An education that isn't taught in schools.

I'm hoping to pump out a few short posts this week.   My mind is a bit preoccupied right now, what with the forecasts that Hurricane Irma is going to make landfall potentially in South Florida late this week.

I was fortunate last year, because the only hurricane that came close, Matthew, hit landfall about 50 miles north of where I live, and my wife and I were only hit with 30 MPH winds and very little rainfall.

This time around, I'm more prepared, and have pretty much everything that we need, save for a generator for when the power goes out.  The lesson I learned this year is that you have to be ahead of the crowd, and buy your supplies well in advance.  If you don't, you'll be left scrambling and that really sucked last year when I went through hurricane prep for the first time.

So, with that in mind, I'm going to try and write a few posts this week to keep my mind distracted.  I'm going to keep the goalie set frankenset going by showing 4 more cards today.

The one card that I was kind of excited to have in the set was Louis Domingue, lower left hand corner, as he's had a decent run as the backup in Arizona.  Yes, the numbers aren't great, but he's stood tall and made some highlight reel saves over the past couple of years while backing up Mike Smith.

Best card for me of the 4 is the nice close shot of Jon Casey, from the 90-91 OPC set.  I miss the old North Stars logo, and his mask was simple yet effective.  Grant Fuhr had some good masks over the years, and Felix Potvin's cat mask will probably make the set a time or two.

Cards #253,262,264 and 269 have been added.  Hopefully I can get a few more of these quick posts on the blog this week.

thanks for reading, Robert

A few more goalies for the frankenset

I already have a 150 count plastic case full of goalie cards so far, and I received a package of goalie cards this past week that I still need to write a post about.  So, with a need to get some posts out there on the blog, I'm going to try and post a handful (or more) masks for the next few days.  We're only about 3 weeks away from NHL training camps opening, so why not?

Jocelyn Thibault had some great masks during his NHL career, and the one he sported on this Pacific Complete set from 2002-03 is no different.  Even the "T-BO" on his chin looks great.  This is card #411.

I don't normally like to be harsh on athletes, but maybe the only thing that was good during Toskala's time in Toronto was his mask.  This video might be the defining moment.  Vesa lasted a couple more years in the league before returning to Finland to finish his career.  This 2007-08 Upper Deck card is number 397.

Sometimes you just never know where you're career will take you.  Niemi wins a Cup in Chicago in his first year, is traded to San Jose where he has 5 solid years, then ends up in Dallas and becomes a back up.  I remember picking up packs of 12-13 Score hockey at K-Mart like it was only yesterday, but this is already a 5 year old card.  Niemi is #392.

Most of the names you'll see in this frankenset you'll recognize, but even the most ardent hockey fan might be troubled to remember Pauli Jaks.  This photo was more than likely taken during his only NHL appearance, where he played 40 minutes and gave up 2 goals.  The mask represents his time in the IHL with the Phoenix Roadrunners.  This is card #387 in the set, and is part of one of my favorite UD sets, 94-95.

The Loch Nets Monster, Blaine Lacher, who lasted just two seasons in the NHL.  This might be one of the best mask shots that will appear in the set.  This is from the 95-96 UD Set, and is card # 385.
Love the claw grabbing the puck on the side of his mask.   Fantastic.

I thought that Jhonas Enroth was going to be the answer as a back up in Toronto this year.  Instead, this is the only base card from Upper Deck that Jhonas will appear on as a Maple Leaf.  Good shot though of the big Maple Leaf, ironically in front of a brick wall.  At least there's a goalie in spot #424 now.

There's another half a dozen spots off the list.   Still have a lot more ground to cover though, and I'm going to try and get through a bunch of cards this week.

thanks for reading, Robert

1984

The annual homage to one of my favorite releases, the Upper Deck hockey set.  I participate every season in the ritual that is buying a few packs, chasing the rookies in the Young Gun portion of the set, and drying away the tears when I end up without any yet again.

 But, I always love the photography, and the set design is usually sharp enough to keep me entertained.  This year is no different.   I bought 5 packs last week at Target on the day I started getting sick, and I'm finally getting around to posting them on the blog.

Pack 1 of 5 had nothing to speak of, save for the Alex Ovechkin base card.  I will stop and watch a Capitals game if I see it on TV,  in hope of seeing one of Ovie's howitzers hit the net.  First year HOFer in my book.

The base set pickups of the Maple Leafs will be relatively easy again this year, with two of them being pulled in pack two.  While James van Riemsdyk on the right is one of the core Maple Leaf players (interesting that the photo was taken in Phoenix), Joffrey Lupul appears to have played his last game in a Maple Leaf jersey.  Must be nice to have that kind of money to burn...

I've always been a big fan of NHL jerseys, I have quite a few of them in my closet.  One day I would like to own the alternate Colorado Avalanche jersey that is shown he on the Gabriel Landeskog card.  Takes me back to the Colorado Rockies jersey from the late 70's.   Love it!!

These were the only 2 inserts I pulled in the 5 packs that I bought.  Jumbo Joe Thornton featured on the Shining Stars card on the left, and the UD Canvas cards are represented by Jason Spezza from the Dallas Stars on the right.  Both will likely be sent off to COMC to be sold in the marketplace.

I've always been a big fan of grinding type forwards that like to hit and don't score a lot.  Leo Komarov fits that description to a 'T'.  Not that the graceful skating on one leg depicted on his card would signify.  I saw the Jonathan Ericsson card on the right and thought to myself "boy the numbers on his jersey are huge!!"  Forgot that they had these uniforms for their outdoor game last season against the Avalanche.  Guess when you're that far away from the ice in those football stadiums that the numbers need to be big so you can see them.

As usual, no luck with pulling any of the Young Guns cards, and chances are that the 2016-17 set will not be something that I chase.  The cheapest copy that I saw of an Auston Matthews RC was $110, I also saw another auction that was selling a pair of the RC's for $275.   Yikes.  Even the oversize box toppers of Matthews are going for about $40.  This may be one of the best RC classes for quite a long time, and also one of the most expensive. 

I've got other, more pressing collecting needs at this moment, which hopefully this weekend's card show will help alleviate.

These 5 packs cost me just under $16 (including tax), so I'll just round up to $16 even.  $2000 - $16 = $1984 left to spend in 2017.

Thanks for reading, Robert