Fun Find: 1987-88 New York Islanders Police Set (Plus Original Artwork!)

 

Let's go back and visit the 6th-grade version of Gregory Ninepockets.

During that school year, a new friend introduced me to the sport of hockey. I loved it enough to start playing on foot. And then on roller skates. And then I started buying packs of hockey cards. All within a matter of months. So you can imagine my elation when the local police department visited our school that same year to teach us about the dangers of drugs, and how to combat those dangers by strengthening our physical and mental health—all with the help of hockey cards!

 

 

That's right. Hockey cards that featured members of our local pro team, the New York Islanders. There were 12 cards in all.

 

Here's the rest of the set.

The dynasty years were behind them, but stalwarts like Bryan Trottier and Brent Sutter were still part of the club. Pat LaFontaine had emerged as a franchise player by this point, too.

Now here are some examples of the card backs.

• I accept the things that I cannot do as well as others do.
• I control stress by talking to someone about it.
• To stay healthy, I will exercise, eat well, and not take drugs.
• Before taking a risk, I will always consider the consequences first.

Indeed.

 

 

But wait, that wasn't all. 

 

 

 

There was a workbook as well! (P.R.I.D.E. = Peer Resistance Instruction Drug Education.) 

Finding this book recently—and flipping through it—is what inspired me to create this entire blog post. What exactly was so nostalgic about the book?

This.

 

 

 

What you're looking at is some original art from 6th-grade Gregory. I was soaking up the sport of hockey so much that I decided to use my colored pencils to change those cartoon guys into hockey players—complete with uniforms, helmets, rollerblades, and all. Hah.

 

If you can read my 10-year-old penmanship, those players, from top to bottom, are: Dave Poulin (Flyers), Guy Lafleur (Rangers), Lanny McDonald (Flames), Bryan Trottier (Islanders), Luc Robitaille (Kings), and Aaron Broten (Devils), who is throwing an absolute fit.

Here's another one:

That's Luc Robitaille again, this time joined by Wayne Gretzky, who is offering an unnamed Canadiens player some beer. Note the effort I made to style Wayne's helmet like the old Jofa model he wore.

Also note that the Canadien seems hesitant to accept the beer, which means it's probably not Molson or Labatt.

But what a fun time it was. And you know what? All the fun and doodling aside, there was some great advice and encouragement in those lessons. Timeless advice, too.

I'm happy the workbook—not to mention all 12 hockey cards—have survived this long. They're definitely near the top of my list of nostalgic childhood items, along with the Little League game ball I found a couple of years ago.

Did any of you have similar educational visits from the local police or fire departments when you were in school? If so, do you have any mementos from those visits?

Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading!