Signature Renditions: Sean Monahan

I've knocked another card off in my quest to find as many cards as possible from the Signature Renditions subset in last year's release of The Cup:

Sean Monahan is one of the more promising young players in the NHL and part of what seems to be a pretty exciting core in Calgary. He was the sixth overall pick in the 2013 draft, immediately jumping to the NHL as a 19-year-old and then scoring 31 goals in his second season when he was just 20. I suspect this is among the prettier of the Signature Renditions cards. The red and white of the Calgary jerseys pop nicely and the painting effect you see in the crowds in these cards is really pronounced in this one. 

Like several others in this particular insert set, this commemorates Monahan's first goal, which he scored against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It took me quite a while to finally land a copy of this card. Most of the earlier copies that I found on eBay sold for more $40 or more, which was too steep for me. I suspect the higher price was because this is technically considered part of the 2013-14 sets, even though The Cup wasn't actually released until after the 2014-15 season had started. That makes this technically one of Monahan's rookie cards. Luckily, patience actually paid off in this case and I was eventually able to land the 35th and final copy for quite a bit less. 

Hall of Famer's on TV

I've been on a bit of a vintage kick lately, including my first exposure to Topps' memorable 1966-67 set:

The television set is probably one of the most well known designs among all pre-'80s hockey cards (helped, no doubt, by the fact that the set includes Bobby Orr's rookie card). I'd never seen one of these in person but I decided to take plunge into an eBay auction because Harry Howell is an alumni of the Guelph Biltmores. 

These really should be cheesy, but they actually work. The colors in the crowd are  vivid and help make the card pop. I'm not sure if I'd like this design on a modern card, but it's pretty fantastic as a memento of the 1960's. 

As you can see, the television theme continues on the back. Part of what appealed to me was the fact that the writeup actually references Howell's time with the Biltmores (which was the New York Rangers farm club in the '50s and '60's. The franchise is now the OHL's Kitchener Rangers). You'll note that the NHL Trophies category is blank -- if memory serves, he went on to win the Norris trophy the year this set was released. In fact, he was ultimately inducted into the Hall of Fame, one of four Biltmore alumni to enshrined (along with Andy Bathgate, Rod Gilbert and Jean Ratelle). 

Ahh, the siren song of combined shipping. Since I was already committed to buying Harry Howell, I ended up picking up two other cards from the '66 set -- including this Red Kelly, another Hall of Famer. 

Interesting thing about Red Kelly: He was a Norris-winning defenseman for Detroit who was eventually traded to Toronto, where he he was moved to center and formed a successful line with Frank Mahovlich. He also holds the record for most Stanley Cup rings of any player who never played with the Montreal Canadiens and the only player to have been part of two of the nine recognized dynasties in NHL history. 

Interesting thing about the card: The game image in the background of the TV "screen" is the exact same in each of these cards. The only difference is where the foreground headshot is placed. Take a look at the anonymous Toronto Maple Leaf skating to the right over Kelly's left shoulder. You can just barely see the top of his head picking out from over Harry Howell's left shoulder in the first card.

And the other card I wound up with was Hubert Jacques "Pit" Martin. Unlike Howell and Kelly, he never made the Hall of Fame. But he was a very good player for many years. He's also the owner of one of my favorite hockey names of all time. (The nickname "Pit" apparently came from a character in a French comic strip.)

Pit is positioned in between where Harry Howell and Red Kelly were in their cards. In addition to the Maple Leaf skater on the right, you can see the coach of the opposing team (must be either the Red wings or the Black Hawks) on the left (over Martin's right shoulder). He appears to be rocking a fantastic zipper sweater. 

I really do like these cards, although it would have been nice if the background images varied a bit. I definitely wouldn't mind picking up more of these in the future. 

Box Break! 2011-12 Parkhurst Champions

A few weeks ago, I was browsing Amazon and found a box of 2011-12 Parkhurst Champions selling for a little more than the price of a blaster. I'd bought a box last year and really liked it and, since the price was so cheap, I decided to open another.

