"Now with [insert team here]"

Pop quiz, card collectors:

 

It's the late 1970s, and you're working down at the O-Pee-Chee trading card factory. A pro hockey player changes NHL teams at a time of year that throws a bit of a monkeywrench into the print schedule. There's no time to airbrush him into a new uniform.

 

What do you do?

 

 

That's what you do.

 

And you do it because you didn't have much else of a choice back then. Photos were taken with cameras that contained a roll of film. That film had to be developed and sent to the printing or design facility through the mail. If it was the off-season, you weren't exactly going to send a photographer out to the player's home to ask him to put on his new hockey jersey for a photo.

 

But I like the printed text solution. It's short. Sweet.

 

However, sometimes the explanation that you needed for the card wasn't quite as simple as "Now with [insert team here]". And that's where the rest of this post is going. Check out this next card, for example, which was the catalyst for the entire thing:

 

 

1976-77 O-Pee-Chee #86, Dennis Maruk

 

 

Team transferred to Cleveland.

 

You don't see that on a trading card every day. But the late-70s was an interesting time for hockey. The WHA, a new rival league to the NHL, was all over the place, with teams starting up, folding, or being consolidated and moved one after another.

 

And Dennis Maruk's card is evidence of that, as were some of his teammates in the same 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee set (but not the Topps version).

 

From my hockey card–collecting experience, O-Pee-Chee usually did contain more of these "notes of interest" in their sets than Topps did in their versions, even when the cards were exactly the same otherwise. Perhaps O-Pee-Chee's print schedule fell just a bit later on the calendar than Topps' did, giving them a little more room to make adjustments before the cards went to print. Or maybe they just cared about hockey more than Topps did. Either way, it's led to some very peculiar notes. 

 

Now that we've seen the most curious example from the 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee set, let's review some examples from the next 10 years of cards. (A span that includes the prime years for these sorts of text updates.)

 

 

1977-78 O-Pee-Chee #285, Bob Plager

 

NOW COACHING ST. LOUIS MINOR TEAM

Well that's rather specific. It may seem like a shame that Bob Plager wasn't given a coaching job with the big club. However, he did some excellent work after his playing career came to a close. As one example, he is widely credited with developing the method we all currently know as advanced scouting.

 

1978-79 O-Pee-Chee #119, Tom Edur

"Now with Blues" 

 

 NO WAIT

 

"Retired from active playing" 

This card makes you wonder if the O-Pee-Chee design department typed all their text updates directly onto the photo, and couldn't delete them. But I don't know. If they first typed "Now with Blues" and then at some point later on were informed that Mr. Edur had retired, couldn't they have just airbrushed that first note out? Strange.

 

 

 

 

 

1979-80 O-Pee-Chee #150, Ken Dryden

"NOW RETIRED"

O-Pee-Chee got more plain and simple this time. Dryden had a phenomenal career, though, winning multiple Stanley Cups and Vezina trophies, plus a Conn Smythe and a Calder, and it's nice that he went off into the sunset with a "retired" note. Dryden has had an equally remarkable career in his post-playing days: author, commentator, lawyer, politician, and executive.

 

 

 

 

 

1980-81 O-Pee-Chee #369, Pierre Plante

"Now with Nordiques"

What makes this example curious is not the note itself. It's the fact that Mr. Plante is pictured in a Nordiques uniform! So why the note? I guess Captain Obvious must have been working at the O-Pee-Chee factory that day. To add even more oddity to the story, Quebec had claimed Plante from the Rangers the previous year, and that one year in Quebec turned out to be his final NHL season. So by the time this card was released, he had retired.

 

 

1981-82 O-Pee-Chee #20, Danny Gare

"Traded to Red Wings" Dec. 2/81

O-Pee-Chee has gotten more specific now, providing a month, day, and year for Danny Gare's trade. They had just enough white space to do it, too. Gare spent his peak years with Buffalo, putting up a career-high 56 goals in 1979-80, which tied him for the league lead with LA's Charlie Simmer and Hartford's Blaine Stoughton. It's no wonder that he looks a bit down on the card above. Detroit was not a good team at all in 1981-82, finishing at the bottom of the Norris Division with a record of 21-47-12.

