Sakic Sunday: 1990-91 Upper Deck x3

1990-91 Upper Deck, probably the last set that I can remember collecting without having to deal with some kind of insert/parallel/jersey card inside.  (Don't even speak of the holograms that were in the packs, the players featured were barely recognizable to me.)

I used to own a ton of these cards.  Multiple (in the teens) sets were hand collated.  I don't know what it was about this set that sent me scurrying every time I had an extra dollar to the LCS. 

Needless to say it was very easy for me to find the Sakic cards from this year for my PC.  There were actually 3 cards of Joe Sakic in both the low and high numbered series.

If you look very closely at the low series base card on the left (#164), you will see that the 'A' on his jersey has recently been replaced with the 'C', so recently that you can actually still see the 'A' underneath.  I can't recall another card out there of any player that has something like this.  What's interesting is that the captaincy of the Nordiques that year was shared by Sakic and Steven Finn, both of whom replaced the recently departed Peter Stastny.  Instead of naming either Sakic or Finn captain in the 91-92 season, Mike Hough was given the C.  Sakic regained the captaincy the next season and remained the captain until his retirement.

The cards in the low 300's were team checklists with each team having one player artistically represented on the front, with a list of players featured in the set and their card #'s on the back.  They were also numbered in reverse order of the league standings the previous season.  Thus, the Nordiques were featured first (#301) because of their last overall finish the season before. 

The high series, #'d 401-550, featured many of the up and coming rookies, Canada's junior team, and all the players from the 1991 all star game which was played in Chicago.  Joe appears to be right at home from the relaxed look on his all star card featured on the right.  Needless to say, Joe would appear in a few more of those during his career. 

The 1990-91 Upper Deck set will always be one of my all time favorites, largely because it was the first hockey set that I chased after a decade long absence from collecting in the 80's.  Great photography, multiple player photos and a set size that was not too difficult to complete, I'd love to see more sets like this now.

Thanks for reading, Robert