Board Advertisements on Cards, Episode 4: Nestlé Chunky

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.

 

 

1988-89 Topps #194, Pierre Turgeon

 

Here's rookie center Pierre Turgeon, getting ready for a face-off. (Note his right hand moved down about a foot from the end of his hockey stick.)

Also note the advertisement on the boards behind him.

NESTLÉ CHUNKY!

 

 

I'm not sure I've ever eaten a Chunky bar, but I do remember seeing them on drug store candy racks back in my 1980s childhood. Simply put, it's a big, thick chunk of chocolate with raisins and roasted peanuts inside. Here's a cross-section:

 

Substantial.

 

And surprising to me, when I was doing some research for this post I discovered that it was introduced to the market way back in the 1930s. The original recipe contained milk chocolate, raisins, cashews, and Brazil nuts. Now that's fancy!

 

Here's a commercial that aired a couple of decades later:

 

 

 

Reporter: I beg your pardon, sir. Do all your people look like you?

 

Flying Saucer Pilot: 'Course not, most of them are homely.

 

Hilarious.

 

As for Pierre Turgeon, he went on to have a tremendous NHL career. I've mentioned him before on this blog, and marveled at how the man is not yet enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Here's a quick career stat line:

1294 GP, 515 G, 812 A, 1327 PTS, 452 PIM, 190 PPG, 86 GWG

And this is where some of those stats place Turgeon in the all-time NHL rankings at the time of this writing:

 

190 power-play goals: 22nd

86 game-winning goals: 25th

1327 points: 34th

515 goals: 40th

 

Almost every player ahead of him in those categories is in the Hall of Fame. Quite a few players behind him, too.

 

It's also worth noting that Turgeon put up nine 30-goal seasons across his career, and was better than a point-per-game player. He averaged almost a point per game in the playoffs, too (97 points in 109 games played). His skating style and play-making ability seemed effortless. A natural talent. Unfortunately, he never played on a Stanley Cup–winning team.

Maybe his teammates were too busy eating Chunky bars like this guy:

 

 

 

And I think I'll conclude episode 4 of Board Advertisements on Cards right there.

 

How many of you have ever eaten a Chunky bar? Share your thoughts in the comment section, and thanks for reading!

Turgeon Brothers

Imagine you're a kid growing up in late-1970s Québec. You and your older brother both love playing hockey, and you're both developing quite the set of skills. 

Childhood turns into adolescence, and by the time big bro reaches his late teens he becomes so skilled that he's selected to play for the 1982-83 Canadian National Junior team alongside future legends like Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman. Big bro is so admired by professional scouts, in fact, that later in the year the Hartford Whalers select him second overall in the NHL Entry Draft.

So what do you do? Motivated by your brother's success, you keep pushing. You play so well that a few years later your talents earn you a spot on the 1986-87 version of the Canadian National Junior team, skating alongside other future legends like Brendan Shanahan and Theo Fleury. But that's not all.

Later that same year the Buffalo Sabres select you first overall in the NHL Entry Draft.

It goes without saying that no two brothers have been drafted that high in NHL history. Mom and dad must have given each other a high-five.

Here are their two boys, looking good on cardboard.

1992-93 Pinnacle #373 Sylvain Turgeon and #165 Pierre Turgeon

 
Big bro Sylvain really hit the ground running in Hartford. After his first season he received notable consideration for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the rookie of the year. Only Tom Barrasso (the winner) and Steve Yzerman received more votes. And Sylvain's success didn't stop there. Just have a look at the progression across his first three NHL seasons:

1983-84: Third in team scoring (40 goals, 32 assists)
1984-85: Second in team scoring (31 goals, 31 assists)
1985-86: Led the team in scoring (45 goals, 34 assists)

That third season he topped players like Ron Francis, Ray Ferraro, and Kevin Dineen. Unfortunately for Sylvain, injuries really seemed to limit his playing time from then on. Across the next nine campaigns, he averaged only 50 games per season. After Hartford he'd suit up for the Devils, Canadiens, and Senators. Then he finished up his career with a few seasons in the European professional leagues.

I was too young to see much of Sylvain throughout those early years in Hartford, but as for younger brother Pierre? I got a great look at him during his years on Long Island.

And my goodness, what a naturally gifted player. He was one of those guys who didn't seem to exert much effort, but still skated faster than other players and zipped wrist shots into the net from everywhere.

Just consider his stats while he was with those Islanders. In 255 games he scored 340 points (147 goals, 193 assists). That's outright phenomenal. 

Across his career he played for the Sabres, Islanders, Canadiens, Blues, Stars, and Avalanche, and had terrific success with just about all those teams. And that's not to mention some good playoff runs, most notably with the Islanders and St. Louis. Pierre put up a total of 97 points (35 G, 62 A) in 109 playoff games.

Let's have a look at some numbers for both brothers.

