Hockey Hall of Fame 2013 Inductees And Their Hobby Power

Now that most of the hype has died down regarding the new 2013 inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame, I wanted to throw in my 2-cents worth (it's probably less than that in Canadian).

This year, the Hall is taking four former players and one in the builder category.

Scott Niedermayer, Chris Chelios, and Brendan Shanahan will be joined by the third female hockey player to be inducted, Geraldine Heaney, and the great innovator and coach of the Flyers and Rangers, Fred Shero.  I will spare everyone the patronizing details of the guys that everyone knows about.  You can click the links on their names if you want to see their stats and accomplishments.  But no one can deny that all three deserve to be in there.

The two I wanted to give a little respect to were Heaney and Shero.  Heaney is not likely known by the casual hockey fan unless, of course, you pay attention to international play and the Olympics.  But again, her accomplishments on the ice are legendary in not only women's hockey but all of the hockey world.  Fred Shero had virtually been locked out by the Hall since his death in 1990.  In fact, modern hockey owes much of its structure and day to day operations to the innovations created by Fred.  He was a hockey thinker ahead of his time for sure.

Geraldine Heaney won gold with Team Canada SEVEN straight times at the Women's World Hockey Championship from 1990 on.  She is arguably the best women's offensive defensman and was awarded that honor in 1992 and 1994.  I'm sure everyone has seen her career highlight reel goal in the finals of the 1990 World Championships.  If you haven't, here is a link to check out.  It rivals any highlight reel goal from Gretzky, Lemieux, Jagr, Orr, Howe, you name it.

She also won a silver medal in 1998 at the Nagano Olympics and gold in Salt Lake City.  She finished her career in International play with 27 goals and 66 assists through 125 games for Team Canada.  She still holds the team records for defensemen in championship games played (35), points (36), goals (8), and assists (28).  After that, she went on to coach the University of Waterloo's women's team for six years and now coaches her daughters team.  

Fred Shero, or The Fog as he became known, coached the Flyers to back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in 1974 and 1975.  He also coached the Rangers to the finals in 1979, acting both as GM and coach.  The nickname apparently came from his demeanor with his players and other coaches and his "mysteriousness" as his son, Penguins GM Ray Shero, calls it.  Fred was a quiet guy and had few words for small talk.  He was all business and had one of the greatest coaching minds hockey has ever seen.  Shero is also famous for his inspiring speeches and quips.  Anyone that has ever seen the inspiring quote, "Win today and we walk together forever," can thank Mr. Shero.

Shero was an innovator.  He is one of the first coaches to implement the daily morning skate routines that almost every team in the NHL use today.  He was also one of the first coaches to implement the use of game film and "scouting" film of other teams and players, which seems commonplace in today's sports but was rarely, if ever used in hockey.  He hired the first full-time assistant coaches to help with both ice and player management as well as take some of the burden off the head coach.  But one of his biggest contributions to hockey, at least in my opinion, is his pioneering of international team scouting.  Shero would look at teams all over Europe, taking from them new ideas such as planned on-ice "plays", system design, and other coaching philosophies not yet seen in the US.

Shero had been snubbed for years by the Hall of Fame.  I can't really say why because you can't argue with his record.  Two Stanley Cups, Three Calders, the all-time coaching wins leader for the Flyers, and a Jack Adams award to go along with it.  Plus his contributions to the game of hockey as we know it are virtually endless.  But for some reason, the Hall has kept him out for so long.  The only thing I can think of is the perception people had of him during his coaching career and the style he implemented during his Championship seasons.  He is, after all, the big reason Philly was known as the Broad Street Bullies.  Regardless, he now takes his place in Toronto where he belongs.

Collectors can rejoice if they populate their PC's with any of these hockey greats as they will most certainly see some type of highlight cards or tribute cards in the near future.  Until then, I wanted to take a brief look at the hobby power of each of this years' inductees.  

Brendan Shanahan

3,084 Cards
4 Rookie Cards
1,488 Serial Numbered Cards
899 Memorabilia Cards
92 Autograph Cards
Total "Book" Value = $36,693.75

His first appearance on cardboard...1985-86 London Knights Team Issue #9

Chris Chelios

1,927 Cards
1 Rookie Card
661 Serial Numbered Cards
568 Memorabilia Cards

101 Autograph Cards
Total "Book" Value = $15,050.75

His first appearance on cardboard...1983-84 Canadiens Post Cards #6

Scott Niedermayer

1,652 Cards
4 Rookie Cards
758 Serial Numbered Cards
617 Memorabilia Cards
185 Autograph Cards
Total "Book" Value = $10,221.05

His first appearance on cardboard...1989-90 Kamloops Blazers Team Issue #18

Geraldine Heaney

5 Cards
1 Rookie Card
Total "Book" Value = $1.10

Her first appearance on cardboard...1994 Classic Women of Hockey #W19 

Fred Shero

20 Cards
2 Rookie Cards
5 Serial Numbered Cards
7 Autograph Cards
Total "Book" Value = $76.10

His first appearance on cardboard...#362 in the Beehive Group II Photos from 1944-63.

