Freaky Mask Friday (Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils)

Martin Brodeur
1997-98 Pinnacle Masks #3
PROMO

Devil May Care...

Not an overly freaky mask - But undeniably iconic.

Almost couldn't believe my eyes when I spied this collector's piece for a dollar.

Pinnacle Masks are still highly sought - This one turned out to have "PROMO" stamped on the back (making it half as 'valuable' as the regular variation).

Still can't complain. Just another neat thing to have in the hockey card collection.

The Mummy Returns...

Stephane Fiset
1996-97 Select Certified #8

Quite a find for Freaky Mask Friday.
Was surprised to unearth this card...

Had heard about a Stephane Fiset "Mummy Mask".
Wasn't aware that I had a card entombed in my collection.

From 1996-97 Select Certified, it must have been the rather distracting "REMOVE PROTECTIVE FILM" text that prevented me from noticing it.

Of course I'm leaving the film on...
I enjoy keeping my stuff as "mint" as possible - And I especially enjoy not following directions.

Stephane Fiset
1997-98 Pinnacle Inside #23
UER: Secondary photo is Jamie Storr

Mummy Brought Back to Life...

Found yet ANOTHER Egyptian Death Mask, this time from 1997-98 Pinnacle Inside.

(Didn't take much digging, as I only have several cards from the 190 card set)

This one's an Uncorrected Error - But it still counts as a "Mummy Mask" on an LA Kings goalie helmet.

Stephane Fiset
1997-98 Pinnacle Inside #23
(card back)
UER: Photo on back is Jamie Storr

It's Stephane Fiset's card - But apparently the masked photo is of Jamie Storr (who's mask was featured previously in a previous post).

I find this especially cool - We get to appreciate some Ancient Egyptian art... Possibly brought back to life through some supernatural magic (or because the company screwed up).

The only OTHER Kings' goalie said to have worn a "Mummy Mask" would be Robb Stauber - Who has just 47 cards to his name (according to TCDB.com). None of Stauber's cards appear to depict him actually wearing such a mask, however.

Like a Hawk...

Chris Chelios
1997-98 Donruss Priority #99

Donruss might be defunct, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying "new" retro cards from the 1990s.

Apparently, the Panini Group acquired Donruss in 2009. As far as I'm aware, they have not used the "Donruss" brand to market any product.

Have just a few cards from the 1997-98 season in my collection...
Curious about the identity of the goaltender in the background.

Chris Chelios
1997-98 Donruss Priority #99
(card back)

Overall the design of this set looks kinda cool. A tad busy for my usual taste, but not to the point of being distracting.

It's the only card from the set that I've collected so far.

Particularly fond of the color red, or anything to do with the Original Six.

Feelin' Groovy...

Owen Nolan
1997-98 Upper Deck Smooth Grooves #SG24

Not very often that a re-pack yields an insert card...

Granted, it's from the 1990s, so it has little monetary worth... But once again the nostalgic value is priceless.

Always been a fan of the oldschool Sharks uniform

Now have a total of 2 cards from this 60 card subset.

Owen Nolan is possibly the most famous hockey player born in Ireland.

Owen Nolan
1997-98 Upper Deck Smooth Grooves #SG24
(card back)

Bonus point for the All-Star patch on his jersey (from the 1996-97 All-Star game in San Jose).

Part of the original Quebec Nordiques team that relocated to Colorado, it would appear as if Nolan wore a Colorado Avalanche jersey for a brief period of time before being traded to the San Jose Sharks on October 26, 1995.

Owen Nolan
1995-96 Skybox Emotion #40

Nolan appeared in just 9 games for the Colorado Avalanche (in which he scored 8 points). Only 6 major cards list him as a member of the Avs.

In the 1995-96 Parkhurst International, Skybox E-Motion, and Upper Deck sets, he's wearing an Avalanche jersey.

(The 1995-96 card sets from Leaf & Pinnacle feature members of the Colorado Avalanche still wearing their Quebec Nordiques uniforms)

Whale Soup for the Hartford Soul...