1982-83 O-Pee-Chee #44, Bill Clement

Free Agent As Of Nov. 9/82

It was very nice of O-Pee-Chee to try and help Bill find a new team by advertising on his card that he had become a free agent. However, it didn't help. Bill Clement's final NHL year was 1981-82, so this was his sunset card. The guy did win two Stanley Cups with the Flyers in the 1970s, though, and was a long-time broadcaster. In fact, he just recently retired (2021).

 

 

 

 

1983-84 O-Pee-Chee #142, Merlin Malinowski

Playing in Europe

We're back to much more general information here. The conversation at O-Pee-Chee must have gone something like this:

OPC employee 1: Hey, Malinowski is playing in Europe now.

OPC employee 2: Oh, really?

OPC employee 1: Yeah, want to know the specific country or team for the text blurb?

OPC employee 2: Nope.

 

To add some specifics to the note on the card above, Merlin Malinowski played in the Swiss professional league through the 1989-90 season, and represented Canada at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary. His best NHL season was 1980-81, when he put up 25 goals, 37 assists, and 62 points in 67 games played for the Colorado Rockies. He finished second in team scoring to Lanny McDonald.

 

 

 

1984-85 O-Pee-Chee #306, Terry Martin

 

DRAFTED TO EDMONTON OCTOBER 1984

This rather specific note refers to the Waiver Draft that occurred at the end of training camp and just before the season started. Teams would submit a list of protected players, and a few unprotected players could be claimed by other teams off waivers. As for Martin, after a few good seasons in Toronto, the Leafs left him exposed at the Waiver Draft, and Edmonton picked him up. He would only play a few games with the new team that season, and then a few more with the North Stars before going back down to the AHL for a couple of seasons to finish out his pro career.

 

 

1985-86 O-Pee Chee #220 John Garrett and #134 Bob Manno

"NOW ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER"

There was no way I was leaving this note unresearched. It turns out that John Garrett was offered the Canucks' GM job by Harry Neale, the team's active GM at the time. However, Neale was fired before Garrett accepted the role, and the offer was withdrawn. Did Mr. Garrett sulk? No. The following year he became a hockey broadcaster and color commentator—and he served in that capacity all the way up to the end of the 2022-23 season, when he announced that he was retiring from Canucks regional broadcasts.

 

"FREE AGENT, NOW PLAYING WITH TEAM IN ITALY"

After he left the Red Wings, Bob Manno played for quite a few years in Italy, all the way through the 1993-94 season. Not only did he play in the professional league there, but he also suited up for the Italian national team on numerous occasions, including the 1992 Winter Olympics. If you're interested in the specific Italian pro teams that Manno played for, there were five of them: Merano, Fassa HC, Milan Saima SG, Milan HC, and Bolzano HC. Want to hear an absurd stat line? In 1985-86, his first year of Italian pro hockey, he put up 28 goals and 78 assists for 106 points . . . in 38 games played!

1986-87 O-Pee-Chee #104 Bob Nystrom and #128 Reijo Ruotsalainen

"NOW ASSISTANT COACH WITH ISLANDERS"

Bob Nystrom retired and went straight into coaching. He remained a coach for a couple of years, then did some broadcasting, and for years represented the Islanders in various community relations events and initiatives. It's one of the many reasons he's referred to as "Mr. Islander."

 

"FREE AGENT PRESENTLY IN FINLAND"

I think it's humorous that the card doesn't say Reijo Ruotsalainen is playing in Finland. He's just in Finland. It's possible that he's playing pro hockey there and waiting for a call from an NHL team. Or maybe he's just out fishing, or something. 

 

Regardless, there's a chance the note on his card did help him land a job. The talented defenseman did play in Europe during the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons, and then came back to the NHL for the 1989-90 season—first with New Jersey for 31 games, then with Edmonton for another 10 to end the regular season. After that, he made the postseason roster and helped Edmonton win a Stanley Cup. He put up 2 goals and 11 assists in 22 playoff games. Good timing.

So there you have it. A decade of intriguing text updates on cards. Can you think of any other memorable notes on cards, regardless of the sport or era?

 

Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading!

Four Dudes Wearin' Hockey Jerseys

Who doesn't love looking through vintage photos? And what I mean by vintage photos is "film from a camera that was developed by photo labs and printed on actual paper".

 

Well, recently I was looking through some of these types of images, and I found a few that featured dudes wearing hockey jerseys.

 

Check 'em out.

 

Here's Rogie. He drives a 1970 Buick LeSabre—green with a white hardtop. Doesn't smoke except for after a meal, and even then, only after a good frankfurter cooked and eaten out of doors. He's a Canadian through and through, but last winter his brother-in-law got him a Red Wings jersey. He took one look at it, thought for a few seconds, and said "good enough". Now he wears it every weekend. He's not worried about the future of rock music. He knows it's hit its zenith already, and he's fine with that. There are more than enough rock and roll gems out there to keep him satisfied.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Born in Montreal, Bob relocated across the border to Buffalo six years ago to work in the up-and-coming computer sales field. He finally got promoted to middle management this year, but after the first month he's not sure it's for him. Had his first luxury box experience at a Sabres game with some company bigwigs last week. Didn't like it. He'll take the cheap seats over that stuff any day. Figures that his freedom and happiness will outweigh any demotion or pay cut he incurs if he goes back to the trenches as a sales assistant. He's also heard about this thing called a sauna. Going to have a good sit and steam. Thinks it might help him reach a decision about the job.

 

 

 

 

 

Gerry is sole proprietor of Gerry's Auto Shop, just a few minutes outside of Boston. He'd rather be farther out in the suburbs, but knows Boston is where the business is. Taught his 10-year-old son how to change an oil filter last weekend. Can't wait for the boy to be old enough to work in the shop. The kid has a better attitude and work ethic than most of the adults Gerry employs now. Knows New England clam chowder is better than Manhattan, but doesn't really get the whole big deal about the debate. Says you should eat what you want and don't worry about the rest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tony keeps this fact mainly to himself, but he actually doesn't mind disco. There are some good nightclubs in the Chicago area, but he's too old for that crowd now. He's in that weird spot—too old for disco, too young for bocce. His dad plays bocce all the time, and although Tony has never understood why anyone does, he knows one day he'll try it and like it. Loves a good hot beef sandwich with giardiniera for lunch on Wednesdays. Helps get him over the hump.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those were mere fables, of course.

 

The truth about Rogie, Bob, Gerry, and Tony is that they're not just any old dudes wearing hockey jerseys. They're professional hockey goalies. And their photos aren't just any old photos. All four have been printed and preserved on a single hockey card. 

 

Don't believe it? Here's the proof.

Even if you're not much of a hockey fan and the photos and first names weren't familiar to you, the last names of a couple of those guys might do the trick.

 

Here's the card back.

 

Just think: If Michel Larocque and Chico Resch had put up one more shutout each, the front of this card would have had even more photos of cool dudes wearing hockey jerseys.

Still, it's great that Topps/OPC went with four images that showed each goalie's face, sans mask. And I think there's a pretty good chance that Rogie Vachon did drive a 1970s-era Buick LeSabre at some point. Just look at that guy.

The 1982-83 O-Pee-Chee Dating Game: FINAL EPISODE

 

Welcome back to the 1982-83 O-Pee-Chee Dating Game. WE'VE REACHED THE FINAL EPISODE! (APPLAUSE)

It's been a great series with some entertaining contests. And if we've learned anything, it's that our NHL bachelors have quite a healthy variety of skills and hobbies. They're landscape business owners, water skiers, cooking enthusiasts, horseback riders, wind surfers, golfers, fishing enthusiasts, race-horse hobbyists, computer nerds, tennis players, boxers, public speakers, loggers, hunters, guitar players, and more.

