Jimmy Howard: Another Generous Acquisition

I have to say one of the best things about blogging is the people behind it, hockey collectors especially. Since I've been doing this, I've found that this group can be a generous bunch at times too. This time I'd like to thank Michael over at Collecting for Kicks. If you haven't seen his blog yet, then what are you waiting for, go check it out.

Michael was kind enough to send this Howard base card from 2010-11 Between the Pipes my way along with a few other things (I'm saving them for later posts). 

I'm not a huge fan of the design for BTP this year, but for some reason I like the photo on this one. Jimmy doesn't have many cards where he is mask-less, so this one's kind of unique in a sense. Regardless, its another one to add to the collection and check off the want list. 

Thanks again Michael!

Thoughts: Found Myself a New LCS

Over the weekend I made a trip down to Toledo, Ohio and on the way home I needed to pass through the Ann Arbor area, where I just happened to know of a new card shop, well new to me at least, thanks to the wonderful world of the internet.

As far as I've know for the last few years, where I live, there is not a single card shop within a reasonable driving distance. There is one that's about 50 miles west of me and there's one that's about 40 miles east of me. This means any time I need to pick up supplies and stuff I find myself driving at least 45 minutes.

Well, it looks like I won't be making that long of a trek anymore. The new shop I found is Stadium Cards & Comics out of Ypsilanti, MI and it's about 20 miles from my place. Much better than 40 or 50, think of the money I would save on gas.

This time I was just looking to pick up some top loaders for some recent additions to my PC projects as well as a few one-touch holders. Other than that I just wanted to check out the store and get an idea of how much hockey stuff they carried. 

There was a decent amount, more than I expected actually. They had a lot of late 2000's sets for sale, lots of early 90's boxes for sale, a decent selection of singles, and of course the new stuff from Panini and Upper Deck. Pretty much all I could ask for.

If there's one thing I really like about this shop, its the fact that they are connected through social media with a Facebook page as well as a website. I think that's great, it gives customers a way to stay in touch with what's going on, something that pretty much every card shop I've gone to in the past is lacking.

One last thing, I'm curious, what kind of drives do you guys have to your LCS? I'm sure all of you north of the border have an easier time finding them, especially one's with plenty of hockey stuff, but correct me if I'm wrong.

My Picks # 72: Johan Hedberg

I just noticed this is going to be my 300th post on Card Boarded. I was kind of surprised that I even made it to 100 posts, let alone this far. That said, I'd just like to give a quick thanks to everyone that's stopped by over the last 22 months.

Now that I've got that out of the way, I love goalie masks, and that's why I've got back-to-back picks featuring closeups of these works of art. The best about these cards is they are simple base cards, not a set focusing on the masks themselves, so it's kind of neat that the manufacturer chose these closeups over the usual generic 'action' images.

This one comes from 2003-04 Topps and features Johan Hedberg of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Since this is one of my picks, lets look at the actual design of the card for a second too. This year, Topps went with a green border once again leaving plenty of room for great pictures like this one. I like the use of the gold foil as it provides a nice contrast with the border color.

Here are a few other incarnations of the Moose, beginning with the original of course:

Johan's got all kinds of different stuff here, everything from Indiana Jones to Spongebob Squarepants. My favorite is probably the Indy one, what about you guys? Are you fans of the Moose? And are you fans of goalies who carry a theme from one team to the next?

Goaltending Gallimaufry: Off to a Good Start

Gallimaufry [gal-uh-maw-free] - A hodgepodge; jumble; confused medley.

I think I'm going to keep the definition at the front of each post in this series, just to make it easier for anyone that has no idea what the hell I'm talking about when I say gallimaufry. Now that I've made this another project, I find myself wanting to search through all of my cards again, and who doesn't love looking back through everything they've accumulated?

Here's some of cards I found while searching through my many binders of base cards:

1999-00 Omega # 102 - Mike Vernon

Here you've got former Red Wing Mike Vernon pictured with the Florida Panthers. The card is from the 1999-00 season and obviously features an image from that same season, as evident by the commemorative patch worn across the league that year. 

