Hi everyone! Hey, how about the Lightning winning the Cup in 6? Just like I called it! Good job, Steve!

To celebrate this most minor of victories, I spent a little time on eBay looking for some classic cards. After all, with this pandemic pretty much ensuring I will never be heading to the mall ever again, I’ve got some extra coin burning a hole in my pocket. I decided I would look into completing the 1977-78 O-Pee-Chee set, one of my absolute favorites. I started collecting cards from this set back in the early 1990s when I knew absolutely nothing about cards. All I knew was I liked this set. It wasn’t all that expensive (there are no major rookies cards in it), there were lots of great action shots and weird uniforms a-plenty. It’s also where my love of old cards started.

I remember one day finding in my basement among a bunch of old Esso album stickers a package of 17 team logo cards from that set (I was missing Vancouver for some reason). The funny thing was I remembered seeing those cards before, but I don’t know how they got into my house. Back in the fifth grade, we had done some sort of project and one of my classmates brought in a bunch of old cards, including these with logos I didn’t recognize at all. The Colorado Rockies? Who the hell were they? And what was up with the “stick-in-a-box” Canucks logo? Where was the “spaghetti skate” thing? Anyway, I think we ended up taking these cards and taping them onto a bristol board. The thought of desecrating cards from that era still makes me cringe. I’m assuming the girl who brought those cards in to class took them back home after (not sure if her Dad ever okayed her to bring them in and use them like we did). Then a few years later I found the same cards with tape marks all over them in my basement.

See the tape at the bottom of, and the tape mark at the top of the Colorado Rockies’ card? Your guess is as good as mine how it got there. And by the way, the backgrounds of those cards are supposed to be white, much like the white on the background of this webpage.

Now, I’ve never stolen anything in my life, and I never would have stolen these cards, but I have a strange feeling that these are the same cards we used for our project. I’m really not sure, though. They may have been accidentally put in that box of Esso stickers by my uncle who gave them to us, but when I asked if they were his he said no. Where those cards came from, I’ll never know, but they were my entry into the 1977-78 set, and I’ve decided to make a concerted effort to complete it. I consider the cards I receive in the mail every few days to be a sort of “pandemic present” to me.

Anyway, on to more important business, namely the “Biggest Seals Fan” contest. Thanks so much to all those who sent in entries vying for the coveted title, but there can only be one winner. Here is the winning entry from Pete Manzolillo:

“I’m the biggest Seals fan as I was rooting for them from 3,000 miles away on Long Island where it was difficult to get any news about them. I listened to every game I could on the east coast teams’ radio stations, staying up until 1 a.m. on a school night huddled with the radio next to my bed for games from Oakland. I heard some great upsets over Philly and Boston but also the Capitals’ first road win. I also painted my skates gold and green and my goalie mask teal with the wordmark across the front.”

For his great story, Pete will receive an autographed copy of my book (new paperback version, now available on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com!). Congratulations, Pete!

Note: a few days after announcing Pete’s win, he sent me this photo pretty much proving he wasn’t lying about his Seals obsession:

There is also a new photo for you to check out, a March 1973 cover of Hockey Digest, which I also picked up on eBay, and also a new cardboard catastrophe featuring former Boston Bruins star Jozef Stumpel in the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame. Enjoy!

Whew! That was one long post! Hope you made it all the way through. Until next time, stay gold!