COLLECTING BASICS

Most of my readers are elite hockey card collectors with thousands if not tens of thousands of hockey cards. Although, with every hobby you must start somewhere. I thought it would be appropriate to examine the basics of hockey card collecting for the sake of those wanting to dip into the world of hockey cards. I believe there are four areas that a "beginner" needs to cover before he can call himself a "seasoned" collector.

First are the legends. I'm NOT saying every collector must have an Orr rookie, but I am saying that a collector must have a healthy appreciation for the superstars of the 80's, 90's, and 00's. Of course before the 1980's is even more expectable, but I'm talking about the basics. To throw around some names would be...Lemieux, Yzerman, Jagr, Lidstrom, Selanne etc. These should be things that beginners strive for.

These are the guys you want in your beginning stack. Hasek, Pronger, Madano, Naslund etc. The great thing about these cards is they don't break the bank. These are all rookie card and all of them are worth around 50 cents. Even a Lidstrom "Young Guns" card is valued at a buck!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that a starter should have a healthy appreciation for the superstars of the game. What I'm not saying is to go out there and spend your life savings on a Gordie Howe original but an 2007-08 OPC insert of the guy wouldn't hurt.

Second on the list is a team set. Most hockey fans have one specific team they route for. If you are one of those guys, why not start a team set? Doesn't have to be anything special but, collecting basic superstars is not too much of a burden. Low end rookies won't kill you either. As long as you start a small 50 card stack you're in business.

Third, start a player collection. This is something I never did whole heartedly when I started and now I regret it. Starting a player collection over a set gives you variety and a flexible price range. I highly recommend it.

My last subjects ties in well with the first. He's a legend I'm sure all readers were irate I didn't mention at first. My final basic need for collectors is Mr. Wayne Gretzky. I believe all hockey card collectors should have at least one Gretzky in the collection. Again, I'm not saying to go and spend a grand on a Wayne Gretzky card but instead grab yourself an insert from one of the many Legend inserts in OPC or UD. 

A guy like this is worth 10 bucks and I'm sure a beginner would be happy with a 1981 OPC scoring leader card. 

So that is my "Collecting Basics". Again, they are:

1. Legends that won't put you out of business

2. Team collection

3. Player collection

4. The Great One

Now I ask you, what are your collecting basics? This is just my opinion and I'm sure you have your own. Do you agree with me? Let me know and drop me a comment. 

GO NUCKS GO!

THE GOALIE PROJECT - Mika Noronen (Part 2) + Troy Gamble (Part 1)

I forgot to include another Mika Noronen rookie I posses last Goalie Project, so I'll throw this one out right away.

So there it is, I wanted to get that out of the way. Now onto a goalie that seems to never go away when it comes to doubles, triples etc. Let me introduce to you, Mr. Troy Gamble. Instead of going through and picking out all my Gamble cards I decided to choose a few to show. I'm not a fan of scanning, especially tons of cards, so let's ignore that pet peeve and get right to the good stuff.

The rookie card is above, and it's worth a whole 10 cents at it's best. That's saying a lot about Troy Gamble. 

Here are a couple other cards where Troy is sporting his Canucks gear (excluding his rookie card) and wow you cannot beat that haircut. The good thing about Gamble is that the only NHL team he has ever played for is the Vancouver Canucks. So that is a clean 2/2 for Troy Gamble.

Here is where I'm at:

Alex Auld - 3/3 COMPLETE! 26 TOTAL
Murray Bannerman
Martin Brochu
Richard Brodeur - 1/3 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Gary Bromley
Bruce Bullock
Sean Burke
Frank Caprice
Jacques Caron
Dan Cloutier
Ed Dyck
Ken Ellacott
Bob Essensa
Mike Fountain
Troy Gamble - 2/2 COMPLETE! 21 TOTAL
George Gardner
John Garrett
Glen Hanlon
Johan Hedberg
Rick Heinz
Corey Hirsch
Charlie Hodge
Arturs Irbe
Jason LaBarbera - 2/3 COMPLETE! 4 TOTAL
Ken Lockett
Roberto Luongo - 3/3 COMPLETE! 37 TOTAL
Drew MacIntyre - 1/3 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Cesare Maniago
Bob Mason
Dave McClelland
Steve McKichan
Kirk McLean
Rob McVicar - 1/1 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Alfie Michaud
Tyler Moss
Mika Noronen - 2/3 COMPLETE! 5 TOTAL
Maxime Ouellet
Félix Potvin
Andrew Raycroft - 1/3 COMPLETE! 6 TOTAL
Curt Ridley
Dany Sabourin - 2/3 COMPLETE! 2 TOTAL
Curtis Sanford - 3/3 COMPLETE! 6 TOTAL
Cory Schneider - 1/2 COMPLETE! 7 TOTAL
Corey Schwab
Petr Skudra - 3/3 COMPLETE! 4 TOTAL
Gary Smith
Garth Snow
Kevin Weekes
Steve Weeks
Kay Whitmore
Dunc Wilson - 1/3 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Wendell Young