As far as the reason for him having black/white/teal equipment in the picture, he had been traded from San Jose in December of 1999, so it makes sense that in just half a season Vernon would still be rocking his Sharks gear for some time with the Panthers. 

2000-01 Pacific # 188 - Mike Vernon

This next one, also featuring Vernon with Florida, again shows him during the 1999-00 season again as evident by the commemorative patch. This time it's a bit more of a mixed setup, as he's got a Panthers mask and blocker along with Sharks leg pads and catcher. That led me to believe the picture was taken at some point during the season after the last one. 

2000-01 Premier Plus # 92 - Mika Noronen

Time to switch gears a little bit and show off a bit of a lesser-know goaltender. Mika Noronen was drafted by the Sabres 21st overall back in 1997. He would make his debut with the Sabres on October 5, 2000 against Chicago. He would only go on to play two games during the 2000-01 NHL season, but did manage to play in a solid 47 games for Rochester of the AHL the same year. 

That brings me to the photo on this card. In it you see Mika has Sabres colors on his glove and blocker, but extremely contrary blue and white on his pads. I'm having trouble finding a picture to confirm, but I'm assuming these pads were from his time with Rochester, as their colors are red, white and blue.

2000-01 Stadium Club # 238 - Mika Noronen

This one is pretty much a carbon copy of the last one. It pictures Noronen with his Sabre color blocker and glove combo, along with the same blue and white Heaton leg pads. These would not have looked as bad if the Sabres were still in their blue and gold.

2001-02 Victory # 364 - Mika Noronen

This was the last of the Noronen cards I could find. As you can see, it shows him with the same mask, glove and blocker as the previous two cards. The only difference being the leg pads, if these ones don't scream Rochester Americans, then I don't know what would. The only thing I don't know is why he had two different sets of mismatched pads with the Sabres.

1997-98 Donruss # 200 - J-S Giguere

For some reason I tend to forget J-S Giguere actually started his NHL career in Hartford, albeit for just eight games in 1996-97. Prior to that, he spent three seasons with the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL, which is where this card comes into play. Obviously the Halifax colors of red, white and green do not match the Hartford colors.

1997-98 Donruss Canadian Ice # 146 - J-S Giguere

One thing you may notice that's different on this one from that last one is the fact that Giguere is actually wearing a Whalers themed mask, as evident by the Whalers logo on the chin. Other than that, the rest of his equipment is the exact same and is a complete mismatch with the uniform he's wearing.

2002-03 BAP First Edition # 414 - J-S Giguere

I think of the three Giguere cards I came across, this one is the most blatant mismatch, probably because the red pads stand out much better against the white Whalers jersey. This one also features the Halifax mask he has on the first card.

1999-00 MVP # 47 - Jocelyn Thibault

One thing I'll always remember about Jocelyn Thibault is the cool throwback mask he wore while with the Canadiens. Well, when he was traded to Chicago in November of 1998, that mask along with his other Habs equipment went with him, hence the mismatch on the card.

1998-99 MVP # 42 - Jocelyn Thibault

As you can see, this one is the same as the one before it and gives a better look at the overall mismatch, which is odd because you would think after a year Upper Deck would have gotten a picture of Thibault in Hawks gear for the 1999-00 card.

That's it for right now, mostly because I didn't want to write up more than ten of these things at a time. I've got a bunch more in the queue, probably close to 20, but for now the collection stands at ten.

Goaltending Gallimaufry Count: 10

My Picks # 71: Trevor Kidd

I think I've done one or two picks like this before, the reason I chose it again being a nice closeup of another goalie mask, of course. This one is from 1995-96 Score featuring Trevor Kidd of the Calgary Flames.

 

First, lets look at the mask. What goes better with the Flames than a fire breathing dragon on either side of the mask? Beyond that it's got his nickname "Kidder" on the chin written in a neat font. The white cage also works pretty well with this mask design.

Now let's look at the card itself. I remember getting a lot of these Score cards as a kid and I always liked the design for some reason. It's got a simple black and white outline that leaves plenty of room for the photo, always a good thing. I also like how they alternate the lower and upper case font on the team and player names.

