Two Hockey Greats

When Shane posted his "I treated myself" 1957 Parkhurst Jacques Plante on his Shoebox Legends blog three weeks ago I said to myself "Self, you need that card."

And I went out and found one. It's not quite as nice as Shane's copy appears to be but it's not bad at all. This is the only time I've ever seen Plante referred to as 'Jake'.

Plante of course is the first guy to routinely wear a goalie mask in the NHL. That began with an injury he suffered in 1959 at Madison Square Garden. I hadn't realized it was the result of a feud he had with Andy Bathgate. The story is written up here if you're interested. I was a young hockey fan having seen my first live NHL game about that time and I recall the huge deal that was made of Plante's mask in the New York media. 

There are some wonderful Parkie Plante cards. Check them out. I may have to pick up another one or two at some point.

I hate stepping on Shane's toes with a posting of a card he recently showed so I'll also add a scan of a card I had stuck away in a binder with hockey inserts and oddballs. It's a '76-'77 OPC Gordie Howe. I decided not long ago to try chasing Houston Aeros cards. I was happy to find that I already owned this one. The bad news is that I had already purchased another one since I hadn't found it in my hockey stars binder. Ouch.

Looks like being off-center is more the rule than the exception on these.

My Aeros collection is off to a nice start, btw. I got a COMC delivery today and last week I got a small oddball set from the WHA Hall of Fame. Once I update my wantlist I'll post it.