Here's a list of the winners, by episode number:

 

1. Normand Leveille (Boston Bruins)
2. Ron Francis (Hartford Whalers)/Steve Kasper (Boston Bruins) (tie)
3. Mark Messier (Edmonton Oilers)
4. Aaron Broten (New Jersey Devils)
5. Dale Hawerchuk (Winnipeg Jets)
6. Curt Fraser (Vancouver Canucks)
7. Ron Greschner (New York Rangers)
8. Keith Brown (Chicago Blackhawks)/Brad Palmer (Boston Bruins) (tie)
9. Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers)
10. Glenn Anderson (Edmonton Oilers)
11. Mark Pavelich (New York Rangers)
12. Paul Woods (Detroit Red Wings)
13. Kevin Lowe (Edmonton Oilers)
14. Paul Reinhart (Calgary Flames)
15. Joe Mullen (St. Louis Blues)
16. Lars Molin (Vancouver Canucks)/Jim Peplinski (Calgary Flames) (tie)
17. Mike Foligno (Buffalo Sabres)/Brent Sutter (New York Islanders) (tie)
18. Chris Valentine (Washington Capitals)
19. Mike Ramsey (Buffalo Sabres)
20. Grant Fuhr (Edmonton Oilers)
21. Bobby Carpenter (Washington Capitals)

The bachelor who received the most votes in his victory was Mark Pavelich, with a total of 6 votes back in Episode 11. Way to go, Pav! (APPLAUSE)

 

For this final episode, we'll have to do something a little differently though. Why? 

 

Well, There were 64 players who were listed as bachelors on the back of their cards—enough for 21 rounds. 

 

That makes a total of 63, however, which means there's one poor guy left over.

 

 

 

How about a big hand for Joe Cirella! (APPLAUSE)

 

Now we can't just award him the date with our lovely lady this week, so what we're going to do is bring back two contestants who didn't win their rounds. First, please welcome back Left Wing from the New York Rangers, Don Maloney! (APPLAUSE)

 

 

 

Mr. Maloney was shut out by teammate Mark Pavelich in their round.

 

Next, please give a warm welcome to Left Wing from the Chicago Black Hawks, Al Secord! (APPLAUSE)

 

 

Mr. Secord was one of the unlucky competitors who appeared in the same episode as young Wayne Gretzky. 

 

Now that you're all here, gentlemen, please have a seat on the stage, thank you.

 

 

Let's get right to it and find out more about these gents from the back of their hockey cards.

 

 

Not much to say from two of the three bachelors. Maybe Mr. Secord's boxing history had them a little worried. Nevertheless, our lovely lady needs a date! Who will it be?

 

Bachelor number 1: Rookie Joe Cirella, who racked up some big-time PIMs in Ottawa a couple of seasons ago and now finds himself in New Jersey.

Bachelor number 2: Ontario man Don Maloney, who's been putting up consistent goal totals in the Big Apple.

Bachelor number 3: Boxing man Al Secord, who tallied a whopping 44 goals and 303 penalty minutes last year. 

 

 

Cast your votes, and thank you to all the readers and card collectors who participated throughout this series. Your humorous and entertaining comments really made it fun!

If you'd like to look back at any of the episodes, I've created a tab on the menu bar at the top of the blog.

1980-81 NHL Scoring: What Was in the Water? (Part II)

Part one of this two-part post featured a small subset of record breaker cards at the end of the 1981-82 O-Pee-Chee hockey set. See if you can find the theme:

#390: Hat tricks (Mike Bossy, 9)
#391: 100+ points by each member of a forward line (Dave Taylor, Marcel Dionne, Charlie Simmer)
#392: Points (Wayne Gretzky, 164)
#393: Points by a rookie defenseman (Larry Murphy, 76)
#394: Assists by a goalie (Mike Palmateer, 8)
#395: Points by a rookie (Peter Stastny, 109)

Yep, you've got it. Forwards, defensemen . . . even the goalies were putting up points!