Aside from some cool masks like this one, if there's one thing I will always remember Trevor Kidd for, it would have to be his checkered pads. Here's a look at what I'm talking about: 

It's probably not the best thing if the only reason I remember a goalie is his pads, but hey at least he's know for something, right? I always thought these were the coolest thing as a kid, as not a lot of goalies had this loud of a design on their pads. The best part is that he carried the design from Carolina to Florida to Toronto.

Captured on Cardboard #6: Dustin Byfuglien

It's been quite a while now since I've done one of these, but as I was perusing Shoebox Legends the other day, I noticed a Dustin Byfuglien card from 2009-10 Upper Deck. It stuck out to me because it features a shot of him during the Winter Classic from Wrigley Field, which with me being a Wings fan and all I watched every minute of.

I quickly dug through one of my monster boxes to make sure I had one before starting this post, and sure enough I did have it. Actually I had two as there was a dupe nearby.

At first glance, you see Byfuglien celebrating a Blackhawks goal in front of Ty Conklin. Other than that there isn't a lot going on in the picture on this card.

Now, as far as where the moment captured on the card takes place in the video, look closely around the 2:46 mark, just after Martin Havlat put the puck past Conklin. There are a few things that confirm this. First look at Byfuglien's arms and stick in the air. Second, look at the kneeling position Conklin is in. Third, look at the Verizon ad you can see on the card, which can be seen from the broadcast camera right behind the net.

Here's the video, it's a bit long, but any Wings fan will enjoy:

So there you have it, another moment "Captured on Cardboard." Pretty cool, eh?

Cardboard Creations: Last Line of Defense Part 3

One thing I'm learning about really quickly with this set, other than the history of Red Wings goaltending, is the fact that there are not a ton of usable pictures for a lot of these guys. Some only played a few games, others only one. Luckily, I've been able to continue using The Goalies Archive, but soon I'm going to run into some issues with a lot of the old timers.

Right now that doesn't matter, I'll figure out something when it comes time for all of the real old timers in this set. That said, I've got the next nine ready to go.

Once again, I would like to thank people for their suggestions for this growing set:

• bamlinden (Edwards)
• JGBlargh (Stefan and Maracle)
• Sal (Millen)

As far as modern goaltenders go, that was pretty much all I had to work with, so I just filled in the remaining five spots of this page with a few picks of my own. Take a look. 

As you can see, there's a nice mix of goalies here. I've got some from the 70's, 80's, 90's, and 00's. It's kind of funny that the first two are both righties named Greg. There's four of them all together, seems like there were a lot more right-handed catchers back in the day. I wonder if there's any reason for that...

Anyway, of this group, I was only able to watch Maracle, Wregget, and Lamothe. Maracle served as the third goaltender during the 1997-98 season and became Osgood's backup in 1998-99, after which he was claimed by Atalanta in the expansion draft, 2nd overall I might add. Wregget was signed as a free agent in 1999 and only spent one season with the Wings. Finally, Lamothe was the Wings fourth goaltender in 2003-04, but managed to make two appearances after Hasek and Joseph both went down with injuries. Man is it weird to think of those two as your goaltending duo, albeit for parts of one season, isn't it?

That's it for now. What do you guys think, should I keep this thing going? If so, I would like some more suggestions for the next set of nine, even if the choices are becoming more and more limited.

Project Status

Number of Former Wings Goalies Completed: 27
Number of Former Wings Goalies Remaining: 52

My Picks # 70: Kariya / Selanne

This pick is a card I remember pulling from a box of Topps I got for Christmas a while back, I believe its from the Combos insert set from 2000-01. I know I have some more cards from this set somewhere, but those are not nearly as cool as this one.

The first thing I notice about this card is the obnoxious green background on the bottom of it, followed by the semi-painted look of the picture. If there's one thing I don't like, it's that you can tell they just plopped these two images together on a neutral background.

As far as the naming of these 'combo' cards, this one is the best. To get an idea why, here are some of the others:

Hasek / Joseph = Creased Lightning
Roy / Brodeur = O' Canada
Lemieux / Jagr = Penguin Pride
Hull / Yzerman = 600 Club
Lecavalier / Thornton = Young Ones
Amonte / LeClair = Red, White and Blue
Bure / Bure = The Fabulous Bure Brothers
Modano / Forsberg = Men in the Middle

I don't see a lot of creativity or originality there, although the Bure one is kind of funny, I'll give them that. But seriously, how is 'Quack Attack' not light years beyond the others there?