By way of quick background, this set was a kind of fusion between brands from the mid- and late-2000's: Parkhurst, the old school brand that Upper Deck bought years ago, and Champ's, another old-time brand that Upper Deck revived and gave a brief two-year run in 2008-09 and 2009-10. Champ's was a bit like the hockey version of Allen & Ginter. I have no idea why they killed it after just two years, but I sure wish they'd bring it back....Regardless, what made Parkhurst Champions really stand out (in my mind, at least) were the subsets and the autos. The base cards are nicely done, but there were two short-printed subsets that were even better: Wire Photos, which were black-and-white photos of great players and great moments from the game's history, and Renditions, which came in both in color and harder-to-find black-and-white versions, which were painted portraits. (It's probably not a surprise that I like these two ideas since, if you combine them, you basically get the Signature Renditions subset in The Cup that I've gone bonkers over). The autos, meanwhile, were all on-card and featured a cool cross-section of players. Even better were autographed parallels of the Wire Photos and Renditions cards, but those are really tough pulls.

Having opened one box of this before, I already had 69 of the 100 base cards, plus a handful of wire photos  and renditions cards. My goals for the box were three-fold: 1)Finish off the base set and 2)Avoid any dupes on the short-printed subsets and 3)Pull two autos, since the boxes specifically advertise 1-2 per....Without further ado, here's how I did.

#100 -- Gordie Howe

This is, in my opinion, the coolest base card of the bunch. It's actually the second of Howe in the base set (the other one depicts him with the Red Wings, of course). And it's one I didn't pull in my first box, so I was really pleased to find this one in a pack.

#94 -- Pat Stapleton

Here's another base card I needed. Like a lot of sets, Parkhurst Champions includes a mixture of current and retired players. The older players look especially nice in this design, because when you combine photos taken with old cameras in poorly lit old arenas with the hazy border design of this set, the effect is almost like the picture was taken in a dream.

#17 -- Brett Hull

Here's my favorite current (at the time time) player card. It's a nice down-the-bench shot and the colors of Hull's jersey pop nicely....But this was also a base card I already had. In fact, I only found 12 of the 31 base cards I needed after this box. I don't believe any of the first 100 cards are short printed, so it's fairly disappointing to still be missing nearly 20 percent of the set after opening two hobby boxes.

#115 -- Johnny Bower (Wire Photos)

I did better on the Wire Photos. I pulled four of the single-player versions, which are seeded at 1 in every five packs. So I got the expected amount. And, more importantly, none were dupes of any I got in my first box. This hot of a mask-less (with a headless Yvan Cournoyer cameo-ing in the background) was my favorite.

#105 -- Brett Hull (Wire Photo) 

Here's another single-player Wire Photo (even though Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek is every bit as a prominent in the photo as Hull), which captures one of the biggest -- and most controversial -- goals in NHL history.

#112 -- Denis Potvin (Wire Photo)

Man, these cards really are fantastic. This is another single-player card, even though it shows two Hall of Famers in Potvin and Mark Messier. The photo isn't dated, but I love that this card basically captures the entire '80's in one photo. (The other single-player Wire Photo I pulled was of Marcel Dionne, though it was a fairly boring photo.)

#130 -- Bobby Orr/Phil Esposito/Johnny Bucyk (Wire Photos)

In addition 20 single-player Wire Photos, the set also includes 10 multi-player versions. These are much tougher to pull: 1 in every 20 packs, or 1 per box on average. I didn't beat the odds, but the one I did pull was a great one: A mid-1970's locker room shot of three Hall of Famers, including one of the two or three greatest players of all time in Bobby Orr.

#137 -- Mark Messier (Renditions)

#147 -- Peter Stastny (Wire Photos)

Here are the two colored Renditions cards I pulled. These are slightly rarer than the Wire Photos, falling at a rate of 1 in 8 packs. I had a 50-50 chance to pull three, but only wound up with the two. Neither were dupes, though. They're nice cards, but the Wire Photos are nicer.

#160 -- Wayne Gretzky (Renditions Black & White) 

The set ends with 10 black-and-white Renditions cards, which are the toughest pull of all the subsets. These fall at just 1 per 32 packs, or roughly 2 out of every 3 boxes. Was nice to find the Great One, as this would be an irritating card to have to buy as a single. And it's always nice to pick up the final card of the set. (Gretzky actually bookends the entire set, as he's also featured on card #1.)

Unfortunately, my box only included one auto and it wasn't a Wire Photo (which fall at 1 in every 500 packs for single-player versions and 1 in 3,000 for multi-player versions) or a Renditions card (1 in 800 for color versions, 1 in 4,000 for black and white versions). Nor was it a Hall of Famer. But at least it was of someone I remember well from my childhood. Al Iafrate was a bit of a bad ass during his day, both for having the hardest slap shot in the league -- he actually held the record for more than a decade, if memory serves, as measured by league's annual All-Star skills competition -- and for kicking the crap out of teammate Gary Leeman when he found out that Leeman had slept with his (now ex-) wife. An interesting player to say the least.

But while I didn't get a second auto, I did wind up with one other "hit"...

 ...Although it's one of the lamer hits I could have imagined. This is a "gold rainbow" parallel of a mini-card insert set that's part of the overall set. The regular minis fall at one per hobby pack -- although you can tell how much interest I have in them by the fact that I didn't bother to mention them until now. I'm not much of a mini-card fan as it is, and the Parkhurst Champions minis are especially ugly, in my opinion. There's one of Adam Oates where he looks like a vampire. So pulling some sort of rare parallel of one isn't exactly a big score, at least to me.

Naturally, these are some of the toughest pulls in the entire set. Each is hand-numbered to just 11 copies. But it doesn't look like people are clamoring to collect them anymore, at least based on a quick eBay search....Finding this card in my box was a bit like winning a boat -- when you live 1,000 miles from the nearest lake. I would have happily traded this out for another single-player Wire Photo car. Oh well, c'est la vie, I 'spose.

Five random cards

Card #1: 1991 Fleer Baseball (Pro Visions insert set) #6 -- Jose Canseco
Acquired: Found it in my old collection
Price: Free!

It's entirely possible that every single time I do one of these five random card posts with baseball cards it will include a Junk Wax-era Jose Cansceo card.

Card #2: 1990 Upper Deck #667 -- Chuck Finley
Acquired: From a box of 1990 Upper Deck bought at a flea market
Price: $5 (for the box)

I'm sure there must be some around, but I've never seen another card that depicts a pitcher being charged by a batter. My favorite part of this card is that it appears to capture that exact second that contact happens. I've Google'd around a bit, but I can't seem to find any details about this particular fight. Looks like Finley's being charged by a White Sox batter though.

Card #3: 2008 Topps Stadium Club #5 -- Russell Martin (First Day Issue parallel, #'d to 599)
Acquired: COMC
Price: 89 cents

I like Russell Martin, given that he's Canadian and he's now a Blue Jay. And I like Stadium Club cards from just about any year. So that's how this one ended up in my COMC cart.

Card #4: 1994 Score #102 -- Orel Hersheiser (Gold rush parallel)
Acquired: Found it in my old collection
Price: Free!

I am, and always will be, a sucker for Score's gold parallels.

Card #5: 1983 Topps #230
Acquired: Zistle trade
Price: Free(ish)

A late-career card of the top Canadian baseball player of all-time.

2002-03 Guelph Storm team-issued set

There were few things I enjoyed more as a kid than going to Guelph Storm games. And there a few cards I enjoy more than Guelph Storm cards.  

As luck would have it, I recently picked up my first Storm team set. It's a team-issued set that appears to have been co-produced by the Guelph Police Department, as the back of each card has tips aimed that appear to be aimed at kids -- things like "Don't take to strangers when you are 'surfing' on the Internet" and "A home rink is safer than skating on a river or a pond." 

The 2002-03 season was a turbulent one for the Storm. The team fired its coach midway through the season and finished just a hair over .500, though they did manage to win a round in the playoffs. But it was an important season, as much of the roster would return the next season and help the Storm to its second-ever OHL Championship. 