However, before any of those records fell that season, there was something else going on. Something big. And that's where part II comes in.

Way back in the 1944-45 season, the legendary Maurice Richard scored 50 goals within his team's first 50 games. He was the first ever to do it. And so incredible was the accomplishment that as time went on—even after 35 seasons of trying—still no one else had reached the mark.

But in 1980-81? 

Suddenly there wasn't just one man racing to the feat. There were two.

Throughout the first few months of the season, Charlie Simmer and Mike Bossy would score goals left and right trying to reach that rarefied air; Bossy with the Islanders on the East coast, Simmer with the Kings on the West coast. 

Here's a look back at the thrill show that started in October and didn't finish until the end of January.

For Simmer, goals came in bunches right from the start. He scored 13 in his first 10 games. I'm sure a few people tossed around the 50-in-50 idea even at that early point, but who'd take them seriously? Not many. "It's just a hot streak to start the season", they'd say.

Mike Bossy, on the other hand, only scored 5 goals in his first 10 games. Nothing to talk about there. But in the next 10 games he'd add a preposterous 17 more. Check out this run of four consecutive games:

Nov. 4 vs. Detroit: 1 goal
Nov. 6 vs. Boston: 2 goals
Nov. 8 vs. Chicago: 3 goals
Nov. 11 vs. Minnesota: 4 goals

Yikes.

Simmer wasn't a slouch in his next 10 games either, putting home 8 more goals of his own. The count now?

Mike Bossy: 22 goals in 20 games
Charlie Simmer: 21 goals in 20 games

And maybe, maybe a few more folks in the hockey world began to think about 50-in-50. After all, both players were about halfway there, and keeping pace.

Bossy would add 16 more goals in his next 20 games, which gave him 38 in 40.

As for Simmer? He'd do even better, adding 18 more to his totals in the same 20-game stretch. That gave him 39 in 40, including these four consecutive games:

Dec. 20 vs. Buffalo: 2 goals
Dec. 23 vs. Edmonton: 2 goals
Dec. 26 vs. Vancouver: 2 goals
Dec. 27 vs. St. Louis: 2 goals

Yikes again.

Now at this point, 40 games into the season, the NHL world, its media, the regional news, even the guys playing pick-up hockey at the local rink—they must have all been talking about the chance of both players hitting the magical mark of 50 goals in 50 games.

What would happen next?

Well, in Bossy's next five games he'd add just three goals. That made it 41 in 45.

And Simmer? He'd do only a little better, adding four more and giving him 43 in 45.

"They're starting to feel the pressure", you can hear the reporters say.

Oh, those reporters of little faith. 

What did Mike Bossy do in his next two games?

Game 46, Jan. 13 vs. Pittsburgh: 4 goals
Game 47, Jan. 17 vs. Washington: 3 goals

Even though he wouldn't score any goals in game #48, Mr. Bossy now found himself at 48 goals in 48 games.

And Mr. Simmer?

Game 46, Jan. 17 vs. Pittsburgh: 1 goal
Game 47, Jan 18 vs. Philadelphia: 0 goals
Game 48, Jan. 20 vs. Detroit: 2 goals

Simmer now had 46 goals in 48 games.

"They've both still got a chance!" You can hear those fickle reporters say.

However, the roller coaster ride wasn't over.

Mike Bossy's game 49?
Jan. 22 vs. Detroit: 0 goals

Charlie Simmer's game 49?
Jan. 22 vs. Toronto: 0 goals

Their totals remained the same. Mike Bossy: 48 goals in 49 games. Charlie Simmer: 46 goals in 49 games.

