the battle of the Golden State this year. We almost had another team with Anaheim but Detroit put an end to that in game 7 of round 1. These teams have a host of goalies on their rosters but only two have gotten the ice time. Antti Niemi vs. Jonathan QuickAntti Niemi623 Total Cards17 Rookie Cards235 Memorabilia Cards129 Autographs390 Serial Numbered CardsTotal Imaginary Contrived Value: $6848.45Average Card Value: $10.992009-10 Rookie CardsJonathan Quick742 Total Cards3 Rookie Cards358 Memorabila Cards112 Autographs423 Serial Numbered CardsTotal Imaginary Contrived Value: $11477.90Average Card Value: $15.472007-08 Rookie CardsQuick gets the edge slightly ahead of Niemi. We can definitely chalk that one up to the fact that he won the Cup last season and has been playing consistently well for a while now. Not only that, he seems to save his best stuff for the playoffs and this year is not exception. Niemi has that superstar goalie ability but doesn't get the hobby respect yet (and probably never will without some exposure in a Finals). Being a Hawk early on helped but being in San Jose, I don't expect collectors will jump all over him, even if he takes the Sharks deep.Round 2 - Eastern Conference Semi-Finals (Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Ottawa Senators)This Eastern Conference matchup should be a battle. There is no love-loss between Pittsburgh and Ottawa but for this season, the Pens have had the Senators' number. They won all regular season games this season but as we all know, the post season is season 2.0. Ottawa has been playing great and without the best goaltending on the ice, the Pens could be in trouble. I hope one of the two guys in net will step up against Ottawa's Anderson.Tomas Vokoun and Marc Andre Fleury vs. Craig AndersonTomas Vokoun1619 Total Cards5 Rookie Cards612 Memorabilia265 Autographs1001 Serial Numbered CardsTotal Imaginary Contrived Value: $15,229.04Average Card Value: $9.411997

Being on a team can be one of the most rewarding and educational experiences in a person's life. Especially as a kid. Learning to respect and defend your teammates, working together towards a common goal and developing the joy and enthusiasm in victory and the grace and dignity in defeat.It's an amazing sight to watch a group of kids develop these skills. But I see these traits all over the place - as adults - in work, at play, with organizations and with friends. Team skills are quite frankly one of the most important set of tools a person will develop - EVER....period.I am very fortunate to have a tremendous team that I work alongside on a daily basis. People that make me a better worker and a better person. And I'd like to think (not that I want to toot my own horn) that I reciprocate that towards them. I'm at a place now where I'm not asking myself "Where will be the next place that I work?"I can't say enough about my sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew along with the rest of my family. They are a huge part of why I am me (good, bad or indifferent).One of the other teams that I have been a part of for a number of years is the Condominium Board of Directors where I live. Ever since I moved into my current place 8 years ago, I felt it important to volunteer some of my time to try and make where I live a better environment - do my part.For many of those years, the challenges and struggles (some very difficult and pressing) were met with the best effort of the BOD. I can confidently say that even though I was a bit of a "fish out of water" being a part of a Condo Board - I did my best, with only the best of intentions, and we worked well as a team.Unfortunately (and I'm sure you saw this coming), the past year has been a blunt example of what happens when a team does not work together. My tenure on the Board this past year (which renews every May) was a short one. I resigned early on after a conflict with another member.Infighting, arguing, loss of focus on the big picture all cost not just a number of Board Members, but the community I live in as a whole, a chance to continue to take steps forward into the new year.To me, part of being on a team is the ability to show respect for your fellow teammates. There is a certain level of basic, person-to-person respect that is expected on day one and the respect should grow based on the amount the other person earns it. Earning it by listening, sharing, helping, building - whatever can make the sum greater than the whole of each part added together.Actions like ignorance, disinterest, name calling and bullying is not just detrimental to the team and the people on it, but also to the goals and aspirations that the team has.I've been told that there are two things you can do to a bully - stand up and fight or turn and walk away. There are many times when standing up and fighting is not only the right thing to do for yourself, but an inspiration to others in example. There are however the occasions where it is best (for both the situation and the individual) to turn and walk away.That's what I did. No longer will I let the bully have any ounce of my time ever again. No longer will I spend my energy dealing with this person. No longer will I shoulder the burden and emotions of the words and actions this person displays. I've concluded that he is who he is and I don't like it....and I don't want to be a part of it.I have decided that it is time to find a new team. Invest my spare time in people and events that can once again create that "moving forward". I've missed that for the past year.Your actions on a team create re-actions. I'm ready to see more positive re-actions.As an aside, I just finished watching ESPN's '30 for 30' on the 1983 NC State miracle Final Four run and incredible National Championship win. Jim Valvano and his Wolfpack epitomizes what a team should be and what a team can achieve when they work together, when they respect one another and whe