GO NUCKS GO!

ROUND 2 PREDICTIONS

After almost going to the hospital because of a heart attack after watching game 7 of the Blackhawks and Canucks game, I look forward at what lies ahead. I won't go into great detail about the game or series but all I can say is that I am relieved more than I am confident. The calls of the game winning goals went like this:

Jim Hughson: "They have finally slayed the dragon"
John Shorthouse: "It's a great day for an exorcism"
My call goes more like this: "The Canucks win by the hair on their chinny chin chins"

I'm no play-by-play announcer but that is the more accurate description of what happened in this series up to game 6. It was the Canucks game in game 7 but the Canucks didn't finish the Hawks off when they were up 1-0 and left it to Toews to push the game to OT. If it wasn't for that huge save by Luongo on Sharp, Burrows would have never had the opportunity to drill a rolling puck behind Crawford.

As for my actual predictions, well I screwed up on my second round originals so I have to redo them. I forgot how the play-offs work and that the first seed always plays last etc. in all rounds not just the first. Silly me!

Fortunately, my round 1 predictions are in tact. So I'm doing a recap/predictions like Sal did over at Puck Junk. Let's see how I did:

Washington v New York Rangers

Prediction: Caps in 6

Real Life: Caps in 4

1 for 1

Philadelphia v Buffalo

Prediction: Philly in 7

Real Life: Philly in 7

2 for 2

Boston v Montreal

Prediction : Bruins in 6

Real Life: Bruins in 7

3 for 3

Tampa Bay v Pittsburgh

Prediction: Tampa in 7

Real Life: Tampa in 7

4 for 4

Vancouver v Chicago 

Prediction: Canucks in 6

Real Life: Canucks in 7

5 for 5

San Jose v Los Angeles

Prediction: Sharks in 5

Real Life: Sharks in 6

6 for 6

Detroit v Phoenix

Prediction: Detroit in 6

Real Life: Detroit in 4

7 for 7

Anaheim v Nashville

Prediction: Anaheim in 7

Real Life: Nashville in 6

7 for 8

HOLY SH*T! I almost went 8 for 8! Sweeet! I also got 2 out of the 8 dead on (that means including the correct number of games.) Don't believe me? Check the LINK. Too bad my second round predictions are all screwed up, so I'm doing it again. 

Vancouver v Nashville

Prediction: Nucks in 5

San Jose v Red Wings

Prediction: Wings in 7

Washington v Tampa Bay

Prediction: Caps in 6

Philly v Boston

Prediction: Philly in 7

GO NUCKS GO!

THE GOALIE PROJECT - Peter Skudra + Jason LaBarbera (Part 1)

A couple more of these small impact Canucks goalies to go through before we get to guys like McLean and Brodeur. For now, we got goalie Peter Skudra to start with and for once I don't have to do a whole hell of a lot of searching to complete all three requirements.

Here are the two Skudra cards in Canucks gear. The bottom card is a BTP card which I will talk about a little later.

Next is a Skudra card in another teams jersey, in this particular instance he is in his Bruins jersey. Looks like he sported the all white pads back then too.

Finally we have the cream of the crop...the cherished Rookie Card. Yet again Skudra has his white pads on, not my favorite but to each his own.

So that was easy. A simple, clean 3 of 3 to get off my chest.

All three cards fall under the second requirement of a goalie in another NHL teams jersey other than the Canucks. It might be hard to find a LaBarbera card in a Nucks jersey.