"Bossy can still do it, but it looks like the mark is out of reach for Simmer", most would say.

So it would come down to the 50th game for both men. And of course, as if it were scripted, both games took place on the same night: Wednesday, January 24th, 1981. (Exactly 40 years to the day.)

Bossy's Islanders hosted the Québec Nordiques, while Simmer's Kings were in Boston, facing the Bruins. And that made the script even better: two East-coast starting times.

Who'd score first? Would either man hit the mark? Would the Nordiques and Bruins do even more than usual to try and stop them? 

Sheesh, what a lead-up there must have been in the papers and on the news.

"We'll be periodically interrupting your regularly scheduled programming to bring you updates on the chase for 50 goals in 50 games", the station announcer would say.

Without internet and live updates, you'd have to tune in. And stay tuned.

And wouldn't you know it, both Simmer and Bossy forced everyone to do just that—stay tuned all night. 

In Boston, the puck dropped and the Bruins scored two goals by the halfway point of the first period (both from Rick Middleton). Despite two power plays for the Kings in the second half of the period, neither Simmer nor the Kings managed to score.

End of first period in Boston: Bruins 2, Kings 0.

Over on Long Island, it looked to be more of the same. The Nordiques got on the board first, but about three minutes later the Islanders tied it up. Was it Bossy? 

No. Clark Gillies.

End of first period on Long Island: Islanders 1, Nordiques 1.

Back to Boston now, where the Bruins added another goal about two minutes into the second period. They'd continue to frustrate the Kings until the 12:18 mark, when the shutout was broken. Was it Simmer?

No. Marcel Dionne.

But then, about five minutes later, on the power play, a news update:

"Charlie Simmer has scored a power-play goal at the 17:40 mark of the second period in Boston. He's now got 47 goals on the season, only one behind Mike Bossy for the league lead, and three short of 50 goals in 50 games."

That second period would end with a score of Boston 3, Los Angeles 2. The Kings were back in it, and so was Simmer.

And Mike Bossy on the Island? The second period did yield a broadcast announcement.  

"After the Nordiques scored a goal to take the lead 2-1, the Islanders replied with two power-play goals in less than a minute . . ."

Surely this must be it!

". . . both coming from the stick of Anders Kallur. The Islanders have taken the lead, 3-2, but Mike Bossy is still not on the score sheet."

The Nordiques added a late goal from Michel Goulet, and the score was tied after two periods of play, 3-3.

And while Islanders fans may have started to feel their first bit of deflation (could our guy score two goals in the third period alone?), Kings fans were on the edges of their seats:

"Back to your scheduled program in a moment, but first an update: Just 1 minute and 23 seconds into the third period, Charlie Simmer has scored another power-play goal. He's now tied for the league lead with Mike Bossy at 48."

Think about the difference in time zones for a moment. When the game started, the 9-to-5 Los Angeles crowd would have still been on the clock at work. But at this point in the game, they surely would have been out of the office for an hour or so, and stationed next to any TV or radio they could find. Could their guy catch—and even surpass—Mike Bossy before the night was over? Incredible! 

Islanders fans were concerned in an equal but opposite way. About five minutes into the third period, the Nordiques pulled ahead 4-3 on a goal by Anton Stastny. At the halfway point, the home team did tie it up again . . .
 

. . . but the goal was from Steve Tambellini (who was traded to the Rockies later in the season). Only 10 minutes to go, and Mike Bossy hadn't even gotten to 49.

Things were moving along in Boston, though. Less than a minute after Charlie Simmer had scored that 48th goal, Billy Harris scored, giving the Kings a 4-3 lead. A couple of minutes later, Boston tied the score on a goal from Brad Park. 

But then a few minutes later, the Kings went ahead yet again on a goal from . . .

. . . Jim Fox—assisted by Charlie Simmer. Would that assist mojo at the halfway point of the third period get Simmer going? He'd only had two shots on goal in the game, but scored on both of them. He needed another two.