1986 was a banner year for Marty Barrett. He finished with a .286 BA and set career highs in hits (179), runs (94), RBIs (60), doubles (39), stolen bases (15), walks (65), and total bases (238). Barrett also ended the year sharing the top of the MLB lead in sacrifice hits (18) and finished second [...]The post The Marty Barrett Collection, 1986 – Top Performances appeared first on Drop The Gloves!.

Just a quick post tonight to show off a card I traded for a couple nights ago at the monthly trade night.I had been sitting on a Martin Brodeur Artifacts parallel /10 for a while and a Brodeur collector just happened to notice it. He asked if we could work something out.After taking a look through his traders, I found a couple cards that piqued my interest. One (which was more of a throw in) has already been packaged up and will be mailed off to a collector of the player. The other card I thought was pretty cool.2011/12 ITG Canada vs the WorldInternational Material #IMM-34 Mats Naslund Patch Gold 1/1First off, it's a 1/1. Second, it's of a player that I used to follow a lot when I was a kid first getting into hockey and hockey cards. Mats Naslund (and later Hakan Loob) were those highly skilled, speedy guys who lacked in size, but still showed that success could be had with hard work.Lastly, I liked this piece because the "patch" is from a game-worn Sweden jersey. I put patch in quotes because there's really no seams in the jersey. It's more like a jersey piece. But I'm assuming that Sweden jerseys from that era had painted on logos and such. It was just a basic mesh.I'm not sure what kind of hobby love Mats has and I really don't know if the card will give me as much of a return as the Brodeur would have, but sometimes it's better to have a card that is appealing (especially to me) than one that will just bring in the top dollar.I'm quite happy to have this one in the trade box.