By the way, my favorite quote attributed to Fred Shero???

"When you have bacon and eggs for breakfast, the

chicken makes a contribution, the pig makes

a commitment."

Awesome indeed!


This is just for fun so don't be a hater.  The information comes from Beckett's Online Guide but is not an endorsement of any product or service they sell.  Many locally issued/team issued, or "oddball" cards of any of these players may not be listed.  Values are not official but put on as a reference to each players potential impact in the hobby.  I probably shouldn't have to say it but check your local hobby market or other online resources for real time trading/selling values. 

Goodwin Hockey Champions

Because there hasn't been another release yet this year for hockey...that is 2012-13, and mostly because I was bored, I decided to get a couple blasters of 2012 Goodwin Champions with a gift card that has been eating a hole in my wallet.

 
I'm a sucker for retro themed sets and this one is intermixed with all sorts of players from all the major sports, NASCAR, boxing, golf, Olympic competitors, wrestling, etc.  But I am mainly interested in the hockey players that are intermixed in here.  I have heard there are somewhere between 16-20 different hockey players mixed into the checklist from the 1-231.  There are also a whole host of parallel versions, mini versions, mini parallels, and of course the memorabilia and autos.  I will say this now, I didn't get any memorabilia or autos but I did get some interesting cards.

I got a total of 9 different hockey cards in the box.  First we have the Eric Lindros featuring a baby-faced Lindros from the 1991 Entry Draft where he was picked by the Quebec Nordiques in the infamous decision that they made, despite Lindros' adamant stand against playing in Quebec.  He held out that entire season and basically forced the Nords to dish him to the highest bidder...Philly.  The did end up with Forsberg in the deal and about $15 million, but in hindsight, this was the death knell for hockey in Quebec.   

I didn't find the actual picture this was from but I found a shot from the event.  

See, there he is now with that awesome tie of his.  

Since these are all paintings or caricatures of the players, some of them are a bit rough in comparison to their actual likeness.  Take Mr. Brett Hull here for example.  I'm sorry, but he just looks a little drunk to me in that picture.  On the other hand, there is an excellent painting of Brian Leetch in a suit with a lapel flower at a podium in front of the American Flag.  This was from his induction into the hockey hall of fame. 

   See...

And the Luc Robitaille lacing up his skates on the locker room bench is a very good artist rendering of the Hall of Famer.  That one is as "old school" as you get with the wooden bleacher benches with the vents underneath.  Old time hockey for sure.

The next grouping features some interesting subjects.  First, we have Jonathan Huberdeau, the third overall pick in the 2011 draft by the Florida Panthers.  He was named MVP of the 2011 Memorial Cup, leading his QMJHL team, Saint John, to the Championship.  He also led Team Canada to the Gold in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament back in 2010.  Huberdeau has yet to play a shift in the NHL but is surely going to make an impact on a Florida team with a lot of budding talent (I say that with much sarcasm). 

Next we have Captain Crunch himself, Mr. Wendel Clark.  He sports the ever-fashionable bloody eye in this photo.  I found the shot that this probably came from, although he is in a different pose in the painting.  All-in-all it is a pretty good wendering...get it, wendel, render. 

Nevermind.

The next card I had no idea who it was at first.  I actually thought it was Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite (without the mustache).  Then I thought, "Why would Uncle Rico be in this set as "Uncle Rico" instead of as himself, the actor Jon Gries?".  To which my response was, "Why would Jon Gries be in this set?".  And then I though, "And where is his mustache?".  It was then that I read the heading and saw it was Mike Bossy, the Islanders Hall of Famer.  Now it makes sense.  That guy has four Cups.  FOUR!

Not this guy.  Mike Bossy.

Finally, we have the NHL discipline czar, Brendan Shanahan.  I'm going out on a limb here to say this one was taken after winning the Stanley Cup with Detroit.  He has the sweater already torn off and his pads showing.  He is sporting the playoff goatee.  And he is saying that he is number one.  On second thought, maybe it is the Dictator.