Well Thought Out Yet Completely Random Penguin Card of the Week

1971-72 Topps Syl Apps

Syl Apps Jr. played 10 years in the NHL, most of them with the Pittsburgh Penguins.  He was actually drafted by the Rangers back in 1964 but didn't play a single game until 1970.  That same season he was traded to the Penguins along with Sheldon Kannegiesser in exchange for Glen Sather.


Syl racked up 25 points in the final 31 games of the season for the Pens and more than doubled that the following year, scoring 59.  His third year with the Pens is where he became one of their first stars, going on to play on the famed "Century Line" along with Lowell MacDonald and Jean Pronovost.  The name is due to the scoring of 100 goals and 200 points for four years in a row.


In the 74-75 season, he was awarded with his first and only All Star Game appearance and didn't fail to live up to expectations.  He scored 2 goals and was named the game MVP.  Syl scored 79 points in 79 games that season.  He followed that up with a 99 point season in 75-76.

During the 1978 season, the Pens traded him for Dave Schultz and a draft pick to the Kings where he would finish his career with some solid seasons.

How is this for a hockey bloodline?  Syl Jr. is, of course, the son of legendary Hockey Hall of Famer Syl Apps.  He is also the father of former Princeton star Syl Apps III, who had a short career in the ECHL.  His daughter Gillian Apps won gold at the Torino Olympics in 1996 for Team Canada as well as this year in Vancouver.