When I prepared to set off to the Toronto Expo a couple weeks ago, I knew there would be some Linden hunting, some new product breaking and some specific request fulfilling.I did not expect my Friday to consist of one of the biggest box breaks I've ever done. And by "biggest" I don't mean in terms of biggest hit....I mean BIG!!!As in 25 boxes big.I have been on the lookout for a while for some Canadiana singles for a fellow Linden collector. Carrying around somebody else's wantlist gives me the chance to dig a little more during average or even boring card shows or if I happen upon a card store.When I found boxes of Canadiana selling for $40 (that's about 75% off regular price) I decided to try a couple boxes.And then a couple more.And then half a case more.And then I texted the fellow Linden collector and bought the other half of the case for him.25 boxes in total.Now I could have brought them all back unopened, but that would have meant checking another piece of luggage at the airport and getting dinged about $30.I had more fun opening it and it could all be tucked into one of my suitcases.Wanna see what I got? I'll share just my 15 boxes.First off.....base. There were 8 card per box and about 5 or 6 would be base. The reds are the most common and I was able to get about half of the 100-card set (sadly....15 doubles).For those of you not familiar with Canadiana, it's a product that celebrates all things Canada. From sports to politics to entertainers to inventors, Canadiana is a trading card look at our country's history.There are also blue parallels of the base cards and are limited to just 50 copies each. I pulled 23 blue base and this Maurice Richard is a great example of the simplicity and cleanliness of the design.I like the fonts and brushed background. It works for both old and new photos, color or black & white. There's decent photo selection although there are a few pics that are a tad on the blurry side.A nice hit here....GSP black base parallel. This onyx parallel is limited to just 5 copies. I've heard that they often sell quite low on the secondary market. I'm hoping that's not the case with mine. I'd love to recoup some dough and this could be a big help.What would an In The Game product be without autographs. Yes, they are sticker autos but ITG does a really nice job ensuring that the sticker works with the card design (unlike some of the slappers on the new Fleer Retro hockey product....ouch).A simple design again and I really like the black look with the black pen (done with purpose I might add).Don Cherry has one nice looking sig and was one of my more favourites out of the break. In total I pulled 18 (2 duplicates). Heads up though. Most people in the product have 2 autos (different photos on each) so there would be a Don Cherry 1 and a Don Cherry 2.Some of the other faves include a nice Scott Niedermayer and a sweet "Mad Dog" Vachon. There are also blue auto parallels and the ultra rare red auto 1/1's.No reds for me, but I did hit six blues.This one hands down was the best. Anybody who doesn't know who Stompin' Tom is.....go do your homework immediately. Do not look at or think about anything hockey. And return when you are caught up.Hockey's national anthem (and many feel that it's Canada's unofficial anthem as well). Awesome.And now for the Pamela Anderson section of the post.Yes, what would a product about Canada be without the buxom blonde from Baywatch. She makes an appearance (actually.....many) in the set.This is the Mega Memorabilia insert set and is a pretty simple concept. It works great because there's lots of memorabilia (in this instance...not as much).Some of these silver versions are limited (90 copies) and some extremely limited (20 copies). This might be the one single card that would make my sister start collecting. Corey Haim. Nice. I got two of these....not so nice.In total, I pulled 13 Mega Memorabilia cards, so about one per box.14 if you count this gold vers

In The Game recently released the 2012/13 edition of one of my all-time favourite sets - Between The Pipes. I normally bust a box of the product (I'll share that another time) with the goalie mask cards being the highlight (and pursuit).This year's offering is a little different than past sets and I think the changes are an improvement. I picked up a handful of Masked Men 5 cards at the Toronto Expo and so I'll let the show & tell do all the talking.John Garrett. This mask immediately shoots me back to the early 80's. It's the mask on one of my favourite OPC cards from the era and it is also a huge reminder of the infamous All-Star Game in which Garrett was the replacement for Richard Brodeur. He was on his way to winning the MVP (and a new car) until some guy named Wayne decided to pot four goals in the third.Murray Bannerman. Notice anything about these cards? That's right....not photos, but artist sketches. Paul Madden (the same guy who did some work on the Enforcers product as well as Sportkings to name a few) has done some stunning work. These sketches are bang on capturing the expression and character in each of the player's faces and masks. An amazing feat if you ask me.Doug Favell. Love this Rockies mask. The crispness of the sketches is far superior than the sometimes blurry photo zoom in that plagued previous releases. Check the base cards if you want a good example of that.Denis Herron. Notice a trend here? Yeah, I love the vintage fibreglass lids. They just have way more character than today's masks. Simple designs and bold colors combined with archaic looking masks create an instant classic.Mike Palmateer. Case in point. This is another of my faves. So simple, but so cool. Best ever Washington mask if you ask me. It's a 50-card set and this year it's all current or past goalies. No junior or AHL players. No offense to those guys, but I like my goalie mask sets to be pros only. In fact, if it were up to me.....it'd be vintage all the way.Bernie Parent. One of the few non-NHL masks. Anybody know what team Bernie was playing for when he donned this classic lid? Shouldn't be too tough (if you're over say 35 years of age).Gary Simmons. Sweet! The cobra mask is another that gets top billing in my book. I love that the mask doesn't match one bit with his Golden Seals jersey color. Why should he change it......it's just too awesome.Billy Smith. Most of us remember him wearing his helmet and cage from his Stanley Cup winning days, but before he became the go to goalie in the playoffs, Billy wore this cool mask. The long chin and unique throat guard makes this a keeper.Wayne Stephenson. Bold colors again...and a clever way of including the Flyers logo. Looks very menacing. Love it. They just don't make 'em like this anymore. Shame.The red background has some funky refracting shiny goodness to it and there is a slight embossing to the mask sketch itself. One wouldn't think that it would all come together and work - but it does.....in spades. A really solid looking card (and they scan well too).There were a couple more mask cards I picked up (with a certain Habs collector in mind).Nice and nice. One has since been traded away while the other stays in the pc (he had it already). I've also added a few more from my box break, made a couple trades and as a result.....the wantlist is different. But I just needed to share these goodies. I think they look fantastic.