Mike Liut
1988-89 O-Pee-Chee #127

Digging through my old Hartford Whalers cards... Surprised that I have about 10% of the nearly 5000 or so cards according to TCDB. Of course that list counts everything beyond standard trading cards (including food issues, trading card games, playing cards, etc.)

Following their days in the WHA, the Hartford Whalers were in the NHL from 1979-1996 (17 years). What a difference a couple decades can make, especially with dozens of hockey card brands and seemingly infinite parallels.

To put it in perspective, the Atlanta Thrashers have over 15,000 cards in the database. They existed from 1999 to 2011 (12 years).

Could even be a rather affordable collecting project to try and acquire as many Whalers cards as possible...

Doug Sulliman
1983-84 O-Pee Chee #148

Anytime the dreadful "Cooperalls" are mentioned, most people think of the Philadelphia Flyers. The Hartford Whalers also experimented with this "girdle and shell lower body equipment system".

Fun fact: Contrary to popular belief, the pants worn by NHL players were actually manufactured by CCM, and not Cooper.
The "CCM" logo can be seen at the top and bottom of the pant, incorporated into the vertical stripes.

Hartford Whalers
1989-90 O-Pee-Chee #304

Great snapshot of a faceoff...This angle could definitely become stale if overused, but I can't actually think of many cards like this one.

While not normally a fan of "Team Cards", I do enjoy some of these wide-angle snapshots featured in Topps/OPC cards of this era.

Watching some good old fashioned hockey on YouTube, noticed the centreman would often stand sideways to take a faceoff, and swiping at the puck that way...

Playing youth hockey, I always remember being yelled at by the referee to "square up", before being tossed from the faceoff circle.

Ron Francis
1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier #32

After spending nearly the first decade of his career in Hartford, Ron Francis was traded to the Penguins in 1991.

He would re-join the franchise in Carolina (1998 thru 2004) and see his number 10 officially retired by the Hurricanes.

Kevin Dineen
1990-91 Upper Deck #266
(card back)

The "whale hunt" led me to appreciate this snapshot on the back of the card that I had never really noticed before...

Looks as if Kevin Dineen has pushed the puck past goaltender Kelly Hrudey, hoping it has enough steam to cross the goal line.

Peter Sidorkiewicz was Hartford's main netminder for three seasons, after Mike Liut was traded to the Capitals (in exchange for Yvon Corriveau).

The Whalers lost Sidorkiewicz to the 1992 expansion draft.

Zarley Zalapski
1992-93 Upper Deck #316

Action in front of the Whalers' net, with newly acquired netminder Frank Pietrangelo.

This is presumably during the very last Hartford Whalers playoff appearance - A seven game thriller series against Montreal.

Pat Verbeek
1993-94 Upper Deck #331

One of the best-known Whalers, Pat Verbeek was traded to the Rangers in 1995 for a couple players and draft picks.

The Whalers would use a first round pick to select goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere (1st round, 13th overall).

Glen Wesley
1995-96 Collector's Choice #315
(card back)

Formerly of the Bruins,  long time Whalers/Hurricanes defenceman Glen Wesley shown here wearing number 20 with the Whalers.

He switched to number 2 in Carolina, which is now retired by the Hurricanes organization.

From Wikipedia:

"When the Whalers moved to North Carolina to begin the 1997–98 NHL season, they returned the previously retired #2 for Rick Ley (D, 1972–1981) and #19 for John McKenzie (RW, 1977–1979) to circulation, while retaining Howe's #9 without public display. Wesley (who wore No. 20 in Hartford) was the only Hurricane to wear #2 prior to its re-retirement; #19 has been issued to several players since the move"

Kevin Haller
1997-98 Pacific Invincible
NHL Regime #36

The last sightings of The Whale...

Moving forth with the 1997-98 season and the move to Carolina, the "Hurricanes" players are still depicted in their
Whalers uniforms.

Interestingly enough, the "Pacific Invincible" brand was only released in 1997-98 and 2003-04.

Sean Burke
1997-98 Pinnacle Inside #30

Sean Burke was originally acquired by Hartford in 1992 (along with Eric Weinrich) in a trade that sent Bobby Holik to New Jersey.