Minutes ticked by, and although the Kings were ahead by a goal, Simmer was running out of time. I can only imagine he was double-shifting for the rest of the game (staying on the ice for another consecutive shift while his linemates went off for some rest). And you'd better believe his teammates were trying their hardest to set him up.

But the minutes continued to tick by. With just a little bit of time left, Boston, still down by one goal, pulled their goalie Jim Craig for an extra attacker. Simmer was on the ice. Could he get to 49 with an empty-netter, and somehow put in another quick goal after that with Craig back in the crease? Another interruption hit the airwaves:

"This just in from Boston: Charlie Simmer has scored into an empty net, giving him three goals for the game and 49 for the season . . . 

. . . The goal was scored with one second remaining in the game, and Simmer, although giving it everything he had, has simply run out of time in his quest for 50 goals in 50 games."

On Long Island things weren't looking too cheery, either. Those 10 minutes Bossy had to work with had quickly dwindled to 5 without a change to the score sheet. But then:

"Folks, we'll get you back to your program in a moment, but we have an update from Nassau Coliseum: At the 15:50 mark of the third period, Mike Bossy has scored a power-play goal, with assists from Stefan Persson and Bryan Trottier. The goal gives Bossy 49 on the season, and he's got just a few minutes left to net his 50th. If he can do it, he'd tie the record of 50 goals in a team's first 50 games set by Maurice Richard 36 years ago."

I wonder if at this point any television channels went to the live game broadcast and stayed there (similar to when Pete Rose set the all-time hit record, and they went live to the game for the entirety of each of his at-bats). 

It would have been wise if they did, because:

"Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt your regularly scheduled program once again, because with less than two minutes remaining in this evening's game against the Québec Nordiques, Mike Bossy has scored his 50th goal of the season, giving him 50 goals in his team's first 50 games!"

A near-miss in Boston, but elation on Long Island. 

Looking back, I wonder if that race to 50-in-50 was anything like the home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in 1998. I was a college student then, working at a sports memorabilia store. It's all anyone wanted to talk about through the summer and into the fall. We pleaded with our boss to have cable TV installed so all of us, customers and employees alike, could tune in whenever a Cardinals or Cubs game was on.

Do you think hockey fans have specific memories from that 1980-81 season? Can they tell you where they were when Bossy scored his 50th? And when Simmer came ever-so-close? I don't think there's much doubt about that. 

What a season. And remember, on top of the race between Simmer and Bossy, you had all those other players scoring points at record-setting paces. Forwards, defensemen, rookies, goalies. Not to mention a young Wayne Gretzky who was starting to blossom (he'd score 55 goals and add 109 assists that year, and then the following year . . . watch out). There was so much for hockey fans to be excited about.

But let's get back to Simmer and Bossy for a moment. After the mad rush to game #50, how did the season shake out for both of these phenomenal players?

 

 

Charlie Simmer reached 56 goals by his 65th game, and then unfortunately suffered an injury that ended his season. But what a remarkable season it was. He and his two linemates, Marcel Dionne and Dave Taylor, all reached the 100-point mark, setting a record. And keep in mind Simmer's absurd shooting percentage of 32.7, which was another record. (Mike Bossy finished at 21.6, which is also tremendous.)

 

As for Bossy, his goal production slowed down a little bit, as to be expected. But he still finished with a league-leading 68 goals in 79 games. Of those 68 goals, 10 were game winners, which also led the league. And 28 of them came on the power play, which not only led the league, but set another record. 

All the more meaningful, he and the Islanders would lift the Stanley Cup at season's end—their second of what would turn out to be four straight championships. Bossy led the league in playoff scoring that year as well, with a staggering 17 goals and 18 assists in 18 games. What an incredible time it must have been for him.

So that's part II of the series, with help again provided by the 1981-82 O-Pee-Chee hockey set. I hope you enjoyed the walk-through and the "broadcast" bit.

Thanks very much for reading.

