WTF Hockey Card: Alexander Godynyuk (1991-92 Pro-Set #563)

Alexander Godynyuk
(1991-92 Pro-Set #563)

Alexander Godynyuk was a defenceman, which makes it all the more strange that he would be wearing number 93 with Toronto... With this exception, I cannot think of another defenceman who's worn a number higher than 77.

Always thought it was kinda ironic because Doug Gilmour (who wore 39 with Calgary), chose number 93 after being dealt to Toronto. Gilmour would famously wear 93 for the rest of his career.

I figured number 39 simply wasn't available in Toronto at the time, and assumed it was the common act of reversing the digits...

But it seems as if no one else playing for Toronto wore number 39 in this era. (Godynyuk would however wear 39 for a season with the Florida Panthers)

Doug Gilmour
(1991-92 Pro-Set #34)

Gilmour and Godynyuk were among eight other players involved with the infamous ten-man trade, the largest body swap in NHL history.

The more players involved in a deal, the more likely that some will wear each others' numbers...

Yet, only 17 players have ever worn 93.
(This statistic gets skewed by the current "I want to wear my birth year as a jersey number" phenomenon)

Five active players (Bennet, Nugent-Hopkins, Vesalainen, Voracek, and Mika Zibanejad) all wear 93.

Doug Gilmour
(1992-93 Pro-Set #184)

The most famous players to wear 93:
Franzen, Gilmour, Nedved, and goaltender Darren Puppa.

Other players who briefly wore 93 when their usual number wasn't available:
Doug Weight with the New York Islanders (2009-2011)
Nikolai Zherdev with Philadelphia (2011)
Mike Cammalleri with Calgary (2012)
Scott Gomez with St. Louis (2016)

Cool Card: Craig Billington (1991-92 Upper Deck #559)

Craig Billington RC
(1991-92 Upper Deck #559)

One of my favorite cards from 91-92 Upper Deck Series II.
Craig Billington looks like a stoic veteran as he gazes down the length of the ice, catching hand calmly resting on the end of his goal stick.

Having been with the Devils organization for a few years, he really didn't start appearing on cardboard until 91-92, so it technically becomes one of his Rookie Cards.

The season during which this card was released, Billington set new carer highs for games played, wins, improved his save percentage & goals-against average, and posted his first career shutouts...

Craig Billington
(1993-94 Leaf #354)

But since the Devils already had Chris Terreri plus a youngster named Martin Brodeur, Billington was cast into the God-forsaken pit of disorganization that is the Ottawa Senators organization - with the unrealistic expectations of being their savior.

After eventually escaping from a nightmare of being shelled every night in Ottawa, he was doomed to spend the rest of his career as a backup goaltender in Boston, Colorado and Washington.

Craig Billington ERROR
(1991-92 Pro Set Platinum #197)

Another cool card, with the outstretched leg and goal stick - But it's an error, as the New Jersey Devils goaltender pictured is actually Chris Terreri, and not Craig Billington.

Scott Niedermayer RC
(1991-92 Pro Set #547)

Stranger still, Billington doesn't have a single card within the massive collection of regular Pro-Set cards.

The 1990-91 Pro-Set cards only feature two Devils goaltenders, while many teams have three goalie cards in the set. (Even draft pick Martin Brodeur was left out, though a couple other drafted players got their own cards)

Craig Billington can be seen  in the background on Scott Neidermayer's 91-92 Pro Set card, wearing number 29.

After Sean Burke was dealt to Hartford, Billington would snag jersey number 1 and wear it for the rest of his career.

Craig Billington
(1993-94 Score #207)

This is an awesome Craig Billington card... His eyes are trained on the puck that's flying towards his head.

The puck has a slight bit of motion blur for added coolness effect. His trapper raised, ready to snag it.

1990-91 Upper Deck

Mike Liut
(1990-91 Upper Deck #127)

(Total Cards: 550)
(Series II / High Series: 401-550 includes World Juniors, Young Guns, Heroes)

Upper Deck pretty much blew the competition out of the water during their rookie season as a hockey card company... With amazing photos on quality cardstock, they set the new standard and revolutionized the card industry.

At the time, the cards were far too expensive for an honest school kid to ever collect an entire set... Now, common cards can sell for next to nothing, even less than the cost of shipping. The educational and informational value hasn't changed. If anything, they've increased in nostalgic value.