Burke would be with the organization until shortly after the relocation to Carolina, and was dealt to Vancouver in January of 1998 (and subsequently traded to Philadelphia 2 months later).

Silver & Bronze (1997-98 Donruss Preferred)

Daymond Lankow
1997-98 Donruss Preferred #23

1997-98 Donruss Preferred
Total Cards: 200

Acquired a few more random cards from 1997-98 Donruss Preferred...

Daymond Lankow
1997-98 Donruss Preferred #23
(card back)

This time, was lucky enough to get one of the players under the "silver" ranking - Which is NOT a parallel set... They decided to designate each player within the set to be worthy of gold, silver or bronze.

Todd Harvey
1997-98 Donruss Preferred #144

Still not sure what I think of this set design, although silver looks better than "shameful bronze".

More Random Cards...

Sandis Ozolinsh
1997-98 SP Authentic #41

My first card from the very first year of SP Authentic...
Future incarnations of the product would be brilliant white, while the early years are "Ooh, shiny!".

The "SP Authentic" brand effectively replaced the original brand simply known as "SP" (which had three releases, 1994-95, 1995-96 and 1996-97)..

Since it's debut in 1997-98, SP Authentic has been released every single season.

Dominik Hasek
2018-19 SP #95

Seems they revived the regular "SP" brand in 2018-19 & 2019-20, after an absence of 22 years.

The card numbers and player photos are the same, but the SP Authentic set has considerably more insert cards...

My research suggests that it's basically a more affordable alternative to "SP Authentic". Perhaps the regular SP is more suitable for those of us who simply enjoy to collect the base set.

Tomas Vokoun
2010-11 Upper Deck #117

I'll always think of Tomas Vokoun as a member of the Nashville Predators, but here he is with the Florida Panthers.... Either way, he still has a vicious cat painted on his mask.

Just noticing that Vokoun catches right.

Eric Fehr
2013-14 Score #529

Always enjoy cards where a player has just scored a goal... This one has it all, from ecstatic fans to dejected goaltender.

Smokin!

Jim Carey / Bill Ranford
1997-98 Donruss Limited #14

Not normally a huge fan of two players sharing the one card, but this shiny collectible was a neat little surprise in a repack that also yielded some other good stuff.

Jim Carey / Bill Ranford
1997-98 Donruss Limited #14
(card back)

Really not sure what makes Jim Carey and Bill Ranford  counterparts (other than the fact that they were traded for one another).

This is the first card I've ever seen from this 200 card set, but it seems most of cards feature two players.

Re-Pack Rat...

Robert Kron
1997-98 Pinnacle Be a Player #140

Yet another Whaler-turned Hurricane on this card, found inside a re-pack.

Often wondered about the origin of these "re-pack" cards that I've been adding to my collection... Are they pre-owned? Or simply leftover stock that was never sold? Or Both? Aside from the odd 1990s card with bad centering, most of them have been in mint-condition.

Finding this card had me flipping through some of my old Beckett Hockey magazines to locate this article:

From Beckett magazine
Issue No. 101
March 1999

"NHLPA Senior Director of Business Affairs and Marketing Ted Saskin recently confirmed that the majority of the 1997-98 Be A Player cases never actually reached the marketplace - and probably never will...

...the NHLPA has no plans to make a deal with anyone to release the product, unless the marketplace changes dramatically. It's been speculated that much of the unreleased or returned Pinnacle hockey product currently in storage will end up shredded. -Kevin Allen"

Robert Kron
1997-98 Pinnacle Be a Player #140
(card back)

To shred perfectly good hockey cards just to maintain a high market value always seemed kinda absurd to me - But I'm a fairly lame collector in the sense that I prefer to have a good number of interesting cards that capture a particular moment in time, rather than simply chasing a particular card just because it's worth a lot of money.

But with many collectors obsessed with the sheer "value" of the card (as opposed to education & nostalgia), limiting the number of cards in the market helps give a sense of worth.

Shameful Bronze...

