Board Advertisements on Cards, Episode 6: Amtrak

Way back in 1978, the NHL allowed teams to start selling advertising space along the boards of their rinks. By the time I was a hockey card–collecting kid in the late 1980s, the trend had caught on. From snack foods to car manufacturers to banks to fast food restaurants, board advertisements really ran the gamut—and they still do.

This series will explore some of the advertisements that also managed to make their way onto hockey cards.

 

Previous entries are available here.

1991-92 O-Pee-Chee #201,
Wayne Gretzky Highlights

Here's Wayne Gretzky in that classic Los Angeles Kings uniform, sporting that silver Easton aluminum hockey stick. He's positioned along the boards, no doubt ready to receive a pass and set up yet another scoring opportunity.

 

The card commemorates Gretzky scoring his 2,000th NHL point. No one has done it since. (Jaromir Jagr is the closest, with 1,921.) The feat was accomplished against the Winnipeg Jets on October 28, 1990. However, the photo on the front of the card is not from that game. How can we tell?

Have a look just over Mr. Gretzky's right shoulder. I see a little piece of a New York Rangers jersey there, to the side of the mustachioed guy's face.

Additionally, have a look at the advertisement on the boards behind Mr. Gretzky.

 

It's for Amtrak. And I know for certain that an Amtrak advertisement was plastered on the boards at Madison Square Garden back then. You see, the Garden is right on top of Penn Station, which offers Amtrak train service to various parts of North America. (Winnipeg does not.)

 

I wonder if the folks at MSG were kind enough to cut them a deal on the advertising fee.

 

Even if they didn't, let's talk about Amtrak. 

 

In theory, it's great. Ride by rail. See the country, from the mountains to the prairies, etcetera. Enjoy our café car. And our bar car. And for the really long trips: our sleeper cars!

 

In practice, however, the experience can be less than ideal. Delays. More delays. Inadequate luggage space. Crowded cars. Inconsiderate passengers. (One time, the guy in the seat across the aisle from me immediately took off his shoes upon boarding, and stretched his bare, stinky feet out into the aisle.)

 

It's not all bad, of course. Sometimes Amtrak really does live up to its potential. The scenery as you look out the windows can be truly beautiful. And I've got some great memories of taking Amtrak from Penn Station to the Adirondacks in the summers as a young teenager, by myself, toting along a duffel bag and a guitar, to spend time with my family up there. Nothing else quite like it.

 

Speaking of nothing else quite like it, I'm not sure we need to mention much about Wayne Gretzky's hockey history in this post: the 61 NHL records that he still holds to this day, or the 4 Stanley Cup rings he owns, or the 18 All-Star games he appeared in, or the many times he suited up for Team Canada, or anything else. Instead, how about we link the guy to the board advertisement?

 

Here is a list of the four NHL cities Mr. Gretzky played for, along with just some of the Amtrak lines that run to and from each city. (I've included links that provide more information, for those of you who might fancy traveling by rail):

Edmonton: None

Los Angeles: Pacific Surfliner, California Zephyr

St. Louis: Missouri River Runner, Texas Eagle

New York: Adirondack, Northeast Regional, Vermonter, Carolinian/Piedmont

Everything else aside, you've got to admit that the folks at Amtrak have come up with some great names for their train lines. Who wouldn't want to take a ride on the California Zephyr, or the Missouri River Runner?

 

So how about you readers? Have you ever traveled by Amtrak or any other scenic railway? If so, what was your experience like?

 

Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading!

Board Advertisements on Cards, Episode 5: MSG Network

Way back in 1978, the NHL allowed teams to start selling advertising space along the boards of their rinks. By the time I was a hockey card–collecting kid in the late 1980s, the trend had caught on. From snack foods to car manufacturers to banks to fast food restaurants, board advertisements really ran the gamut—and they still do.

This series will explore some of the advertisements that also managed to make their way onto hockey cards.

 

Previous entries are available here.

 

 

1991-92 O-Pee-Chee #289, Ray Sheppard

 

Here's Ray Sheppard of the Rangers, being trailed and hooked by an Edmonton Oiler who I think is Joe Murphy.

 

Back then, home teams wore white jerseys, so this game is being played at Madison Square Garden. And if you need any more proof, just have a look at the board advertisement to the right of Mr. Sheppard.

 

 

 

It's for the Madison Square Garden Network!

 

The MSG Network was—and still is—a television and radio service that broadcasts local sporting events and other programming. And they don't only cover Garden residents like the Rangers and Knicks. They also cover games played by the Islanders, Sabres, and Devils (hockey), Giants (football), Red Bulls (soccer), and Riptide (lacrosse), along with regional collegiate and high school sports.

 

Can't blame the network for taking up some advertising space during Rangers games, can you?

 

It's a sharp-looking logo, too, although it's since gone through some rebranding. For another look at the old logo, check out this video introduction to a Knicks game back in 1988:

 

 

 

Snazzy theme song, ritzy graphics, New York City, Marv Albert. Time to watch the game!

But let's get back to hockey for a moment and the man on the featured card. Ray Sheppard had an excellent 13-year career in the NHL, playing for the Sabres, Rangers, Red Wings, Sharks, Panthers, and Hurricanes.