Upper Deck Hockey Card One
Not counting any rare prototype or promotional cards, which player was on the first ever Upper Deck NHL Hockey card?

David Volek
(1990-91 Upper Deck #1)

This trivia question evaded me, but I was surprised to find out that it was David Volek of the New York Islanders. Even more surprised that his position is simply listed as "Wing". Even if someone plays various positions, they're typically listed as playing something...



Side Two
Not only do the first Upper Deck cards have a great photo on the front, but there's another photo on the back that takes up 2/3 of the card back, with the stats neatly tucked away.

Brian Propp
(1990-91 Upper Deck #2 card back)

 A number of card back photos are wide-angle,  and they look absolutely terriffic. Series II features an update card of Brian Propp with Minnesota. He would be a key part of the team that would make an unforeseen run to the Stanley Cup Finals.



Red Hot Action

Rick Whamsley
(1990-91 Upper Deck #10)

Rick Whamsley
(1990-91 Upper Deck #10 card back)

It's Dave, Man.

Dave Andreychuk
(1990-91 Upper Deck #41)

Teriffic wide-angle shot on the back of Dave Andreycuk's card.


Great Goalie Cards...

Ron Tugnutt
(1990-91 Upper Deck #27)

Bill Ranford
(1990-91 Upper Deck #42)

Sean Burke
(1990-91 Upper Deck #66)

Sean Burke is just putting on his mask, but it's still a great shot, with other Devils skating in the background.

Sean Burke
(1990-91 Upper Deck #66 card back)

But the back photo is a killer action shot. Another example of why this set is just as much fun to flip through backwards as forwards.



New Digs...

Brian Propp
(1990-91 Upper Deck #409)

Series II features an updated card of Brian Propp after joining Minnesota. Coincidentally, there happens to be an Upper Deck advertisement on the boards....

WTF Hockey Card: Dan Marouelli (1990-91 NHL Pro-Set #692)

Dan Marouelli
1990-91 Pro Set #692

This is a rather memorable hockey card, and it's become one of my favorites. As you can see by the sharp corners and pristine edges, I treat this card with the same respect as I treat every official.

Nevermind the fact that cards for coaches and referees is already kinda fucked up in the first place... This is the only hockey card I know of that shows players engaged in an actual fight. Whoo! Gratuitous violence!

Not sure how it got approved for printing, because the I thought NHL doesn't want to promote fighting in the game. I'm sure something like this wouldn't happen today.

It would be interesting to know who the combatants are...
With a Chicago Blackhawks jersey and the letter "P", Mike Peluso is my best guess... Although he only played 2 games for the Hawks in 89-90, he did receive 15 penalty minutes...  Pretty sure the other guy is a member of the Minesota North Stars.

Now that I think about it, aren't the Linesmen normally responsible for separating the fighting players after they've tired themselves out?
Marouelli has the orange arm bands of a Referee, not a Linesman...

Joe Reekie
(1993-94 Topps Premier #433)

This little disagreement between Joe Reekie and Dallas Drake is the closest thing I've found to anything that resembles another fight on a hockey card....

WTF Hockey Card: Joe Mullen (1990-91 NHL Pro-Set #343)

Looking through old hockey cards, it's hard to find ones that are perfectly centered... Some designs lend themselves to more leeway than others. As long as the centering is decent, it'll do if I need it to complete a set...  But this has to be the most off-centered card in my collection...

Joe Mullen
(1990-91 NHL Pro-Set #343)

In this Joe Mullen All-Star card from 1990-91 Pro-Set, you can see just how far the card was cut to the left... Mullen's number 7 is almost at the right edge... And on the the left side, the edge of another card's photo can be seen.

Joe Mullen
1990-91 NHL Pro-Set #343(Card back)

Looks worse on the back. The card itself isn't even square! The Pro-Set, NHL and NHLPA logos are even sliced through. Normally it would piss me off that one of my favorite players' cards is screwed up like this...

Joe Mullen
(1990-91 NHL Pro-Set #343)

Fortunately, I have a better quality double of the same card in my binder. In the bottom right corner of the photo is the opposing player's leg that can be seen on the bottom left of the defective card.