On a side note, when I see 'quack attack' all I think of is the Disney Mighty Ducks movies. Those were awesome back when I was a kid in the 90's. If I had to choose, the second film would be my favorite, followed by the first and the third. Click here for a great article about the movies I happened to stumble upon. 

Finally, I thought I would show this Kariya/Selanne compilation I found on YouTube. Man these guys were good together, kind of reminds me of Datsyuk and Zetterberg.

 

This post brings me to a few questions for you guys. First, who is your favorite dynamic duo? Second, what are some of your favorite hockey movies, other than the Mighty Ducks?

Goaltending Gallimaufry: A Mini PC Project

Gallimaufry - A hodgepodge; jumble; confused medley. 

Now that's a word you don't associate with much of anything nowadays, let alone hockey cards. How many times have you seen pictures of goalies with mismatched equipment (i.e. orange pads with a red jersey, teal blocker/glove with a blue jersey, etc.)? I know I've seen quite a few and it always intrigues me, as there is just something neat about it.

That said, I've decided I want to start a mini-PC project focusing on cards that feature goalies in their mismatched equipment, as such cards tend to stand out to me right away. Here are a few examples of what I'm talking about:

One of the neat things about this project is going to be determining the reason why a given set of equipment is such a mismatch. For example, Osgood signed with the Islanders and just took a little while to change his color scheme, he was even rocking the red pants for a while. Then there's a case like Cujo, where I've heard he just wore the black pads out of spite for the organization with the goaltending carousel that year.

As far as examples of actual cards, I have a few I came across the other day, but no scans yet. I would say I've got at least ten or so waiting to be scanned and cataloged.

Since I've already got two set projects going, this is nice because it gives me something to do as far as other base cards. Now I find myself sorting through binder after binder and box after box looking for more of these things. 

Finally, I'm going to lay some ground rules for myself on this one: 

1. At least one piece of equipment must be a significant mismatch in the photo.
2. Things like throwback and all star jerseys clashing with equipment do not count.
3. Old school pads/gloves/blockers (the brown ones) obviously don't count. 
4. I want to keep this exclusive to base and very low-end inserts only.

That's all I can think of for now, should be an intersting project. What do you guys think?

Goaltending Gallimaufry Count: TBD

Cardboard Creations: Last Line of Defense Part II

This set is quickly becoming one of my favorites of what I've done so far, as it provides a good look into the history of the team I grew up loving and still do to this day. Last time around I asked you guys for some suggestions and now it's time for my end of the deal.

First, I'd like to thank the following people for their suggestions:

• Dirty Dangle (Vernon)
• Captain Canuck (Sauve, Low, and Rutherford)
• Sal (Chevrier and St. Laurent)
• Brad (Hodson)

I should mention there were a few others I wasn't able to get to as by the time I read them I already had a few designs completed (in this case the Essensa and Hanlon). So without further ado, here are the next nine cards in my 'Last Line of Defense' set:

Out of this group, the only two I was ever able to watch were Vernon and Hodson. Other than that, I just have a few cards of guys like Hanlon and Essensa in my collection. The rest are, well, just part of history to me.

So what do you guys think, how did this round turn out?

Project Status

Number of Former Wings Goalies Completed: 18
Number of Former Wings Goalies Remaining: 61

My Picks # 69: Steve Shields

This pick involves two of my favorite things about the game of hockey: jerseys and goalie masks. The card I'm referring to is a Steve Shields from 2003-04 Pacific, one of the best Pacific base set designs in my opinion. It's really too bad that they got out of the hockey card business, as they had some great stuff over the years.

As you can see in the scan above, this card depicts Shields during his time with the Boston Bruins. More importantly though, it shows him in one of my favorite mask designs of all time as well as one of my favorite third jerseys of all time. 

First, lets start with the goalie mask part of the equation. This card features probably the greatest tribute mask I've seen, so much so that I even did another 'My Picks' showcasing it on another card altogether. Check out that post by clicking here.