His Ranger days came only across one season (1990-91), but in 59 games played he posted 24 goals and 23 assists for 47 points.

He was an excellent goal scorer from his very first season in the league (38 G, 27 A, 65 PTS in 1987-88), which earned him a spot on the All-Rookie team. His best season was likely 1993-94 with the Red Wings, when in 82 games he put up a stellar 52 goals and 41 assists for 93 points. 19 of those goals came on the power play. Sheppard also seemed to be a pretty good guy and a clean player, never compiling more than 29 penalty minutes in a season and earning some Lady Byng votes quite a few times across his career.

Career numbers: 817 GP, 357 G, 300 A, 657 PTS, 212 PIM, 125 PPG, 52 GWG

Back to the board advertisement now. At some point in the past, the folks at MSG began promoting the Garden as "The World's Most Famous Arena". If that's not an ingratiating, New York-ish thing to do, I don't know what is. But I suppose the Garden is pretty famous. And I do have some great Garden memories:

(1) Watching Wayne Gretzky play during his time with the Rangers. His on-ice awareness was second to none. Many times he'd just coast over to a certain section of the ice while play was going on elsewhere in the zone, and as soon as we'd all wonder what in the world he was doing just standing there alone, the puck would bounce out from a battle against the boards and come right to him.

(2) Watching Michael Jordan play against the Knicks. I've never seen one person completely control the pace of a game like he did. If he wanted the game to speed up, he sped it up and everyone else on the court followed suit. If he wanted to slow the game down, he did, and everyone again followed suit. Without exception. He had such a huge presence, and it was fun to feel that in person.

 

 

So now my question to you is:

 

Have you ever been to a game or other event at Madison Square Garden? If so, share some memories in the comment section below.

Thanks for reading!

From the Favorites Box: Glenn Healy, 1991-92 O-Pee-Chee #368

A series where I post some thoughts about favorite cards. Previous cards in the series are available here.

Here's Glenn Healy, minding the net at Nassau Coliseum.

 

 

The old Coliseum, the classic home white uniforms, the advertisement on the boards behind him, it all reminds me of a Glenn Healy story from a game I attended back then—probably around the same year this card was released. 

 

Toward the end of pre-game warmups, Mr. Healy was still on the ice and noticed a few kids standing 15 or 20 rows back from the glass, behind his net. No one else was in that section of seats. (The Islanders weren't very good at the time, and weren't drawing huge crowds during pre-game warmups, especially on a weeknight as it was.) It became clear to me that he was trying to figure out a way to get a puck or two up there so the kids could go home with a souvenir. But how? 

Well, he got the attention of a couple of his players and pointed them toward the kids. Then he moved to the side of the goal, tapped the blade of his goalie stick on the ice, and tilted it back, effectively producing a ramp. (Can you see where this is going?) 

The players picked up on it. They began deliberately shooting pucks hard and along the ice, right toward Healy's stick-ramp.

Unfortunately for Healy, he'd angled his stick perfectly wrong. Instead of going up and over the glass, the first shot went straight into the top of the goal!

He threw his head back as if he were saying "D'oh!"

It was a funny moment. And as I look back now, it's impressive. Think about it. There was Glenn Healy, professional NHL goaltender, having fun like a kid—during warmups of an NHL game. 

When most players were busy getting their game faces on, Healy was busy trying to get a hockey puck to a few kids in the stands. Now it could be that he wasn't the starting goaltender that evening, and that's why he was goofing around a little bit. I don't know. But in any case, the moment stuck with me.

And if you know anything about Mr. Healy, it will all make perfect sense. 

He was quite a lighthearted guy during his playing career (as evidenced by a little TV comedy spot he'd occasionally do with teammate Patrick Flatley called The Heals and Flats Show. In this particular segment they discuss the differences between the NFL and the CFL). 

Not surprisingly, after his playing career ended, Healy continued to amuse hockey fans as a color commentator and analyst for various Canadian television networks. Currently he's the President and Executive Director of the NHL Alumni Association, and despite the lofty job title, I'm sure he still keeps everyone laughing.

Here are his career numbers across 15 seasons: 437 GP, 166 W, 190 L, 47 T, 13 SHO, 3.37 GAA, .887 SV%

Although he didn't spend much of that time as his team's outright number-one goalie, Healy had some pretty good individual seasons, winning as many as 25 games with the Kings in 1988-89 and 22 games with the Islanders in 1992-93. He also played a big part in taking the Isles to the Conference Finals that season, dethroning the two-time defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins along the way. 

The following year he was traded to the Rangers, just in time to provide solid backup to Mike Richter across 29 games of the regular season. He also helped the team hoist the Stanley Cup that year, appearing in parts of 2 playoff games and posting a robust .941 save percentage (16 saves on 17 shots) along with a minuscule 0.89 goals-against average.

I'm sure he played a big part in keeping his teammates loose during those intense Stanley Cup games, too.

And for reminding us that it is indeed possible to have a little fun despite the pressure of playing a professional sport—or perhaps because of the pressure—1991-92 O-Pee-Chee #368 has a spot in my box of favorite cards.

Here's to the new hockey season.