Here is Barbies rookie card in NY. I THOUGHT he also had one of my favorite NY Rangers masks of all time too. But it wasn't him it was Valiquette who sported the good old Spidey mask.

That might make a good "Rate My Mask" card (nudge nudge). 

So LaBarbera has yet to be completed, he still needs a card in a Nucks jersey. Here's where I stand after this post.

Alex Auld - 3/3 COMPLETE! 26 TOTAL
Murray Bannerman
Martin Brochu
Richard Brodeur - 1/3 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Gary Bromley
Bruce Bullock
Sean Burke
Frank Caprice
Jacques Caron
Dan Cloutier
Ed Dyck
Ken Ellacott
Bob Essensa
Mike Fountain
Troy Gamble
George Gardner
John Garrett
Glen Hanlon
Johan Hedberg
Rick Heinz
Corey Hirsch
Charlie Hodge
Arturs Irbe
Jason LaBarbera - 2/3 COMPLETE! 4 TOTAL
Ken Lockett
Roberto Luongo - 3/3 COMPLETE! 37 TOTAL
Drew MacIntyre - 1/3 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Cesare Maniago
Bob Mason
Dave McClelland
Steve McKichan
Kirk McLean
Rob McVicar - 1/1 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Alfie Michaud
Tyler Moss
Mika Noronen - 2/3 COMPLETE! 4 TOTAL
Maxime Ouellet
Félix Potvin
Andrew Raycroft - 1/3 COMPLETE! 6 TOTAL
Curt Ridley
Dany Sabourin - 2/3 COMPLETE! 2 TOTAL
Curtis Sanford - 3/3 COMPLETE! 6 TOTAL
Cory Schneider - 1/2 COMPLETE! 7 TOTAL
Corey Schwab
Petr Skudra - 3/3 COMPLETE! 4 TOTAL
Gary Smith
Garth Snow
Kevin Weekes
Steve Weeks
Kay Whitmore
Dunc Wilson - 1/3 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Wendell Young

In other news, I just purchased a box of 2010-11 BTP online so that should get me busy next week or two. It's unfortunate that my LCS doesn't carry that product as it is easily my most anticipated this year. This will also be the highest end box I will break this season (and that's saying something about my Hockey Card budget). 

Secondly, after only two responses to my contest teaser I'm still up in the air about it. If I hear more from you guys I'll give it a shot. I want at least 8 entries to make this a little interesting. 

Lastly, Canucks play game 6 against Chicago tonight. Hey, maybe we will only lose by 4 tonight. One can only hope! Just kidding, most know that I'm a die hard Canucks fan and through thick or thin I'm always with the boys so...

GO NUCKS GO!

THAT WAS EMBARASSING

I had blueline seats to see the Canucks waste away their second chance to send the Hawks to the golf course. Honestly, I'm shocked, disappointed, embarassed, and ashamed from what my Canucks decided to do tonight. Were we uninspired? Were we tired? Were we psychologically defeated? I dunno at this point. I thought a 7-2 ass whipping Tuesday night might be enough to inspire a hefty game 5, but I guess not!

Only thing I can say is that I hope my original prediction of Canucks in 6 pulls through. Maybe I got too excited for a sweep, maybe we all did. Luongo needs to come out on fire game 6, something that Luongo has not been able to do games 3,4,5.

There are only 2 good things I got from this game. First, Hodgson played his best game in NHL. Second, I got two more towels for my Canucks towel collection. I love Vince Vaughn, but I want to see him cry on Sunday.

KEEP BELIEVING
GO NUCKS GO!

SWEEEEEEP + CONTEST TEASER!!

Who would have thunk it? The Vancouver Canucks have now won all 3 games of the series and are one away from sweeping the defending Stanley Cup champs. The Canucks have outscored the Hawks 9-5 and Luongo has a GAA of 1.67. I believe Crawford is too weak of a goaltender to give the Hawks that extra push they need. I really thought Scott would make a difference in game 3, but instead he was stuck in the box watching the Canucks score at his expense. Hopefully the Canucks can pull through tonight and get there third play-off sweep of all time!

