Back Stories: Woolley Bully

"Jason came over from Florida to join Pittsburgh during the 1996-97 season, his sixth year in the league. He was originally selected by Washington in the third round of the 1989 NHL entry draft. Woolley won a silver medal with Canada at the 1992 Olympics."

Jason was on that rag-tag expansion "Rat" Panthers team that eliminated the Penguins from the playoffs just one year earlier before getting traded to Pittsburgh. The Penguins also received Stu Barnes in the deal, sending Chris Wells to Florida in exchange. 

He was on the 1992 Team Canada squad at the Olympics as the card notes. At 20 years old, he left Michigan State after his junior year, making the Olympic roster after four months of tryouts. What the card fails to mention is that he has the distinction of being the first Canadian to score in an Olympic shootout. 

Oh, and you remember the "skate in the crease" goal by Brett Hull in the Buffalo/Dallas Stanley Cup? He had a front row seat to that. After only 57 games for Pittsburgh, he was traded to Buffalo for a 1998 5th round pick (which turned out to be Rob Scuderi).

This #mailday card comes from the 1997-98 Pacific Crown Collection set. This one is the "ice blue" parallel version of the base card. The card is number #279 in the set. Fun fact about this set, card #66 is missing and wasn't printed. Coincidentally (or the complete opposite), Mario Lemieux doesn't appear on the set checklist. On April 5, 1997, he announced his retirement due to the lingering health problems he faced. In 2001-02, Pacific would later rectify the missing card by including it in their flagship release.  

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Today in Penguins History (10/11/1984)

1985-86 Topps Mario Lemieux RC

On this date in 1984, Mario Lemieux, future HOFer, future team owner, and overall savior of hockey in Pittsburgh (not once, but twice), scored his first goal...on his first shift on the ice in a Pens sweater...on his first shot.

Today In Pittsburgh Penguins History: 3/19/88

On this day in 1988, the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 7-0 at home.  Beating the Flyers was not as big of a deal other than the fact that seven DIFFERENT players scored the goals. That's right. SEVEN players.  Total individual stat line has over 20 points.

Today In Penguins History (9/1/99)

Today in Penguins history marks the 20th anniversary of one of the most pivotal moments in franchise history.  On September 1, 1999, the NHL approved Mario Lemieux as the new owner of the team, making him the first ex-player in the modern era to own his former team, in any sport.

As a huge step to keeping the team in Pittsburgh, the NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously to allow Mario and his ownership group the opportunity to own and operate the team.  Because the Penguins organization had filed for bankruptcy protection in 1998, the NHL approval marked a key moment in convincing the courts to allow a subsequent sale to go through.  Many hurdles had to be overcome in order to get this deal done including renegotiating lease agreements on the Civic Arena, fighting off creditors, working out sponsorships, and even finalizing a new TV agreement.

Mario worked night and day leading up to the meeting with the Board so that no questions would be left unanswered as to the viability of the franchise going forward.  In all, his ownership group paid $52M.  Lemieux agreed to convert his previously defaulted contract of $26M into a future interest in ownership of $20M, erased the remaining $6M in back pay, invested another $5M of his own money, and agreed to a salary of $750,000 to serve as chairman, president, and CEO.  Mario wanted this team to stay in Pittsburgh and the city owes him a debt of gratitude.  While there were quite a few rough seasons in his first 10 years of ownership, three Stanley Cups later, the Penguins continue to remain one of the most successful franchises in the NHL.

Today In Penguins History (8/29/1994)

1995-96 Leaf Freeze Frame

On this day in 1994, Captain Mario Lemieux announced to the world that he would be taking a one year leave of absence.  This occurred in the wake of his treatments after back surgery (not to mention his previous battle with cancer) had sidelined him the year before.  The treatments he was receiving had left him fatigued and unable to start training camp that was right around the corner.  Instead of risking another injury or something far worse, Lemieux decided to take the year off to recover from both the cancer and back problems.

That year was well spent getting fresh.  Lemieux went on the following season to win his third Hart Trophy and won the scoring title with 161 points.  Ironically enough, two days later Commissioner Gary Bettman would announce that the start of the 1994-95 season was going to be delayed due to the failure to agree to a new collective bargaining agreement with the NHLPA.  The season was shortened from 84 to 48 games.

Super Mario Brothers

No, not those mustachio'd fellows created by Nintendo.

These that I'm about to show.

I gave myself a Christmas present during the Black Friday card sales last year.  Most of the boxes I picked up were opened.  But there were three or four that I left in the shipping box.  Why?  I don't really know.  I think I was going to save them for some reason or another.  But after opening the one box of 2011-12 Parkhurst Champions and pulling this guy...the itch to open the other box I picked up has been strong.  Surely I wouldn't be lucky enough to get two Tier A autographs in back-to-back boxes, would I?

Well the urge finally overwhelmed me the other night and I had no choice but to tear the cellophane and dive in.  I will preface the rest by saying that I did not, in fact, find any other Tier A autos.  Let's get that out of the way first.  But I did get something special.

Let me start by showing the family of Mario cards that came out of this box.  I was intrigued when I realized all of these were in the same box.

2011-12 Parkhurst Champions Mario Lemieux base card (w/ horrible scan job)

2011-12 Parkhurst Champions Mario Lemieux B&W Renditions SP (w/ nice scan job)

2011-12 Parkhurst Champions Mario Lemieux Wire Photo (w/ eh, scan job)

 2011-12 Parkhurst Champions Mario Lemieux Mini SP (w/ beautiful scan job)

Oh, and I can't forget...the whole reason I made this post in the first place was to show off the other Mario that was in this box.  

Any guesses?

No?

Well if you said it was a card that has the odds of falling about 1:2,560 packs, you guessed correctly.

Nestled away in one of the last packs was this beauty...

 2011-12 Parkhurst Champions Mario Lemieux Mini SP Parkhurst Back Variation 

(w/ crappy scan job on the back)

Now, I'm not one to brag but...who am I kidding?  Yes I am.

Things I've learned:

A) Never count out any box because of the perceived impossibility (improbability) of odds.

B) My scanner generally sucks and I hate it but I'm not keen on replacing it at the moment.

C) I now want more boxes of these.  I'm sick.

I don't really know what to do with all the duplicate base cards but I'm sure I can figure something out.  NO, you can't have this card.  But, does anyone need cards for this set?  Would anyone like an most of, if not an entire base set?  Let me know.

Sometimes I Like My Collection

2010-11 In The Game Enshrined Autograph Mario Lemieux Silver /49

Sometimes I Like My Collection

2005-06 SPx Winning Combos Gold Mario Lemieux/Jaromir Jagr #/99

Stuff...Both Random And PC Related

I've been hard pressed for time and hard pressed for ideas as of late.  With the NHL season winding down and the 2nd season getting ready to start, the NFL draft the last couple days, and both my kids playing baseball this year, I'm more interested in watching the sports rather than blogging about them.

But I'll throw a bone to my readers just to let them know I'm still alive. 

The following are some newer additions to the old collection.  There are a few PC cards in there, a couple intentional and one by accident.  Enjoy the digital cardboard for your eyes.

First, I am unofficially collecting the 2012-13 Panini Classics Signatures autos as I have already mentioned here and in my original box break post.  Here are a few more I have received from successful bidding.

Here we have Cliff Ronning, who played the better part of six seasons with Vancouver in his 18 year career and Rod Langway, one of the last "grandfathered" players to play without a helmet.  Langway definitely doesn't get the credit he deserves as he played on some pretty awful Capitals teams.  But he did get a Cup while with Montreal in 1979.   

I also picked up this nifty Jethro auto.  Both Gillies and Langway were enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002.  Ronning isn't but with over 300 goals, over 800 points, he might very well get the nod someday.


I picked up this nice Bill Guerin.  I already had this OPC Retro Parallel but this one is the "Blank Back" version.  These are hard to find so I figured I better strike while the iron was hot.

Here is the front and the back of the card.  Although, I don't know why I'm showing the back.  That blank cardboard could be anything.  I could be lying to all of you.  I'm not, but I could be.  At any rate, I can cross off another elusive Guerin card from my list.

I'll be featuring this over on my autograph project blog too but I figured I would give it a shout out now.  This is a 2002-03 Upper Deck Trilogy Script Autograph of Brooks Orpik.  The long-time defensive mainstay for the Penguins was a scratch in tonight's romping of the Hurricanes but will be firing on all cylinders for the playoffs...I hope.  This was/is the first auto I have of Mr. Orpik.  He has kind of a lazy signature but it is still recognizable somewhat.

This card has no real bearing on anything for my collections.  I don't collect Fuhr.  I'm not a Blues fan.  I'm not even a goalie hoarder.  I found this card in a box of football cards that were in The Garage (which has subsequently become The Storage Locker).  I found it interesting because I have some of these and they only have a small "chip" down on the bottom where the Champion Salute ring is.  This one was different though.  The "chip" is much bigger, sticks up much higher, and basically makes this card not fit in a normal top loader.  Turns out...It's a PROMO.  I'm going to guess these were giveaways at various shows and events by Pinnacle back in the late 90s.  Either that or they were given to dealers as samples.  Regardless, I thought it was interesting so I figured I would share.

This scan isn't very good but you can at least see what it is.  This is another in a long line of 1/1 Tangradi Printing Plates I have been pursuing.  This is my 9th printing plate from The Cup set.  This happens to be the Black plate from the SPA set from that year.  I have the magenta already.  In fact, of all of my plates, I have 2 magenta, 2 cyan, and 5 black.  Not a single yellow to be found yet.  I'll keep looking.  If you want to check out all of them together, you can go to my main web site and my Wall of Tangradi.


So after winning an auction online, waiting a couple weeks for Canadian snail mail, and opening my package, I was pleased to find a bonus pack of 2011 National Hockey Card Day cards.  They were, of course, the Canadian version, of which I have none (except maybe the Crosby).  Lets see what was in there...

We have a "Rookies" card of Jordan Eberle, which wasn't such a bad thing.  I don't know if it can really be considered a real "rookie" per se since this wasn't a major release.  I don't mind though.  We also pulled a "Heroes" subset card of Wayne Gretzky.  Not a bad looking shot of Wayne here.  I don't know why he is staring over there at the side panel of the blog.  Maybe he wants you to go click on some other blogs to read?

There were also these two "Pride" cards of Roberto Luongo and Jason Spezza.  I don't know how these slipped my radar because I really like the design pattern Upper Deck used.

And finally, the accidental PC card that I mentioned...

I don't know about any of you, but Mario looks tired on this picture.  Must be a combination of the cancer and the back issues.  Right now, he's looking at the giant Diet Mt. Dew can on my desk.  I know you want a drink of this Mario.  But you can't.  This is mine. 

New Mario's For The PC

I picked up some Mario Lemieux cards at the last Sun Times show in Chicago.  I think I may have already had a bunch of them.  In fact, I'm almost sure of it but I don't care.  You can't have too many Mario's. 

I don't really have much else to say other than enjoy the scans.

This is just a parallel version of the one above.  It's known as "full length".

Trade Post

I got an email a while back from a reader that was interested doing a trade so I obliged.  Why wouldn't I?  This is what the hobby is all about.  Since I haven't done a trade post in quite a while, I figured now was as good a time as any to chalk one up on the board.  So if you are one of the many that hates Trade Posts...change the channel now. 

My new friend Shane offered up some trade fodder that included some Penguins as well as some set need love.  We are always in need of some set building love.  All he asked in return was some reciprocation on the set needs.  Let's do it.

First there were two 2012-13 OPC Retro Penguins.  We have Zbynek Michalek and Pascal Dupuis.  Matt Niskanen was offered up too but I already had one and I'm not greedy.  These put me two steps closer to the team set of retros.  

Next in the mix was another Zbynek Michalek.  This time it was a Pinnacle Rink Collection parallel from last years collection.  The Nufex material doesn't scan very well but this doesn't look too bad.  I thought I had this one too but after I shuffled through a box or two of Pens cards, I realized I must have been mistaken.

Next up was this awesome Crosby Rainbow card from this years OPC set.  I pulled a Crosby shiny a few years ago but now I don't have to for this years set.  I thought about putting together at least the Rainbow foil set of just the Pittsburgh players but I haven't decided for sure yet.  It is tough to track all these down sometimes.

There were also cards for some sets as I had mentioned.  Shane threw in 9 O-Pee-Chee cards from this years set.  He also tossed in 9 2009-10 Artifacts cards that I needed for my base set.  That was pretty much all we had discussed.  He had a couple others in there which I took a pass on and when all was said and done, I sent him 80 or so "commons" from the base 12/13 OPC set.  Based on that, it seemed fair to me. 

But then....

THERE WAS THIS BEAUTY!!!!

For those not familiar, this is a Marquee Legend Gold Variation Mario Lemieux #G6.  These are available one in every retail Hanger/Box Pack.  The traditional Rack Packs don't have these.  But there is a special box, quite similar to the Topps Baseball/Football Hanger boxes, that contain a cello wrapped pack of cards. Those yield these little beauties!  There are 10 cards in the set and they include the likes of Bobby Orr, Bobby Hull, Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic, Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky, Jean Beliveau, Eric Lindros, and Brett Hull.

All I know is, this isn't just some run of the mill parallel card.  Not to me it isn't.  Now I feel like the trade suddenly tipped in my favor.  Since I know Shane is a big Patrick Roy fan, I will have to have something sent his way to even this thing up in the near future.

Thanks a bunch, Shane!!!

Some new PC love

I posted about my EPIC Pirate card the other day that I just added to my PC.  But that isn't the only thing I have been adding.  I have increased all four of my player PCs and Team PCs by about 100 cards (total not each) or so over the last few weeks.  Here are just a few to show some PC love...

The new CORNERSTONE of my Bill Guerin collection is this Be A Player Autograph of Bill Guerin.  As you can all see, Billy G is sporting his holiday best in his NHLPA Bauer sweater and matching Santa hat.  While not the most scare of his autos and certianly not the most valuable, I have wanted this card since I started collecting Guerin.  Why?  Just look at it.  It's freakin' cool!  Billy G is still young (I think this was still with the Devils), he looks goofy (possibly drunk), and he's wearing a Santa hat.  Did I mention he is wearing a Santa hat?