Brian Holzinger
1997-98 Donruss Preferred #93

1997-98 Donruss Preferred
Total Cards: 200

Brian Holzinger was a longtime Buffalo centreman (and a member of the Sabres team that got shafted in the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals by Brett Hull and the Dallas Stars).

Although this is the only card I have from this particular set, it appears as if each player is designated Platinum, Gold, Silver, or Bronze (with Brian Holzinger among the Bronze cards). Regardless, I'm sure they all look a bit messed up when scanned.

Card design is half decent. Certainly not my favorite, but I'd give it a passing grade of "C plus" or "B minus". Still though, it managed to catch my eye, so maybe it gets a bonus mark.

Brian Holzinger
1997-98 Donruss Preferred #93
(card back)

Brian Holzinger scored 93 goals and 145 assists for 238 points in in 547 career games

Score One for Journeymen Goaltenders...

1997-98 Score
Total Cards: 270

Sean Burke
1997-98 Score #1

Another journeyman goaltender... Sean Burke played for eight different franchises in his 18 year NHL career.
(New Jersey, Hartford/Carolina, Vancouver, Philadelphia, Florida, Phoenix, Tampa Bay and Los Angeles)

From the card back:

"... Sean was already the franchise leader in goals-against average and trails only Mike Liut in career wins."

Both netminders (Burke and Liut) have since been surpassed by Arturs Irbe and Cam Ward.
Sean Burke is currently fourth in all time wins by a Carolina netminder.

1.      Cam Ward     318
2.      Arturs Irbe     130
3.      Mike Liut     115
4.     Sean Burke     107

Was never really a fan of Score's card design, I actually don't mind this one. Graphics for the player's first name may look cool, but actually become awkward to read. Individual team colors being used within the design, the Carolina Hurricane's red looks good against black...

Sean Burke
1997-98 Score #1
(card back)

But on the back of the card, the red seems a bit distracting, but that's just my nit-picking. (Looking at a few images online, I actually like the teal color used for the back of San Jose Sharks cards)

Stats & vitals are a tad different than my preferred format, but it gets the job done... Also offers last season's home & away stats (plus playoffs, which in this case are N/A).

As the only card from this set in my collection, I'd give the overall card design a "B minus". Not looking to pick up any more of them, although never know what random re-packs will yield.

Duck Hunting...

Tomas Sandstrom
1997-98 Pinnacle #180

Picked up a random mixed box of early Anaheim Mighty Ducks cards.

Had only collected a few cards during the mid-late 1990s, so I was looking forward to enjoying cards from sets that I'd never seen firsthand. Ninteties nostalgia at its' finest.

On a disappointing note, there wasn't a single Selanne or Kariya to be found in the entire lot... Even the goalie cards had been removed.

Jarri Kurri
1996-97 Donruss Elite #85

Was surprised to see Jari Kurri in a Ducks uniform. Apparently, he played a full 82 game season for Anahiem during 1996-97. The shine from this Donruss Elite set makes the card look much better in hand than scanned.

Tomas Sandstrom
1998-99 Topps #12

Another Finnish-born winger wearing number 17. Tomas Sandstrom played two seasons for the Mighty Ducks in 1997-98 & 1998-99.

Tomas Sandstrom
1998-99 Topps #12(card back)

The only thing I dislike about the 1998-99 Topps set is the font they chose for the card number... Couldn't tell if this was card number 12 or 72.

To make it even worse, the card number is printed on a team-colored circle... A yellow/orange circle for a team like the Penguins is fine... But putting black ink on dark green for the Mighty Ducks?

Another Obscure LA Kings Goaltender...

Jamie Storr
1997-98 Leaf #138

Just happened to pull a lone 1997-98 Leaf card out of a random re-pack....

Only have a handful from this set, glad to find a good shot of a goaltender.

Jamie Storr
1995-96 Collector's Choice #213
[Player's Club Parallel]

Picked up this one last year, with a "complete set" of 1995-96 Collector's Choice...

(Technically got all 396 numbered cards - Although a few dozen are technically from the "Player's Club" parallel set.)

Jamie Storr spent almost a decade with the LA Kings, before playing 14 games with the Hurricanes during the 2003-04 season.