Monday, September 08, 2008

1977 Topps Hockey

Alright, time to finish what I started here with the third of three consecutive hockey card posts. This is the only pack of cards I've ever opened that was produced prior to 1980. 9 cards plus a glossy photo card in this pack...

#123 - Roland Eriksson - Minnesota North Stars - I think I used to play at this same rink as a teenager. Pathetic rink lighting, and is anyone watching this game?

#233 - Don Saleski - Philadelphia Flyers - The Flyers were the bad boys of the NHL in the 70s, and Don doesn't seem to be shying away from this little scrap with a New York Islander. I seem to remember reading somewhere that modern card companies aren't allowed to depict players fighting on cards, does anyone know if that's the case?

#192 - Ken Hodge - New York Rangers - Sweet old school Rangers jersey with matching pants and gloves.

#42 - Danny Gare - Buffalo Sabres

#156 - Glen Sharpley - Minnesota North Stars - Could it be that this photo was taken at the exact same game as the Roland Eriksson card that started this pack? Same opponent and same crappy lighting, I'm thinking so...

#16 of 22 - Jean Ratelle - Boston Bruins - These "glossy" cards were inserted one per pack and they're pretty slick. A little smaller than the regular cards and with rounded corners. I wouldn't mind collecting this subset. On another note, check out that Washington Capital's skate, that thing looks like a friggin' figure skate.

#77 - Detroit Red Wings Team Card - Probably my favorite card of the pack, last year's Stanley Cup Champions. I wish they still did team cards like this in modern hockey sets. Kind of cool to get card #77 from 1977 Topps too.

#224 - Dunc Wilson - Pittsburgh Penguins - Sweet, I was hoping to get a goalie card. Any card with the old brown pads is a winner in my book.

#122 - Buster Harvey - Detroit Red Wings

#159 - Michel Bergeron - Detroit Red Wings - Here's a miscut card that Ben Henry would be proud of! Not only is it miscut but it's totally crooked. The card is more the shape of a parallelogram than a rectangle. Well, that was a lot of fun but it's back to baseball after this one.

11 comments:

SJ said...

I think Topps only had photographers in New York and Washington in the 1970s.

Captain Canuck said...

Yes. The mid-70's are rampant with Washington Capitals in the backgrounds..

That was one sweeeet pack. Brought back a lot of memories...

dayf said...

Sweet, you got the Red Wings hot pack! When I saw the pack title I was really hoping to have an Atlanta Flames sighting, but I guess it wasn't meant to be...

Captain Canuck said...

dayf, check out www.calgaryflames.com for more info.
thanks.

Drew said...

As far as I know, there's no rule against showing fights on cards, but it is an unspoken thing that they aren't depicted.

Aside from your Saleski, check out the 70-71 Topps/OPC card of Phil Roberto and the back of the 90-91 Upper Deck card of Neil Wilkinson.

There are also a few showing players lacking gloves after a fight (94-95 Pinnacle Lyle Odelein is the main one I can think of) and a few minor league cards with fights, but they are certainly rare.

kevincrumbs said...

Wow, that wrapper is beautiful.

bailorg said...

Now that's cool pack wrapper art.

shoeboxlegends said...

scott and captain canuck, thanks for the information on Topps photographers, come to think of it my 70s hockey cards are indeed littered with Washington Capitals.

Drew, thanks for the tip on cards depicting fights or post-fight action. I'm going to dig out my 1990 Upper Deck binder to see that Wilkinson card...

MMayes said...

The thing that looks really neat here is all the guys without helmets. In the big scheme of things, I suppose it really wasn't that long ago that not even goalies wore masks (about 35 years). I know he wasn't the last but I remember Rod Langway of the Caps skating around bareheaded with all those other wimps with helmets.....

shoeboxlegends said...

Yeah, even when the helmet rule went into effect they grandfathered in some of the old timers. Aside from Rod Langway the great Guy Lafleur comes to mind.

Bruce said...

I remember reading in a Beckett from the early-90's that the NHLPA doesn't allow fighting on cards anymore. I don't know if you could say that Saleski is even fighting on that card. It looks like the players are just holding on to each other while they watch someone else go at it.