I have been sort of "hawking" many of the young stars in the Penguins system as of late.  I am not sure why since I started my Eric Tangradi collection about a year ago and he has still to crack the lineup on a permanent basis.  Brian Strait here as well as Joe Vitale saw a lot of ice time last season, especially Vitale.  These guys are pieces to the puzzle for the future development of the team.  We will see how well they fare this season (IF THERE IS A SEASON!! DAMNIT!!). 

I also found this nifty dual auto Simon Despres and Joe Vitale Titanium card you see here below.  These are numbered out of 50 and are sticker autos.  Unfortunately for me, the Despres was signed off the sticker so his signature is kind of cut up.

I picked up another Billy G auto as well.  This is another Be A Player auto from the Millenium Signature Series.  This is a Gold Parallel version of the auto, or at least I thought it was until I realized that all the autos in this set are gold.  Boy did I feel stupid.  Either way though, it is a nice card with a nice graph.

Here are a couple of James Neal cards.  I haven't officially made him a part of my PC yet but I have been considering it.  What irks me is that ever since they did the James Neal NHL:36 special, the fact that he has exploded production-wise on the line with Malkin and Kunitz, and the fact he is in a bunch of product from 2008 on up, his cards are selling way higher than they should.  Lot's of bandwagonners out there I guess. 

The one on the right is from the 08-09 Ovation set.  It looks kind of like Artifacts too which is strange.  I don't recall if I had any of these but looking back, it's probably because they were issued 50 cards per tin and sold in retail stores.  The one of the left is another Yellow Parallel from 2009-10 Champs.  Only, look close above the crossed sticks.  See those?  Those are Kudo Antelopes.  They look like deer with curly horns.  This is the Yellow Animal Parallel version and was seeded about 1:80 packs, a hard pull indeed. 

This came out of a pack, which came out of a hobby box of 2012-13 Score that I picked up from some dealer online who I can't even remember anymore.  It was either D&A Cardworld or that fairly new site WizWorldDeals.  Either way, I bought three boxes of these, thinking I would make a considerable dent in finishing a base set with rookies.  Oh, how wrong I was.  Out of three hobby boxes (which logically thinking would have came from the same case) I am still over 200 cards short.  Pathetic if you ask me.  But now I have lots of doubles, including this guy right here.  This card sort of reminds me of the old Dream Team cards from Score...or even the Bo Jackson from 1990.

What PC post would be complete without mention of a couple Mario Lemieux cards.  Both of these came from hobby boxes of the newly minted 2012-13 O-Pee-Chee.  The best set is back once again to torture me and take up valuable space on my Set Needs page.  Here we have the Mario Pop-Ups card which seem to fall one per box but I have seen some, including one of my own, result in two or three.  The other card is the Marquee Rookie Legend SP Silver Shiny Foilmajig.  It isn't black so there is no serial number but definitely a much harder pull than the other basic foil parallels.  Love those retro yellow sweaters with matching helmets.  They have to bring those back.

And last but not least is this Donrus...er...Panini Elite Series Gold Foil Sidney Crosby.  So many scratches and dust particles show up in this scan that it really looks ugly here.  In reality, this card is pretty sweet.  It's also nice to see a recent card of Sid where the picture chosen isn't one of him sporting his splotchy playoff beard growth. 

New PC Additions (Not Tangradi related)

That Sports Spectacular show from a few weeks ago that I talked about a week or so ago also yielded me a hefty pile of cards for my other player collections.  Without further adieu, I will just let the scans do the talking.  WARNING...THIS IS A PICTURE HEAVY POST.

First up, Bill Guerin.  Guerin cards are a rough find because unless they are autos or feature some dual memorabilia with a star player, no one really pulls these out to sell individually.  Hence, the quarter boxes tend to be where these come from.  I was able to pick up two cards that I'm pretty sure I didn't have at the time, but not I'm not so sure.  Either way, they are cool.

Next up is Jaromir Jagr.  I almost don't like myself for still wanting to collect his cards but here I am.  Here's what I got.  Most of these are new to the collection because they are all fairly recent.  I don't have a large selection of stuff from 2000 forward.  The older cards are mostly inserts.  Again, you gotta love Quarter Boxes.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally we have Mario Lemieux.  I haven't been through my Super Mario cards in a while so some of these may now be doubles.  But to you and the blog, they are new.  Check these out.

The Contenders card came out of a box I bought at the show.

 

 

 

 

These both came from Sal in a "trade".

 Now that the server has probably crashed due to the amount of graphics on this page, I bid you farewell.