It's a start

One thing that I've done a bit of during the month of January is adding some Jays and Leafs cards to the TCDB collection.  What I like so much about the site is it helps me sort the cards in order once I've added them. 

What the site doesn't do is write about the cards for me.  I guess you can't have everything....

Well, I have a couple of piles of cards that I recently added, and a few of the Leafs cards caught my eye so I figured I'd say a few words about them.

1970-71 Topps #111

Brit Selby is no longer the answer to the trivia question "Who is the last Leaf player to win the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year".   The Leafs went a half century before Auston Matthews came along last year and scored 40 goals to win ROY.  In comparison, Brit scored 14 during his rookie season in 65-66.

Brit played parts of 6 seasons in the Blue and White, appearing in 169 games and scoring 29 goals.  He was selected by the Flyers in the expansion draft, and then traded back to the Leafs towards the end of the 68-69 season.  Brit would end up finishing his career in the WHA, ending up back where he started in Toronto with the Toros. 

1981-82 Topps #25

The other 99.   Wilf Paiement wound up in Toronto via a trade with the Colorado Rockies that saw fan favorite Lanny McDonald shipped out.  Wilf arrived in Toronto during a very contentious time with the club, star players being traded and the team slowly sinking to the bottom of the standings.

Wilf would actually record a 40 goal season with the club in 1980-81, but would end up being traded the next year for Miroslav Frycer and a 7th rd pick. 

1991-92 Score American #173

I saw this card and it reminded me how much I enjoy listening to Dave's analysis on the NHL Network.  By the time this card hit the shelves, Dave was already a former Leaf, having signed with the Boston Bruins as a free agent.

Dave had scored 15 goals the previous season in Toronto, including a league leading 8 short handed goals.  Dave had a long career in the NHL, playing 961 games and scoring 165 goals.  Dave won a Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in the 98-99 season, and he finished his career 2 years later winning another Cup with the Avalanche.

1986-87 Topps #149

One of these days, I'll have to complete the entire run of 80's hockey sets and do a best of the 80's countdown.  This card would be right up there for me.  That look on Wendel's face kind of exemplifies his time in Toronto, the "don't mess with me look".  Wendel may have played in Quebec, Detroit, Chicago and Long Island, but he somehow always wound up back in Toronto, and always returned to a heroes welcome.

Maybe his most memorable game as a Leaf came in game 6 of the conference final against the LA Kings, in which he scored a hat trick, including the tying goal with 1:21 to play.  The Leafs would end up losing the game on a controversial goal by Wayne Gretzky who had clearly high sticked the Leafs Doug Gilmour, but did not receive a penalty.

I only have 91 Leaf cards entered so far into the database, but there's 4 of them for you to see.  My Leaf collection isn't anywhere near as big as the Jays is, so it shouldn't be difficult to get them entered. 

It's just a matter of getting started...

thanks for reading, Robert