2008 Upper Deck Series 2 Hockey

2008-09 Upper Deck Series 2 hockey just hit the shelves this week. I picked up a few packs to get started on my set at the hobby shop I frequent, this is the best pack out of what I've opened so far. 8 cards per pack, nice simple design with Upper Deck's unmatched photography.

#379 - Sean Bergenheim - New York Islanders - This is a great example of why I love Upper Deck's hockey sets. I've never heard of Sean, he's a -14 this year for the New York Islanders, who are dead last in the NHL, yet it's maybe my favorite card in the whole pack. Sean's throwing a nice screen in front of Buffalo's Ryan Miller and judging by the faces in the crowd it's an intense moment in the game.

#267 - Dennis Wideman - Boston Bruins - I always appreciate pulling a Bruin. The B's dealt Brad Boyes to get this guy, a decision that some fans questioned at the time. Dennis has blossomed into a solid defenseman with a nice offensive touch though, and is a significant player for the 1st place Bruins, so I guess you can't argue with the results.

#437 - Sami Salo - Vancouver Canucks

#RM-JN - James Neal - Dallas Stars - Rookie Materials - This was actually a pretty decent pull. Jersey cards fall at 2 per box, and this is one of the better ones to end up with. James is having a great rookie season, he's already notched 28 points and is tied with Bobby Ryan of Anaheim for most goals for a rookie with 18.

#317 (Victory) - Dwight Helminen - Carolina Hurricanes - Ugh, Upper Deck started this annoying trend last year of inserting a Victory Series 2 card in each regular Upper Deck Series 2 pack. For those of you who don't collect hockey cards, Victory is like the Topps Opening Day of hockey cards. The stuff you can literally buy for $1 a pack. I'm not above Victory at all, I have tons of it in my hockey collection, but I don't want one of my 8 cards in BASE UPPER DECK to be a Victory card. I've opened exactly 8 packs of this stuff so far, but I've only got 7 packs worth of base Upper Deck cards to show for it thanks to this stupid idea. At least in this pack I got the relic so I still ended up with 8 true Upper Deck Series 2 cards.

#360 - Alex Tanguay - Montreal Canadiens - Alex has been hurt most of the year, so he's not getting shown here.

#314 - Stephane Robidas - Dallas Stars

#410 - Patrick Marleau - San Jose Sharks - Another great action shot. Patrick's getting rough up but he may have the last laugh. It's hard to tell but it looks like that shadow under the blade of his stick might be the puck.

#266 - Patrice Bergeron - Boston Bruins - Two Bruins and a relic of a high scoring rookie in the same pack, doesn't get much better than that. Interestingly enough, I think in every single pack that I've opened so far there's been one team that is represented on two or more cards. I think it's a collation thing as the cards are numbered based on team.

The same outstanding product as Series 1, with some different inserts. I'll definitely be completing this set.