What would normally be an undesirable piece of cardboard becomes an oddity within my collection, with a cool insight into how the cards were made.



Probably the next worst cut card in my Pro Set collection is this one...

Petri Skriko
(1990-91 NHL Pro-Set #306)

The card is square, but poorly top aligned. The circle for the team logo and the NHL logo just barely avoid being sliced. The bottom of the card even has part of the yellow stripe from the card beneath it on the sheet.

Petri Skriko
(1990-91 NHL Pro-Set #306 card back)

The card number narrowly avoided being chopped... As did the Pro Set logo.
On the far right, is just a tiny portion of the black circle that surround the player photo.

2018-19 Goal of the Year?

In a game between the Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens [February 17, 2019], Florida captain Aleksander Barkov scored one of the prettiest goals I've ever seen...

Even with a defender in hot pursuit, he was able to pull off an incredible "between-the-legs" move to give his team the go-ahead goal.


Aleksander Barkov
2018-19 Upper Deck MVP #17

2018-19 Goal of the Year?

In a game between the Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens [February 17, 2019], Florida captain Aleksander Barkov scored one of the prettiest highlgoals I've ever seen...

Even with a defender in hot pursuit, he was able to pull off an incredible "between-the-legs" move to give his team the go-ahead goal.


Aleksander Barkov
2018-19 Upper Deck MVP #17

2018-19 Goal of the Year?

Aleksander Barkov
2018-19 Upper Deck MVP #17

In a game between the Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens [February 17, 2019], Florida captain Aleksander Barkov scored one of the prettiest highlight reel goals I've ever seen...

Even with a defender in hot pursuit, he was able to pull off an incredible "between-the-legs" move to give his team the go-ahead goal.

Scoring goals with this technique seemed to emerge at the turn of the century, and would only happen on occasion... But this day in age, as the speed and skill continues to evolve, it seems as if several goals like this are scored every year.

1990-91 NHL Pro-Set: The Errors & Mistakes...

Taking a look at some of the errors and inconsistencies within my collection of 1990-91 Pro-Set.

I absolutely love this set. Not sure if it's the colors or the magnitude of players. Even if it is a little corny by today's standards, it's undeniable that infamous sets like this one explored new territory, and helped shape the hockey card industry.

Ray "Borque"

(#1 Ray Bourque)

Even the first card of the set has a typo... At least they spelled his name correctly on the back of the card.

Another Misspelled Name

(#7 Garry Galley)

An extra "r" for Gary's first name on the back of the card.

"Goalie Goals"

(#9 Reggie Lemelin)

According to Reggie's stats, he's scored over 5,000 goals in his career. Pretty impressive, especially for a goaltender. That's what happens when player headers are listed over goalie stats.


Wrong Player Photo

(#54 Dave Manson ERROR, #54 Dave Manson CORRECTED)

This is Dave Manson's card, but the player pictured is actually Steve Konroyd, even on the back. A corrected version of this card was issued.

Change 'Em Up

(#175 Peter Stastny, #176 Patrik Sundstrom)

Teammates Peter Stastny and Patrik Sundstrom appear on each others cards... They accidentally used Stastny's photos on Sundstrom's cards and vice versa. The mix-up occurs on both the front and back of the cards.

I'm not sure if the error was ever corrected... Just for fun, here are the following year's cards from 91-92 Pro-Set.

1991-92 Pro-Set
(#141 Patrik Sundstrom, #143 Peter Stastny)

Kelly Buchberger / Pat Murray

(#441 Kelly Buchberger / #630 Pat Murray)

This card is supposed to be #441 Kelly Buchberger...
But on the back, it's card #630 Pat Murray




Wrong Jersey Number

(#495 David Shaw, #557 Scott Arniel, #613 Mike Craig)

 Several cards display the wrong player number.

"Upside down" cards...

(All Star Cards #361-369)

The card backs are facing the wrong way on several cards, including All Stars #360 Brian Propp, and #366 Pierre Turgeon. Since the backs are displayed sideways, you only really notice them when they're displayed in a binder with other cards.

For a more comprehensive list of the errors and variations within this set, check out this page:
1990-91 Pro Set Hockey Errors & Variations: Ongoing Checklist

1990-91 NHL Pro-Set: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly...