Yes, I realize that I just posted a Linden pickup yesterday, but tonight was one of those nights you just don't expect. And the card I came home with is definitely worthy of its own post.Wednesday was the monthly trade night at the local card store. I was looking forward to maybe hunting down some cards from the Linden-heavy Ultimate Memorabilia 12th Edition. When a fellow collector heard I would be heading down for the evening's festivities, he simply stated to me "Might have found just the card for you this week."Cool. I thought maybe he had found a base parallel or a sticker auto from Fleer Retro. Something I need....but not off the charts.THIS........IS OFF THE CHARTS.2012/13 In The GameUltimate Memorabilia 12th EditionGame-Used Patch Gold 1/1Are you kidding me????? This....at the local card shop. In person. With my name on it? WOW!!!What's better is that rather than punch out a big number, he was looking to trade for it. I was speechless.After a quick, effortless few minutes of card hunting, he

Yeah, my posts have been sporadic at best. And I may have put on a contest only so people would remember my blog. I HAVE NO SHAME! See, things have been busy. I’m trying to move out to Los Angeles and I’ve been preoccupied with applying to jobs 3,000 miles away. I’ve also been trying [...]The post An Actual Card. A Hockey Card At That. appeared first on Drop The Gloves!.

I think this might be the first time that a redemption card gets top billing as a Linden Card Of The Week, but I think it is most worthy (and I would bet the other Linden collectors out there would agree).Day one of the Toronto Expo, I arrived as the doors opened at 1:00. I hit up a couple pre-planned tables right off the bat just to give them a little nod that I was there. One such table was Ameet (99goals) who has the hibernating blog Hat Tricks & Home Runs. I can't blame the guy.....he's a new dad!It was great to see Ameet as we have had a solid back and forth via blogs and hobby boards for a while now. I like his mindset towards hockey cards (even if sometimes he vents off the deep end). He's got good thoughts and is always engaging.His partner in crime at the table (and forgive me....I have forgotten his name) had some card in the showcases. I looked, then asked and was then floored."Have you got any Lindens?""I have this one."(yes....it was as simple as that)2012/13 Panini CertifiedJunior Class Si

One little package was waiting for me when I returned home from Toronto. I have been holding off on a lot of ebay purchasing for two reasons...One, I was saving for Toronto. Two, I knew there would be some beefy Linden cards popping up in the ITG Ultimate Memorabilia 12th Edition release.My "I'm not in a rush" attitude has been a relaxing few weeks and I've really enjoyed the replenishing of the wallet. But things are cyclical and the dollars were flying a little more freely over the past week. But hey....we all gotta splurge sometimes.Back to my bubble mailer. It came from a trade with Greg over at Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. I had a Chris Pronger Anaheim Ducks card for the longest time and was holding onto it until I could find a card to snag in return. This one is going to the trade box but I thought it was kind of neat.This Zdeno Chara card came fro the 2012 NHL All-Star Game release and features a piece of towel used during the All-Star Game weekend.The card celebrates that Chara has a freakis