G -- Andrew Penner: Penner was never drafted though he did earn a contract from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Doesn't appear to have made it higher than the AHL, though, and spent most of his career in the ECHL. 

C -- Martin St. Pierre: St. Pierre was one of the team's biggest stars and has been named one of the top 25 players in franchise history. He was a monster during the team's 2004 OHL championship run, making the league's third all-star team. Undrafted, he signed as a free agent with the Chicago Blackhawks and wound up scoring three goals in 39 NHL games. 

D -- Andrew Archer: The team captain in 2002-03, Archer was drafted in the seventh round of the 2001 draft by the Montreal Canadiens. He played six seasons in the AHL before heading overseas to play professionally in Italy. 

RW -- Ryan Thompson: One of the team's alternate captains, Thompson was never drafted. 

C -- Daniel Paille: Another one of the team's bigger stars. Paille was the second-leading scorer on the 2004 championship team (behind St. Pierre) and was a two-time member of Canada's World Junior Championship team, including the team captain in 2004. He would also go on to one of the more successful pro careers of anyone from the 2002-03 Storm. The former Buffalo Sabres 1st round pick (2002) has played 570 regular season NHL games, split between the Sabres and the Boston Bruins. He was just released from a tryout contract with the Blackhawks, though, so his NHL career may be coming to an end. 

G -- Adam Dennis: An OHL rookie in 2002-03, Dennis would take over as the starter in 2003-04. He was also drafted by the Sabres, in the 6th round in 2005 though just missed the NHL, topping out in the AHL. HockeyDB.com says he most recently played in Austria. 

RW -- Dustin Brown: Here's one of the two marquee names from the 2002-03 Storm. Brown lead the team in goals and points that year and then was drafted 13th overall by the Los Angeles Kings. He then surprisingly made the team in his first training camp (and thus missing Guelph's run the next year). He's now the team captain and one of the faces of the near-dynasty that Los Angeles has built (alongside another Storm alum, Drew Doughty). He's also a two-time Olympian, as a member of Team USA. Also: Nice Roots sweater in the stands!

Here's a look at the back of these cards. They're quite nicely done, in my opinion, especially for an off-brand issue. 

D -- Eric Larochelle: I have no idea what prompted it, but Larchoelle apparently held out before the start of the next season and was subsequently traded to the Sudbury Wolves. He never played professionally. 

D -- George Bradley: Another guy who would return for the 2004 championship team. Bradley was never drafted and played a few pro seasons in the Central Hockey League, which is a rung below the ECHL. 

D -- Corey LeClair: Doesn't look like he was ever drafted although the card says he camped with the New York Islanders in 2002. Played a few years professional in the ECHL and, I think, England. 

D -- Geoff Patton: Never drafted. An alumnus of the Fayetteville FireAntz of the SPHL, though!

C -- Lou Dickenson: According to Wikipedia, Lou was once seen as a very promising prospect although he never seemed to develop in the OHL and he bounced around a bunch of teams. Guelph, for instance, appears to have traded him to Ottawa midway through the 2002-03 season. He was a fourth-round pick of Edmonton's in the 2000 draft, although he peaked in the AHL. He's apparently currently playing for the Dundee Stars in the "Elite Ice Hockey League" in the UK.

C -- Matt Ryan: An OHL free agent whom the Storm signed out of Niagara University before the 2002-03 season, Ryan would become a big part of the team and the third-leading scorer on the following year's championship squad. He's also one of the team's NHL alumni; though he was never drafted, he was signed by the Los Angeles Kings and appeared in 12 games in the 2005-06 season, recording one assist. Looks like he's also playing now with the Dundee Stars. 

C -- Colin Power: He played two years in the ECHL, according to HockeyDB.com. 

C -- Ryan Garlock: He was the Storm's first-round pick in the OHL draft at the start of this season, though he would be sent to the Windsor Spitfires the next year. The Chicago Blackhawks picked him in the 2nd round of the 2004 draft, but it looks like he never made it beyond the AHL. 