1980-81 NHL Scoring: What Was in the Water? (Part I)

A little more than a year ago I wrote about a largely forgotten NHL record. During the 1980-81 season, the Triple Crown Line in Los Angeles did something quite special. Each player on that line—Marcel Dionne, Charlie Simmer, and Dave Taylor—finished the season with more than 100 points. And the folks at O-Pee-Chee commemorated the record with a card in the 1981-82 set.

That record-breaker card caught me by surprise, so much so that after writing about it I began looking deeper into the full set. Quickly I'd find the other record breaker cards. Have a look at the complete list:

#390: Hat tricks (Mike Bossy, 9)

 

#391: 100+ points by each member of a forward line
(Marcel Dionne, Charlie Simmer, Dave Taylor)

#392: Points (Wayne Gretzky, 164)

#393: Points by a rookie defenseman (Larry Murphy, 76)

#394: Assists by a goalie (Mike Palmateer, 8)

#395: Points by a rookie (Peter Stastny, 109)

There was so much offense, even the goalies were putting up points! And if no player on your hometown team was setting league scoring records, you probably still watched a couple of your guys set personal scoring records. It's a trend that would continue throughout the decade. What a time to be a hockey fan.

But there's a peculiar side-note to all of this: Those record breaker cards go from #390 to #395, despite the fact that there are 396 cards in the set. So what's the final card? A checklist? A team card of the Stanley Cup champions?

No.

#396, the final card in the set, is . . .

Bob Manno.

Well that's odd. After a great run of record breaker cards, why not end the set with one more? Or push Manno back to card #390 and move all the other record breaker cards up one spot, so the set ended with the Stastny card? 

I started to wonder whether O-Pee-Chee, at some point in production, thought about creating another record breaker card but then scratched it for some reason.

After some digging in the stat books, I found two possibilities:

(1) Mike Bossy put up a whopping 28 power-play goals during the 1980-81 season. Up to that point in NHL history, it was the highest total ever (he broke the former record of 27, which had been reached most recently just two seasons earlier by . . . Mike Bossy).

(2) Charlie Simmer had a record-setting shooting percentage during the 1980-81 season, and the number is so high it will knock you right out of your chair. Get ready:

32.7%

Yes. That's correct. Charlie Simmer scored on more than 3 out of every 10 shots on goal he took that season. Practically 1 out of every 3. And he scored a total of 56 goals. It was the highest NHL single-season shooting percentage ever.

But Bossy (#390, hat tricks) and Simmer (#391, Triple Crown Line) already had record breaker cards in the set. Perhaps O-Pee-Chee began working up #396 for either Bossy or Simmer, but then thought that one record breaker card for each of them was enough.

And so Bob Manno got the spot. Airbrushed into an Maple Leafs jersey. Oy.

One more theory? Another record was tied that year, and it was a big one: Mike Bossy scored 50 goals in his team's first 50 games. Maurice Richard was the first to do it, 36 years earlier, and no one had done it since.

I suppose it's possible that O-Pee-Chee had thought about reserving spot #396 for a "highlight" card of some sort to celebrate the record-tying feat, but changed their minds. Or maybe, if production schedules called for the set's design to be completed before the end of the hockey season, they were hoping Bossy would score 50 goals in fewer than 50 games, flat-out beating the record and allowing for a final record-breaker card. Or, as mentioned earlier, it could have simply been a case of too much Bossy. He already had seven cards in the set:

#198 (Base Card)
#208 (Super Action)
#219 (Team Leader)
#382 (League Leader, Goals)
#386 (League Leader, Power-Play Goals)
#388 (League Leader, Game-Winning Goals)
#390 (Record Breaker, Hat Tricks)

Regardless, think about the onslaught of goals and assists and points and rookies . . . and goalies with eight assists of their own. What an exciting season 1980-81 must have been. And we can thank O-Pee-Chee for documenting much of that excitement on cardboard.

Stay tuned for part II, coming next week.