Breaking into The Stash

With the order down here in Broward and Miami-Dade counties requiring anyone entering an establishment that provides essential services to wear a face mask, it appears that more people are having no trouble speaking their mind with their face mostly covered.  Almost like the keyboard warriors on Twitter or Instagram who have no problem "speaking their mind".  So, until the insanity down here has died down somewhat, I've resolved to avoid the big box stores.  No more Target or Wal Mart until the mask order has been rescinded.

This is going to be tough for me, because that's where I get my pack fix.  This was the first weekend in quite a while that I didn't hit either of those stores to get anything to rip, and it's been a bit tough to be honest.  This morning I decided to do something about it, and broke into my stash of packs.  I have a plastic tub filled with about 75 packs of cards of various sizes, sports and years.  Something I've been adding to lately, as a just in case.   I figured that this is about as good a time as any to grab a pack to open.

2008-09 Upper Deck hockey jumbo pack, series 1.  32 cards, with a chance for Young Guns such as Stamkos, Giroux, Wheeler and T.J. Oshie.  I've not had any luck with these so far, but hopefully with the last 3 or 4 that I have I'll get lucky.

A few names on the first page that are still going over a decade later, such as Marc-Andre Fleury and Jonathan Cheechoo.  I'd totally forgotten that Mike Smith started way back when in Tampa Bay and was part of the trade that brought Brad Richards to Dallas (you'll see him here in a minute).  Another player on this page is Scott Gomez, who I remember almost strictly as a New Jersey Devil.  Then I look at his career stats and see stints in Ottawa, St. Louis, Florida, and San Jose, along with 3 years in Montreal.  It's time for me to start taking some memory pills it seems!

A lot of solid players on this page as well, such as Marian Gaborik, Patrik Elias and Bill Guerin.  Carey Price is the headliner, in an 2nd year card showing him shooting the puck around the boards.  I still remember the battle that he had with Jaroslav Halak when the both of them were in Montreal, which would stay and which would move on.  Halak's been a part of 5 organizations since he was traded in 2010, and Price 12 years later has 6 more years on what likely will be his final contract.  I'm sure when it ends he'll hold a majority of the Canadiens goaltending records.

Funny, when I look at this page the name Matt Niskanen jumps right at me.  I remember when he was traded by Dallas to Pittsburgh back in 2011.  That may be the worst deal Dallas ever made, as Niskanen and James Neal went to the Pens for Alex Goligoski.  Yes, Goligoski had some good years in Dallas, but Neal and Niskanen was probably a bit too much for Dallas to trade, in my opinion.

All of these cards went to my trade list on the TCDB website, as you never know what sets people are still trying to put together.   There were also a couple of inserts in the pack as well...

The Masked Men set has been popular, I've traded off quite a few of these over the past few months.  The All Star jersey you see on Vinny Lecavalier on the right is one that I have hanging in my closet, featuring that years Leafs representative, Tomas Kaberle.

I'd held off on breaking any of the packs I've had in the Stash for a long time, and I've been slowly adding to it over the past several months.  But while the mask edict is in place down here in S. Florida, I'll work on staying out of Target and Wal-Mart to keep some level of sanity in place, and just have fun breaking some old packs here and there.

Rest assured I'll post any stash pack broken here on the blog for all to see.

Enjoy the hobby and stay safe!

Robert