(#421 Jiri Hrdina)

There was just something about the 1990-91 Pro-Set hockey cards. Inconsistencies, tacky color schemes, coaches and referees, this 705 card set was absolutely insane. Series I featured cards 1-405, with the remainder (406-705) found in Series II.

Full of mistakes and glaring errors, somehow this fun set has an enduring charm that makes it one of my favorites. Featuring virtually every player from superstars, fighters, and fourth string goaltenders, this was the set that really lets you get to "know" all the gritty nuts and bolts that make up a team.

Rules of Enforcement

(#178 Ken Baumgartner,  #419 Rob Ray)

Despite retiring a decade and a half ago, the Rayzor is still the all-time penalty minute record holder for the Bufalo Sabres. Perhaps the best highlight footage is him beating the shit out of a foolish fan who decided to jump onto the ice to challenge the team. Absolutely priceless. (apparently one of the guy's buddies dared him to do it on a bet)

Trade mugshots. Everyone turn to the right.

(#40 Joe Mullen, #205 Chris Nilan, #464 Chris Dahlquist,  #474 Sylvain Turgeon)

Who can forget those ugly yellow/black trade stripes... Mullen, Nilan and Turgeon all have update cards in Series II, which features several players with their new teams.

There are still some decent looking cards in 90-91 Pro-Set.

A few of my favorites:

(#47 Mike Vernon, #58 Jeremy Roenick, #60 Al Secord ,  #79 Steve Yzerman)

And the Notable Rookies:

(#598 Ed Belfour, #604 Sergei Fedorov,  #632 Jaromir Jagr)

An update card for Chris Chelios in Series II, reflecting his recent trade to Chicago.

(# 147 Chris Chelios with Montreal, #427 Chris Chelios with Chicago)

Bryan Trottier also gets an update card after joining the Pittsburgh Penguins

(#192 & #511 Bryan Trottier)

Am I the only one who thinks that Bernie Nicholls looks like Nicholas Cage?

(#204 Bernie Nicholls)

Still on my 1990-91 Pro-Set Wish-List: #105 Ron Francis, #118 Wayne Gretzky, #125 Larry Robinson, #246 Dan Gillis (Error Card with bloody nose), #508 Joe Mullen (update card with Pittsburgh) #636 Mats Sundin RC

Mario Lemieux (1988-89 Topps #1)

Mario Lemieux
(1984-85 Topps #1)

1988-89 Topps
(Total Cards: 198)


This is the oldest Mario Lemieux card in my possession.

I'll always remember this set... Not only was it Brett Hull's rookie year, but that thumbtack was just so hip and stylish.

1984-85 Topps #1
(card back)

516 points in his first 292 games... Not too shabby.

Brett Hull
(1984-85 Topps #66)

Incidentally, card #66 is Brett Hull. I remember someone at school had the Brett Hull Rookie Card, which used to be valued at $40-50. Now you can buy the whole set for that.

I'd probably snatch up Hull's card if I stumbled upon one... Controversial Stanley Cup winning goal or not...

Brendan Shanahan
(1984-85 Topps #122)

Didn't realize that Shanny also had a Rookie Card in this set. I seriously wouldn't have recognized him.

Tom Barasso (1984-85 Topps #14)

1984-85 Topps
(Total Cards: 165)

Tom Barasso
(1984-85 Topps #14)

This is probably the second oldest card in my collection. Tom Barasso is my kinda goaltender. Just wants to do his job, and doesn't give a shit what people think.

On the back of the card, it says that he won "...both the Vezina trophy as top goaltender and Calder (trophy) as rookie of the year". Most impressive.

He was also between the pipes for the Pittsburgh Penguins when they won Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992.

Dave Andreychuk
(1984-85 Topps #13)

Also with a Rookie Card in this set was Barasso's teammate Dave Andreychuk.

As a seasoned veteran, Andreycuk would go on to captain the Stanley Cup winning Tampa Bay Lightning.

Steve Yzerman
1992-93 O-Pee-Chee Re-print
(Anniversary Series #17)

Stevie Y also had a Rookie Card this year (1984-85 Topps #49). I had this  re-printed version of his card, and just happened to notice that the design was the same as the Barasso card.

Very few players will spend their entire career with one team as Yzerman did, winning three Stanley Cup championships with the Detroit Red Wings.