Hockey History As Told By Cardboard - Dave Lewis

Another in a long line of career NHLers that went largely unnoticed while they played, Dave Lewis spent 16 seasons playing the sport he loved after being drafted by the Islanders in 1973.  He went on to finish his career with 36 goals and 224 points in over 1,000 games.  

But Dave is probably best known as the assistant coach to Scotty Bowman for the three Stanley Cups in '97, '98 and 2002.  After Bowman retired, he became the team's head coach, leading them to two 48 win seasons and a President's Trophy.  He went on to coach the Bruins and spent time as assistant coach of both the Kings and Hurricanes.

Dave posted a Game-Winning-Goal for the Islanders in a game versus the Los Angeles Kings on this date in 1977.  

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Hockey Hall Of Fame Autos - Sergei Fedorov

(I should probably put this in a better holder
without all the scratches.)

In my first feature of my Hockey Hall of Fame Auto showcase, I chose to show off the first HOFer that I can remember actually pulling from a pack of cards.  

I don't remember exactly when it was but I know it was sometime in the fall because I was wearing a sweatshirt and it was getting cold.  I had taken a trip to Target, for what I don't remember, but I would always peruse the card aisle, as it was very hearty back in 1998.  

One of the choices for purchase was 1998-99 Bowman's Best.  This wasn't your normal $1-2 pack of cards.  These were a super premium card printed on foilboard with all sorts of inserts driving the price up to a whopping $4.99/pack if I remember correctly.  In addition to all the inserts, 1:97 packs would have an autograph, so about one in every four boxes.  

As I was deep into my student teaching assignment prior to graduating college, I felt like I had things going for me. I also had a number of credit cards I got suckered into for the free frisbees, pizza, t-shirts, and BW3 wings (which at the time was still called Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck...hence the W3 part).  Why not? I was about to become the highest paid profession of all, a teacher.  So I'm pretty sure I loaded up with about 1/2 to 3/4 of the box. Why didn't I just buy the box?  Well it's a retail store.  There were packs missing already. All I know is, I bought all they had.  Good thing too because that was the first and only time I ever saw Bowman's Best Hockey in a store.

In one of the packs was this gem, as I opened all the packs while sitting in my 1988 Honda Accord.  Sergei Fedorov at the time was a star. He was coming off a season where he started with a hold out, signed an offer sheet to go to the Hurricanes, and then got PAID by Detroit because of the playoff bonus payout. Essentially, he was paid $28MM for 43 games.  But he was worth it and was pivotal to the multiple Detroit Stanley Cup wins.  

The card itself is pretty nice considering the era it came from. Let's face it, late 90s was still an "early" period for pack inserted autographs.  It is on-card, which is nice, and is well placed right in the cardboard "sweet spot".  It looks to be signed with a thin-tip blue marker. More impressive is how it stuck on the high-shine gloss of the card without smearing. Makes me think they must have prepped the card ahead of time before getting it signed.  I haven't seen many of these so I've always wondered how many of them actually exist since they aren't serial numbered.  As for value, well I'll leave that to the experts. 

Fedorov. Sergei Fedorov.

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Happy BirthEaster Day, Mr. Hockey!

Happy Easter to everyone reading (and not reading although you wouldn't know that I said that)!!

And what kind of hockey fan would I be if I didn't wish Mr. Hockey himself, Gordie Howe, a happy 85th birthday.

Howe came into the league in 1946 and quickly became one of the most dominant players in the history of the NHL.  Don't believe me?  The guy finished in the top five in scoring for 20 straight seasons.  20 straight seasons.  Yes, that's not a typo.  20 STRAIGHT SEASONS!  To put that in perspective, he was leading the NHL for a longer period of time than most of the rookies from the last three years have been alive.

Howe could play and he proved it night in and night out.  He was like the "ironman" of hockey.  Even a fractured skull couldn't keep him away from the game.  In 1960, he scored his 1,000th point in less than 1,000 games (938 to be exact) and was the first player ever to do so.  He was a 14 year veteran in the league at that point and it took eight years before someone else duplicated that feat (Jean Beliveau).  Three years later, he notched his 600th goal, again being the first player in NHL history to do so (Bobby Hull would do it too, seven years later.)

Despite retiring to join the Red Wings front office, his love of the game and the chance to play with his sons took him into the WHA to play for both the Houston Aeros and the New England Whalers.  His final season after the Whalers joined the NHL in 1979-80 was somewhat overshadowed by the emergence of Wayne Gretzky into the league but he still managed to put up 15 more goals to end his professional career with 975 (801 in the NHL) at the age of 50.

His final all-time stats rank him #1 in games played, #2 in goals, #3 in points, and #8 in assists. 

Happy Birthday, Mr. Hockey!  There will never be another like you.

Ice Time: Red Wings vs. Blues

Boredom is an interesting thing. It makes you do things that are totally out of the ordinary sometimes. I was just sitting here finishing up watching the Wings/Blues game. Normally I wouldn't have bothered but I love watching teams beat Detroit. It's one of my favorite things. I can't figure out why.

Some random thoughts on this game.

--Detroit loses in a shoot out. The shoot out is such a ridiculous way to settle a game. It is sure a helluva lotta fun to watch though.

--I had an argument with the Mrs. about how fights in hockey are a part of the game. She thinks it is simply testosterone infused rage typical of the male disposition. I promptly showed her some women's hockey fight videos as well as a few of the kids. That shut her up.

--TJ Oshie is only 23 years old and is one of the best actors I have ever seen. I think he drew at least three penalties in this game.

--Chris Mason looked awesome in this game compared to his hideous performance last night when he was pulled. What a bounce-back performance.

--I didn't realize how many insert cards from the last two years I have of St. Louis Blues players. I lost count of all the Brad Boyes cards. Weird.

--The last 3 minutes of overtime were crazy with at least a dozen odd man rushes into each others end.

--Bill Patrick made a Spice Girls reference in the post-game report. Why do these guys suck so bad? Can't they find a studio team that is at least half palatable? I would even take Barry Freakin' Melrose over these guys. That's saying a lot since I would rather see him choke on his own vomit rather than hear his voice.

--Paul Kariya scored his 11th of the season. I didn't even know Paul was still playing. Seriously! I thought he quietly retired and went away.

I'm bored. Wait. Didn't I say that already? I want to break some packs. I have that feeling again. What's open 24 hours and sells cards? Maybe I will just go to bed early.

(Well it's official. I have hit 20 followers. The great and powerful NightOwl becomes the 20th follower to my blog and I couldn't be happier. NightOwl is a great blogosphere veteran, a seasoned trader, and a great all around guy. He is also an awesome writer. Anyone who hasn't checked out his blog, needs to right now. But I doubt there is anyone that hasn't. Thanks for signing up NightOwl. I appreciate the acknowledgment.)