Here you can see a closeup of Shields "tribute" mask on the left and on the right you can see the actual mask worn by Gerry Cheevers during his time with the Bruins. 

I don't think Shield's mask could've been done any better. It's got a great level of detail to it, all the way down to the hair and ears painted on the sides of the mask. It's also a plus that he went with the white wire cage as any other color would have clashed too much with the white painted mask design.

Now, for the second part of the equation, the third jersey. This one is a bit on the older side, at least in terms of third jerseys, as it debuted back in 1995-96. For a better look, click here to head on over to Third String Goalie, where this picture is from. 

This one is definitely at the top of my replica jersey want list, right up there with the Islanders "Fisherman" jersey and the Kings "Burger King" jersey. I just love the color of it, especially the brown bear face on the front. Then there's the unique choppy-edge pattern on the bottom and on the arms. Somehow it all just works together.

So there's my take. What do you guys think of both the mask and the jersey? 

Cardboard Creations: 66-67 Parkhurst

When it comes to custom card designs, the easiest thing to do is take an existing design and either completely recreate it or use it as a starting point and change it up a bit. This edition of Cardboard Creations would be the latter. If you don't know, this set is based on the Parkhurst design from 1966-67. 

I wanted to do something a bit older than 1997 this time around so I figured I'd fire up the Delorean and go all the way back to the 60's. Not as far as my 54-55 Topps creations, but close enough. As usual, here's a closer look at the Howard I came up with. 

Here are some of the originals: 

 

At first glance these look pretty much like the originals, but if you take close look and compare the two, mine have a couple of differences. The biggest thing was layering the pictures behind the left-side team color borders, where the originals are on top. Other than that, I decided not to tint the background, leaving them a neutral grey color. 

Here's a look at the rest of them together: 

One thing you may notice is that I actually stuck with nothing but Original Six teams this time around. That just made sense for some reason, as you can never go wrong with any of these teams.

So what do you guys think, how do they look? 

By the way, I've taken some of you suggestions on my 'Last Line of Defense' set and worked up another set of nine cards, looks for those in the next few days.

My Picks # 68: Ray Ferraro

At first glance you may wonder why the heck I would choose this card as one of 'My Picks', but there's a good reason for it, I'll get to that in a minute. I looks like just another one of those cards with an awful off-ice shot that seemed to be a pretty common thing in the 90's.

It's a Ray Ferraro base card from 1994-95 Topps Stadium Club. This is one of the sets that were a key part of my collection as a kid. Back then all I could get were random grab bag boxes containing stuff from the mid 90's and I remember having a ton of these ones. 

While it's not the greatest design in the world, mainly because of the randomly placed rectangles of red, blue, and green, it could have been worse. I do like that there is plenty of room left for the picture, even though some of them weren't the best. That said, this one is kind of unique.

Similar to the Patrick Kane pre-rookie card, seen here over at MHCO, this card features a potential future NHL'er as a young kid. According to Wikipedia, Ferraro has two sons from his first marriage, Matt born in 1988 and Landon in 1991. That leads me to believe those are the two featured on this card with their father. If someone knows otherwise, please let me know. There's a chance this could just be Ferraro posing with two random kids, in which case I'll look like an idiot for doing this pick.

If you're thinking so what, it's a guy and his two kids, why is that significant? Well, if you follow the Red Wings at all (or the draft really closely for that matter) then you probably know what I'm getting at. Landon was drafted by the Red Deer Rebels in 2006 and then the Detroit Red Wings in 2009 (2nd round, 32nd overall).

Ferraro is still in the farm system at this point, looking to make the team in Grand Rapids for the upcoming season. Hopefully he can do that and soon be wearing the winged wheel on the ice, making for another father/son combo to have made it in the NHL. Red Wings Central projects Ferraro as a second line center, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Besides the Patrick Kane, do you know of any other cards that feature NHL'ers as kids?

Pack Break: 2011-12 Victory

It's been quite a while now since I've done any pack breaks, and for good reason, as I have no interest in adding unnecessary base cards to my collection, but sometimes I just can't help myself. I needed to break a ten and Target had packs of the new Victory for $0.99, so I figured why not check it out. Worst case I get nothing but crap and I'm out a dollar, best case I get a Howard black parallel. Hey, one can always hope, right?