RW -- Steve Zmudczynski: Good luck pronouncing that name. Looks like he went to university after his career with the Storm came to an end. 

D -- Leonid Zhvachkin: Looks like the Storm traded him to Barrie midseason. He was drafted by the New York Rangers in the 8th round in 2001 but never signed. 

RW -- Brett Trudell: Here's a guy who ended up becoming a big part of the next year's OHL championship team. Trudell tied for the team goal-scoring lead during the 2004 playoffs, with 13 goals in 22 games. Never played professionally. 

D -- Michael Okrzesik: Appears to have been a regular on the Storm blue line for three consecutive years, but that's the extent of his hockey history. 

RW -- Ryan Callahan: And here's the other big star from this particular Storm team. Callahan was just a 17-year-old OHL rookie at this point and managed just 14 goals in 59 games that year. But he became one of the team's top players the following year and was the other guy who managed 13 goals in 22 games during the Storm's run to the OHL championships. He was drafted in 2004 by the New York Rangers in the 2004 draft. He eventually became the Rangers' captain and was traded two years ago to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Martin St. Louis. Looks like he's going to start this season on a line with Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Drouin. Not bad work, if you can get it. 

Here's a look at the back of Callahan's card. Funny that he played with a different Lightning as a 16-year-old: The Buffalo Lightning. 

D -- Emil Bucic: Guelph's only pick in the OHL's 2002 Import Draft, Bucic had been a member of Slovenia's under-16, under-17 and under-18 teams. This was his only season with the Storm, though, and he doesn't look like he ever played professionally. 

RW -- Aaron Lobb: Lobb was one of the Storm's leading scorers in 2002-03 though he was traded to the Oshawa Generals before the big 2003-04 season. Went to university after his OHL career ended. 

C -- Tyler Haskins: A 5th-round pick by the Detroit Red Wings in 2004, he spent three years in the AHL before heading overseas to play in Germany's DEL with the Wolfsburg Grizzlys. 

C -- Malcolm MacMillan: Wound up being traded to Barrie midseason. Managed 18 games over three years in the AHL, and a whole bunch more in the ECHL. 

C -- Matt Puntureri: Never made the NHL or the AHL but appears to have played just about everywhere else, including something called the Federal Hockey League and in France. 

Head Coach -- Jeff Jackson: Guelph hired Jackson away from the U.S. National Team in 2000. While he was initially successful, he ended up being fired midway through this particular season. He ssems to have done well for himself though: Wikipedia says he won two NCAA Championships as coach of Lake Superior State and he's currently the head coach at Notre Dame. He was also an assistant coach with the New York Islanders at some point. 

Assistant Coach -- Shawn Camp: When the Storm fired Jackson they replaced him with Camp. And it seemed to work, as he was the guy who wound up leading the team to the OHL title the next year. He later coached the Sarnia Sting for a couple of years. I think he's now the head hockey coach at the University of Guelph. 

Assistant Coach -- Jason Brooks: Nice ad in the background for the Guelph Mercury, the hometown newspaper. 

Head Athletic Therapist -- Shane Mabey: This being a minor-league set, even the trainer gets a card.

Assistant Trainer -- Russ Hammond: As does the assistant trainer.

Mascot -- Spyke: And, of course, so does the mascot. I don't think "Spyke" was a thing when I was a kid in Guelph.

Thanks to the fine folks who apparently printed these cards.

I guess the Storm sponsored a team for kids? 

The $21 million Guelph Sports and Entertainment Centre had just opened a year or two earlier. The Storm had previously played at the old Guelph Memorial Gardens, which is where I went to the games. Sleeman, a Guelph-based beer brewer, bought the naming rights in 2007 and it's now known as the Sleeman Centre.  

And the final entry in the 36-card checklist is a plug for the local police, who produced (or co-produced). Per the card back, you're looking at Officer Don, Officer Attila and "Pee Cee Herman," who were apparently something akin to the Guelph PD's school-outreach officers. I'm not going to lie: When I saw this card, that's what finally prompted me to buy the set. It's the perfect minor-league card.