On another note, my 100th post is only 27 away! That's very exciting for me, and hopefully for my readers too. To say thank you for all the support my followers and others have been giving me, I'm doing a contest! I've thought about this contest for a long time and I've finally narrowed it down to what I think is a very unique contest. It includes designing your own goalie mask! I haven't seen anybody do this around the hockey card community and I think everybody would have tons of fun with it! I'll throw out all the details when my 100th post rolls around, but for now consider this a teaser. 

I wanna know what you think. Is the contest too time consuming? How long would I give you to create your mask design? Should I incorporate old style mask templates also? How should I judge the masks? Would you participate in this contest?

My goal is to have at least my 16 followers get in on this and hopefully with your support even more! Like I said, drop me a comment and tell me some ideas to make this contest as best for you as I can!

GO NUCKS GO!

THE GOALIE PROJECT - Mika Noronen + Dany Sabourin (Part 1)

It's been a while since I've posted any actual hockey cards. It's been all play-offs for me in the past few days. I watched too many hockey games to remember over the past 3 days. So far my Canuckers are doing just fine, up on Chicago 2-0 in the series. As long as we split the away games we will be in great condition. One of the only frightening sights for the Canucks were the couple of soft goals Luongo gave up. I really hope that doesn't get in his head.

Anyhoo, like the title shows we got some Goalie Project cards to cross off the list. Starting with Mika Noronen:

This is a triple of this particular card. Mika's time in Vancouver did not last very long, in fact he only lasted 4 games. After Noronen's stint in Vancouver in 2005-06 he jumped to the KHL, the SEL, and then the SM-liiga. 

Noronen's Rookie Card is from 2000-01 when he was in Buffalo. 

Above is one of my favorite Canuck back-ups of all time. When Luongo had a "technical difficulty" in the 2007 play-offs against the Ducks in what was the Canucks final game of the play-offs. Sabourin had to go in as an emergency back-up for the first 5 minutes of the second overtime. He survived what was an insurmountable attack by the eventual cup winners. Later it was implied that Luongo's difficultly was...well...he had to go number 2 (if you're picking up what I'm laying down). Anyways, I couldn't find the video on YouTube but it was one of the greatest moments by any Canucks back-up. Also one of the most embarassing moments for any Canucks goalie (nudge, nudge Luongo).

Now this is a fantastic card! I got this card in a package that Brett sent over my way, and I love the design and layout of the cards. Sabourin's rookie card is numbered out of /1750. I'm not sure if you can see or not because of the scan, but it's on the bottom right corner of Sabourin's picture.

So after these 4 cards I still need one more card to complete these two keepers. I have:

1) a rookie card

2) a card in a Canucks jersey

I need:

3) a card in another teams jersey (excluding the rookie cards)

Here's where I'm at:
Alex Auld - 3/3 COMPLETE! 26 TOTAL
Murray Bannerman
Martin Brochu
Richard Brodeur - 1/3 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Gary Bromley
Bruce Bullock
Sean Burke
Frank Caprice
Jacques Caron
Dan Cloutier
Ed Dyck
Ken Ellacott
Bob Essensa
Mike Fountain
Troy Gamble
George Gardner
John Garrett
Glen Hanlon
Johan Hedberg
Rick Heinz
Corey Hirsch
Charlie Hodge
Arturs Irbe
Jason LaBarbera
Ken Lockett
Roberto Luongo - 3/3 COMPLETE! 37 TOTAL
Drew MacIntyre - 1/3 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Cesare Maniago
Bob Mason
Dave McClelland
Steve McKichan
Kirk McLean
Rob McVicar - 1/1 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Alfie Michaud
Tyler Moss
Mika Noronen - 2/3 COMPLETE! 4 TOTAL
Maxime Ouellet
Félix Potvin
Andrew Raycroft - 1/3 COMPLETE! 6 TOTAL
Curt Ridley
Dany Sabourin - 2/3 COMPLETE! 2 TOTAL
Curtis Sanford - 3/3 COMPLETE! 6 TOTAL
Cory Schneider - 1/2 COMPLETE! 7 TOTAL!
Corey Schwab
Petr Skudra
Gary Smith
Garth Snow
Kevin Weekes
Steve Weeks
Kay Whitmore
Dunc Wilson - 1/3 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Wendell Young

GO NUCKS GO!