We Want The Cup!!!

With the excitement of Opening Day wearing down a bit, and my fantasy team quickly rolling downhill, I am very much anticipating the NHL Playoffs which open tonite. Four games, eight teams and we'll repeat that tomorrow night. And most night for awhile. That means a lot of evenings spent with my sons at Houston's Maple Leaf Pub. During the Cup playoffs hockey bars are just so much fun.

My Rangers have their first game Thursday and due to a concert I bought tickets for many months ago I'll have to keep up with the game via my phone while it records on my DVR. And, just my luck, we have a commitment for Saturday evening which is when the second Rangers-Pens game is scheduled.

I'm posting my two Eddie Giacomin signed photos here. The Rangers have had some great goalies since he played here but none of them will ever replace him at the top of my list of favorites.

The item below is a Topps 'poster' insert from 1980/81. I picked it up for 99 cents recently after seeing a different team's poster on someone's blog. Seeing 'N-E-W Y-O-R-K" spelled out on the blue sweater is always odd to me. I grew up in the 'dark sweaters at home era' and the times that teams wore the opposite scheme was a time I had very little access to 'live' NHL action.

So, if you are a hockey fan, hang on and enjoy the ride. There is nothing like the NHL playoffs.

LET'S GO RANGERS!!!

Cool Breeze on a Hot Day

The weather in Houston cooled off a bit over the weekend, down to the 80s. But it's back to normal now and what better way than to drop an ice cube down the back of Mother Nature than an August hockey post?

That's a Eddie Giacomin Topps Hockey Booklet from 1971/72. It was sent to me by 'friend-of-the everyone's blog, Mark Hoyle. It's a beauty, too. I've been wanting to add this to my Giacomin collection for awhile now. 

It is an eight page foldout (including both covers) and tells the story of Giacomin's hockey life. The artwork won't hang in the Louvre any time soon, and it won't make one forget Bob Kane but it's several notches above the typical back-of-the-card cartoons that Topps has done forever. I mention Kane because, while I'm not a comicbook guy, the bottom two panels give me a DC Comics vibe. 

The back page has the checklist of all 24 booklets in the series. It's a pretty strong list overall. Receiving this one from Mark has kind of set me off on a quest to put the set together, maybe. They go for anywhere from $2 to above $10 on eBay. If nothing else I'll probably pick up just a few of my favorites, Rod Gilbert, Ken Dryden, Howe, Hull, Richard and Orr.

On second thought, if I go for the stars I might as well get the set.

There are several complete sets up on eBay right now but I like the fun of the 'chase'. It usually costs more in the long run but snagging items like this one or two at a time is waay more satisfying.

Speaking of eBay here is a peek at the complete set as found on a current auction.

That wasn't all Mark sent me. He includes some cards of great Houston Cougar alums, one of whom recently passed away. I'll have those cards up later this week.

Thanks again Mark. You are a very generous guy, and a credit to his hobby of ours. 

Game One Tonite!

There is very little in the world I love more than the Stanley Cup Final Series. And to have the Rangers in it is almost more than I can stand. Although from what I've been hearing and reading the last day or so the Kings must have skated Lord Stanley's hardware around the United Center Sunday night. I guess I missed that.

One Sirius NHL Radio wag just flat out said that the LA-Chicago Series was the finals. Ooookay. I hope the Rangers were not listening. They might decide it's over and not show up. I have decided to head on over to the Maple Leaf bar in Houston's midtown anyway, just in case that some sort of hockey is on the big screen. Maybe I'll wear my Eddie Giacomin t-shirt just for kicks.

Both of the two cards seen above are throwbackers from the last couple of years. The top one is an In The Game Between The Pipes (whatever that is) and the green bordered card is from Score Hockey (Panini). Neat little cards for the 99 cent price tags I guess. I like to 'pad' my single card purchaces with some dollar items it they don't add to the shipping.

Now for the real deals... vintage Eddie Giacomin cards. I bought these from a company in Canada. They sure charge out the ear for shipping as I recall.

Here are my two signed Giacomin 8x10's:

I bought the bottom one but the one above, in the home blue, a friend picked it up for my at a signing event at MSG (I think) a few years back.

I also got this Giacomin signed puck:

I hope posting some of my Rangers swag brings the Blueshirts good luck tonite. Until then you can find me in church.

Weird Little Collections: Original Six Favorites #6 The Rangers!!!

By the time this post is published the Rangers/Flyers 1st Round Series will be history. So I'll be either batshit crazy happy or pissed off enough to stab my cat. No reason I can think of to explain why I've mellowed so much as a fan in every aspect of sports EXCEPT when it comes to the New York Rangers.

Which brings us to this, the final installment of a small series of posts in which I've featured a favorite player from each of the Original Six NHL teams. Like everyone else I choose to ignore the fact that the 'Original Six' are far removed from actually being the first NHL franchises. But I digress.

I think one reason my affinity for my Blueshirts is so strong is that as I grew up they were the only team that everyone close to me 'agreed' on as a rooting interest. In baseball I was an Orioles fan, my Dad was a Yankee fan and my best friend and my closest cousin were devotees of the Giants and Braves respectively. In football I held the Baltimore Colts dear while my father was a football Giants guy and my buddy rooted for the Browns.

But when it came to hockey I don't even think I knew anyone who wasn't a Rangers fan. My family, my friends and their families, everyone at school, my coaches and all my NY/NJ clan of relatives lived and died (mostly died) with the guys on Broadway.