CAREER TOTALS

	SYLVAIN (12 seasons)	PIERRE (19 seasons)
GAMES PLAYED	669	1294
GOALS	269	515
ASSISTS	226	812
POINTS	495	1327
PENALTY MINUTES	691	452
GAME-WINNING GOALS	29	86

BEST INDIVIDUAL SEASON
(Career highs in bold)

	SYLVAIN (1985-86, Hartford)	PIERRE (1992-93, NY Islanders)
GAMES PLAYED	76	83
GOALS	45	58
ASSISTS	34	74
POINTS	79	132
PENALTY MINUTES	88	26
POWER-PLAY GOALS	13	24
GAME-WINNING GOALS	5	10

You can see from those single-season numbers that both brothers were quite skilled. And here's a fun fact: They both had the experience of playing for their hometown Montreal Canadiens! (Though not at the same time.)

As for Pierre in particular, I don't know how he's not in the Hall of Fame with those career numbers. But maybe that's a subject for a separate blog entry.

For now, let's salute the Turgeon brothers for two terrific careers, and for setting a draft pick record that might never be broken. Actually, the only way it can be broken is if two brothers are both selected #1 overall in separate drafts. Seems like a tough ask, especially with the international talent pool these days.

Well done, Turgeons!

The Only Kid at the Art Auction?

I'm going to paraphrase a conversation between my dad and I that took place at some point during the summer of 1991.

Dad: Want to come to an art auction with me tonight?

Me: Umm. I don't know.

Dad: Pat Lafontaine will be there, signing autogr...

Me: I'll go! 

1991 puts me in middle school. Safe to say I wouldn't have wanted much to do with an art auction back then—especially if the event was being held at a random car dealership in the middle of my summer vacation, as was the case here.

It's not like my dad and stepmom were art collectors, either. But I don't know. It's certainly possible that they were looking for a new painting for the walls. Or maybe dad knew that I'd recently gotten into the sport of hockey and that Pat LaFontaine was the biggest hockey name on Long Island, and the whole "wanting to go to an art auction" thing was just a case of dad doing something cool for his boy. 

In any case, I'd already gotten busy flipping through my hockey cards and decided to take out the most recent LaFontaine printing from Upper Deck:

1990-91 Upper Deck #246, Pat LaFontaine

 
Nifty-looking card. And that, I told myself, is what I'd ask Mr. LaFontaine to sign. 

Soon we'd arrive at the dealership. A decent crowd had gathered, but it wasn't exactly a throng of hobnobbing artsy folk. (I don't think the auction was a widely advertised thing.) All the cars had been cleared out of the main showroom and rows of folding chairs had been arranged in front of an auctioneer's podium. Dad and I found two seats and waited for the games to begin.

Well, they began. There were lots of generic oil paintings. One after the other. I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention, but there must have been a few bidding wars, which I can only assume I enjoyed at least a little bit. (Dad bid on a couple of different items, but wasn't the high bidder on either occasion.)

They didn't have the air conditioning turned on, so it was certainly stuffy in there. I do remember that. And although the auction probably didn't last more than and hour or two, it sure seemed like forever to me.

Finally, the last painting came off the block, and we got on the line for autographs.

When we approached the table and I handed Mr. LaFontaine the Upper Deck card, he looked at me with a little smirk, as if he wanted to sarcastically ask, 

"So, you like art auctions, do you?"

Or maybe he appreciated the fact that a kid would sit through an entire auction just to get an autograph from a hockey player.

Regardless, he was very cordial, said hello with that smile still on his face, and happily signed the card even though I think he was mostly signing photographs that the dealership (or the Islanders) had provided. Here's the card, with autograph:

Dad and I gave our thanks and commended him on a great season, and then we scooted from the line to allow the next fan to receive an autograph.

As it turned out, just a couple of months later Mr. LaFontaine would be moving up to Buffalo in that big trade involving Pierre Turgeon. (The full trade was LaFontaine, Randy Wood, Randy Hillier, and a 4th-round draft pick for Turgeon, Benoit Hogue, Uwe Krupp, and Dave McLlwain.)

It worked out pretty well for both teams. Turgeon had some monster years on the Island, and LaFontaine made absolute magic with Alexander Mogilny in Buffalo. Have a look at these numbers from the 1992-93 season, for example:

Turgeon: 83 GP, 58 G, 74 A, 132 PTS, 24 PP Goals, Lady Byng trophy, 5th in NHL scoring

LaFontaine: 84 GP, 53 G, 95 A, 148 PTS, 20 PP Goals, 2nd in NHL scoring

Still, Patty was really missed by the fans on the Island.

I'm glad I had the chance to briefly meet him before the trade. Even happier to still have this card, in addition to the memories. Was the card the best piece of art in the auction that night? The 1991 version of me would probably say yes.

You readers and fellow collectors must have a good childhood autograph story or two. Feel free to share in the comment section.

And thanks for reading!