Is there anyone out there not sick of seeing Crosby on wrappers? I really wish UD would use someone else for a change (maybe Stamkos, anyone really).

Anyway, here are the six cards I ended up with:

Hey, a goalie, not a bad place to start for someone who is a goalie collector. This card really make me want the Ducks to drop their pathetic word mark logo and just go with the webbed D on the front of their jerseys, sometimes I forget just how awful these jerseys are. 

Now this guy I really don't know much about other than he plays for the Islanders. I will say that I do like the direction they went with their jerseys lately, that is until the new black third they recently came up with.

What do you know, another guy I really don't know much about other than the team he plays for. What can I say, I've lost touch with everything other than the Red Wings in the last few years being busy graduating college and all. One of these days I'm going to get the Center Ice package so I can get back to watching as much hockey as I used to.

This may look like a Steven Stamkos base card, but it's not, it's actually a checklist. I would've never know had I not looked at the back of the card. I think if you're going to have a CL, you might as well make it somewhat different than the base cards, am I right?

Well, here's the one rookie or insert I was promised. I've never heard of Alex Stalock, but hey a rookie is a rookie. I actually like the Victory RC design this year, much more than last year for sure. It's different, yet kind of the same as the base cards, a perfect middle ground.

Here's the MVP card I got. This set is actually pretty sharp looking. I just wish they would go back to the old school 'MVP' logo from the early 2000's. Other than that this design is pretty simple, and I like that. I just wish there was  Howard card in the set for me to go after.

All in all not bad for just a dollar. Now, I try not to complain about things in the hobby all that much, but am I the only one who finds it completely ridiculous that the first 2011-12 product is out even before the last two from 2010-11 are released, let alone the fact that this set was out more than a month before the start of the season?

Cardboard Creations: Last Line of Defense

Lately my custom card sets have featured current goaltenders, mainly because I like to keep things consistent and it's a lot easier to find current photos these days. That said, this set is a bit different. It's called 'Last Line of Defense' which I know isn't all that original, but it works, and it will feature both past and present goaltenders.

Now, as you probably know I'm a Red Wings fan and I love goalies. Well, this set is all about those two things. After reading Michael's last goalie project post over at Collecting for Kicks, I thought it would be neat to do something similar with the Wings. Then I thought about it for a second, and that would pretty much be impossible, so I decided I wanted to just create my own cards, especially for some of the old timers.

This first one is an example of a guy whose RC would be pretty hard to come by, at least for me. As far as the design, I started with the vertical card template, added the circular cutout, and kind of just ran with it from there. The shield logo in the middle is something I happen to stumble upon and I thought it would look good and kind of go along with the whole last line of defense idea.

The background is just a generic fractal I found on Google. Beyond that I added the corner elements just to break up the background a little bit. You may also notice the font looks familiar, that's because it's the same one I used on my recent 'Frontmen' custom set.

The one thing I did want to do was add the years in which each goaltender played with the Wings. For some this will be just a year and others it will be two or three stints kind of like Terry Sawchuk or Dominik Hasek.

Obviously Detroit being an Original Six team means they have had a ton of goaltenders over the years. According to The Goalies Archive, the Red Wings have had 84 different goaltenders between 1932 and 2011. That's including the current group of Howard, McCollum, Conklin, and MacDonald though, so my set will probably consist of the 79 former goaltenders, everyone from Sawchuk to Osgood.

Here are the first nine of them together:

As you can see, I've got a variety of goaltending eras from Detroit's history represented here. I've got every decade since the 40's covered in this group. Since I'm only 22 though, I've only had the pleasure of seeing five of these guys actually play (Legace, Joseph, Hasek, Ranford, and Osgood). I know of the rest, I just never had the chance to see them play.

Now that I've got the design down, I'm working on the next group of nine. The hardest part is finding quality images for some of the older goaltenders, especially the ones that only played a handful of games for the Wings.

So what do you guys think? Any suggestions for goalies I should include in the next nine?