That might explain why as I type this on Tuesday evening I just told my grown son to "turn down the bleepin' TV or close the bleepin' door so I can't hear the bleepin' game cause the score is bleepin' me off". Yes, I'm a grown man who won't listen to a playoff game in which my team is losing 4-0. Yes, I'm that immature stupid.

But here I am attempting to sooth my soul with a posting of Rangers cards. These cards are not of themselves from the Original Six 'era' which ended in 1967, but all the players here are favorites of mine from back in the days of Bruins hatin' rage. Most of them came just the other day from (who else?) Mark Hoyle, a fine Boston lad (ha!) who sprinkles his dupes and vintage gems among all of us in the blogging community. Mark, I salute you!

First up is Eddie Giacomin. Fast Eddie was simply a god to me during his reign as the Rangers' goalie. He was up there with Johnny Unitas, Brooks Robinson and John Mackey in my personal Mt. Rushmore of sports heroes.

These two cards, from 73/74 and 74/75 represent the end of the 'Giacomin Era'. He was waived in October of 1975 and picked up by the Red Wings. I was working at the old Houston Post and a friend there told me of the deal. I had to read it for myself on the ticker. I'm pretty sure I didn't cry but I likely would have had I not been in the middle of a busy sports department full of tough old veteran writers. Even though I knew his days were numbered with my team I was crushed by the news. Ironically Eddie's very first game as a Red Wing came against the Rangers a coupe of nights later in Madison Square Garden. Ranger fans cheered him like the hero he was and someplace I have a picture of him skating across the Garden ice with his head down as he cried with the emotion of it all. I'd have given anything to have been there!

Rod Gilbert was smooth, classy and the Rangers best scorer. I had his poster on my wall (I never could find a Giacomin poster, Eddie was the kind of guy that they made posters of). His number '7' was the number I wanted as a little leaguer.

Jean Ratelle, Vic Hatfield (we called him 'Two Sticks'... number 11, get it?) and Walt Tkaczuk were scoring forwards for the Blueshirts. All are among my top Rangers favorites.

And last, but not least:

The great Hall of Famer, Brad Park. His debut was much anticipated among Ranger fans after he was 'drafted' in 1966. I saw Park get his first career goal..... the last goal in a 9-0 pasting of the Bruins early in 1969. He had been playing well but I remember that there was a lot of talk about his inability to score that first goal.

Like Eddie Giacomin Park was dealt away by the Rangers but unlike Eddie Park had a lot of hockey left. I always thought his #2 should have been retired by the Rangers. It was later, but only after it was won by the great Brian Leetch. Park had the bad luck to come along as a defenseman during Bobby Orr's career. Even when Orr retired his shadow loomed over everyone else at that position for awhile.

Thanks again, Mark. I love these and the Big E cards you sent.

I'm Through (With the NHL... for this year)

Yup, when it comes to the NHL I'm wearing a mask just like Jacques Plante and Eddie Giacomin cuz I can't see myself giving a damn now. I got my refund for the terrific rink-side tickets I had for the Rangers game in Dallas on January 4. It was going to be a great family holiday adventure. Now the game and our fun are cancelled.

It took me more than a decade to get back to giving a crap about baseball after the strike that cancelled the World Series. And I'm still only a half ass fan these days. Who knows how I'll feel about hockey after this since it's likely the second cancelled season in recent years.

 I may still go to an Aeros game or two this season because I love the sport but the NHL is officially dead to me.

King Henrik

The NHL gave out it's awards Wednesday night and the Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist took home the Vezina trophy as the league's best goalie in 2011/2012. I think he deserved it for all the nights he 'carried' a pretty punchless Ranger team and delivered them to the best record in the Eastern conference. He was nothing short of spectacular night after night. But I didn't think he would actually win. 

Here's the Lundqvist 07/08 Fleer Hot Prospect card. Pretty cool for a 50 cent card I think. 

It was my only Lundqvist card until I scored this one on eBay:

A jersey piece card of my three favorite goalies! I spent more than I should have on it but, as a Ranger fan for 50+ years and a guy who's favorite player is usually the Ranger goalie,  how often will I get a chance for a card anywhere close to this?

Let's Go Rangers!! Clap, Clap, Clap-Clap-Clap

The NHL Playoffs began last night and my Rangers are taking on the Ottawa Senators tonite in the first round. That's one of my favorite cards of my favorite player. It's the 2007-08 Hot Prospects Henrik Lundqvist card. King Henrik had a great season. He'll need to continue to do so if the Rangers are going anyplace this playoff season. The grabbed the #1 seed in the East but their play down the stretch didn't do much to inspire my confidence. 

I've been a Ranger fan since... well, I can't remember NOT being a Ranger fan. I went to games with my father in the old Madison Square Garden fifty years or more ago. With there being only six teams back then the rivalries were very intense. And most of the teams only played one goalie all season so if felt almost like a 'club'. My friends and I knew every player. 

I'm very lucky. I've had a chance though the years to became acquainted with, or at least spoken to, nearly all my favorite sports figures. Except one, the great Eddie Giacomin. 

I cried when the Rangers traded him to Detroit. It was one of the most traumatic sports related experiences of my life. It's is right up there with the '69 World Series, Super Bowl III and the Colts leaving Baltimore.

I sure hope that  wearing my genuine Ryan Callahan jersey brings the Blueshirts luck. 

btw..... Potvin Sucks.