Great Hockey Photos AND Wise Advice? I'll Take It!

You know what I enjoy?

A good 1980s hockey police card set.

For one, they're rather plentiful.

They also provide excellent information on the card backs. Local police departments at the time would encourage kids to exercise, study hard in school, and develop self-esteem. They also warned us sternly about the dangers of hanging out with the wrong crowd, and of drugs and alcohol.

And a third reason? 

 

You'll find some surprisingly good photography. Check out this shot from the 1986-87 Washington Capitals Police set:

Now that's hockey action. 

Bob Carpenter is waiting for a shot to come in from the point. He'd love to try and redirect it with his stick blade or shaft and score a goal that way. But at very least, he's succeeded in making life difficult for Islanders goaltender Kelly Hrudey. Just look. Hrudey is trying his hardest to keep an eye on the play in front of him by crouching down and looking around Carpenter, while maintaining some sort of angle with the shooter. With all of that happening, the crowd behind the glass knows a scoring chance is coming. Just look at their focus!

Can you find this same kind of action in the 1986-87 Topps flagship hockey set? Fat chance!

And that's not all. Check out this next card:

 

 

 

I think more goal celebrations like this one should be featured on hockey cards. I love it because Lou Francheschetti and his teammates are not elated. They're not exuberant. They're just some blue collar players getting together after scoring a goal. 

 

Good job, guys.

 

And then it's back to work. 

 

The camera angle and proximity almost make you feel like you're celebrating right along with them. Fantastic.
 

 

Both of those cards are now in my collection, thanks to a small trade on TCDB. Here's the third card that was part of the trade.

 

 

 

Mike Gartner scored 708 career goals. He's a member of the Hall of Fame, and was selected as one of the NHL's 100 greatest players during the league's 100th anniversary in 2017-18. He was also one of the fastest skaters of his generation. Despite all this, I feel like he's underrated—or at least a little bit underappreciated. For all those reasons, I snatched up the card. I like how the image shows him in action, using that speed. 

 

Now here are the card backs, featuring some of that wise advice mentioned earlier.

 

 

Do police departments still have these kinds of programs today? If not, I think they should.

 

Regardless, I'm pretty happy to have these cards in my collection, and I think I might search around for examples from other teams to add.

 

With all that being said, however, I think it's only fair to mention that not every card in this police set is fantastic. The TCDB member I traded with was kind enough to add an extra card for me in the envelope. 

 

 

Who's there? Michal? Is that you? Tap your stick on the ice three times if that's you. 

(Taps stick on ice three times. Sound echoes through empty, dark hockey rink.)

 

Yep, that one's kind of a stinker. But think back to those flagship Topps and O-Pee-Chee sets of the era again. You'll find image after image of players standing around in warmups, or waiting for a face-off to start. So even with the few stinkers, you've still got to be impressed with police sets like these.

 

How about you readers and collectors? 

 

Do you have any police cards from a local team, be it hockey or another sport? Do any of the cards boast surprisingly good photography? 

 

Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading! 

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.

I'm happy that 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!