deepbluejacket
Verified Trader,
Today, collectors/investors/fools (hard to tell the difference some times, right?) will pay $200 for a rookie card before that player has even hit the ice. But it wasn't like that in the 80s. But...what if it was?
Behold some of the cards that are cursed by name in so many alternate universes.
Steve Penney - 1983-84 OPC #269
This son of a b----.
A personal story: It's 1984, and I am completing my first year as a pro hockey fan. My Boston Bruins have had a terrific season led by my hero Barry Pederson and his 116 points. The Bs finish the year on a 5 game win streak to edge out the Buffalo Sabres for 1st place in the Adams Division. (The Sabres drop 3 of their last 4 to make this happen.) Boston now has home ice advantage and a 1st round match up with the lowly 75 point Montreal Canadiens, a broken team led by their 48 year old washout Guy Lafleur. This will be easy.
Enter Steve Penney.
Penney had been called up after the Habs waved the white flag and dropped the last 6 games of the season. Penney went 0-4 and shone with an .835 SP. And then he went full Ken Dryden and swept Boston in 3, surrendering only 2 goals.
Heart. Crushed.
(On the bright side, my hometown Maine Mariners took their 77 point season all the way to the Calder Cup.)
Penney led the Habs to the conference finals, falling to the defending Stanley Cup champion Islanders. Despite getting into only 4 regular season games, OPC made the right call and gave Penney his card. And when OPC issued its 1984-85 set, Penney was the #1 goaltender on a revitalized Montreal team. This card would have been insane.
And a year later he was traded to Winnipeg, supplanted by some jerk who pronounced his name "Roi" when it was clearly Roy. Penney was out of the league entirely by 1988.
I am certain there are modern equivalents to Penney, but right now all I can think of is Blaine Lacher and Jim Carey, who also burnt many a collector by 1996. But their stories will be told at a later time.
Warren Young - Topps/OPC #152
There were surely some collectors who would have known better and stayed far, far away from Warren Young. But many would have been sucked in when the 28 year old rookie - yes, twenty-eight - exploded for 40 goals in his first full NHL season. The Michigan Tech grad had been drafted back in 1976, but by the time he graduated, the WHA had merged with the NHL and the jobs available had shrunk. He kicked around in the Eastern and Central hockey leagues before getting a crack at the AHL in 1983-84 while the Pittsburgh Penguins were busy tanking their season. Even when the Pens abandoned any pretense of competing, he did not get the call.
And then in 1984, he got paired with a nice young man from Laval and voila, he was a 40 goal scorer. That's just how good Mario Lemieux was.
Lemieux, of course, ran away with the Calder en route to a 100 point season. In today's hobby frenzy, his card would have been Crosby/McDavid level. And odds are, his 28 year old rookie linemate would have basked in a lot of that glory.
Young took his services to Detroit, where he of course could not reproduce his prior season. (Though he wasn't terrible - 22 goals at the NHL level is still decent.) Detroit essentially gave him back to Pittsburgh, but by then Mario was propping up other players, and Young faded back into obscurity. Like Steve Penney, he was gone after 1988.
Modern comparison: Jonathan Cheechoo. The right good player can suddenly become a great player when teamed with a superstar. This is no slight against these players - look at all the players McDavid has failed to elevate. Even the greats can't do it single-handedly.
Kjell Dahlin - 1986-87 Topps/OPC #15
Hockey mad Montreal drives the prices of almost every rookie sky high as they desperately hope for a new superstar. But rarely do any of their rookies actually deliver. Dahlin, in his first year, scored 32 times. Quick, name any other Canadien to score 30 times in his rookie season. (Quick, name any Canadien to score 30 goals between 1998 and 2011 - there are only 5, and most did it just once!)
Zut alors! A rookie with 32 goals and 71 points! A new superstar is born!
And seeing as how few of you have even heard of this guy, I guess you know where this ends. Back in Sweden. Dahlin played two more seasons, averaging half a point a game, which was pretty standard for any forward in the mid-80s. Then he went home and played until 1994.
Modern equivalent: Sadly, Montreal has no modern equivalent of Kjell Dahlin. In that none of their rookies ever do anything in their rookie year... [rim shot]
*Trivia question answers: The only other Habs rookie to score 30 is Boom-Boom Geoffrion with 30.
The 5 30 goal men of that wretched era are Michael Ryder (twice), Alexei Kovalev, Richard Zednik, Eric Cole, and Max Pacioretty. There are no 40 goal men since 1994.
Jimmy Carson - 1987-88 Topps/OPC #92
This one started out pretty well. Carson was the #2 overall pick in 1986, so there was plenty of hype awaiting his debut. The 18 year old put up 79 points in 80 games but lost the Calder to fellow King Luc Robitaille, who ran up 84 points on 45 goals to Jimmy's 37. (Ron Hextall also made a loud argument for the trophy.) He kept pace with Luc the following year, with 55 goals and 107 points. Collectors who invested in Carson rejoiced!
And then he got traded for Wayne Gretzky. Let me tell you, in the alternate universe, this card spiked in a frenzy. Carson would now be playing with Kurri, Anderson, and Messier. And in year 1 in Edmonton, it went well with another 100 point season.
But Carson didn't like playing in Gretzky's shadow and demanded a trade. The American was sent home to Detroit, where so much good in hockey went to die in this era.
I kid the Motor City. Detroit was just about to begin its ascent to the top, but they had Yzerman and Fedorov, and didn't need Carson. He was sent back to Los Angeles in 1993, where he was now literally in Gretzky's shadow. This 2nd homecoming of sorts didn't work either, and after increasingly meh stints with Vancouver and Hartford, he left the NHL for good in 1995, leaving many collectors, investors and fools deep in the hole.
Modern Equivalent: Perhaps Dany Heatley comes closest, although there is no tragedy in Carson's story. There are no players who came out of the gate this hot and then faded to nothing in the last 20 years.
What about Scott Gomez?
At least Jimmy Carson knew when to walk away.
Mike
Behold some of the cards that are cursed by name in so many alternate universes.
Steve Penney - 1983-84 OPC #269
This son of a b----.
A personal story: It's 1984, and I am completing my first year as a pro hockey fan. My Boston Bruins have had a terrific season led by my hero Barry Pederson and his 116 points. The Bs finish the year on a 5 game win streak to edge out the Buffalo Sabres for 1st place in the Adams Division. (The Sabres drop 3 of their last 4 to make this happen.) Boston now has home ice advantage and a 1st round match up with the lowly 75 point Montreal Canadiens, a broken team led by their 48 year old washout Guy Lafleur. This will be easy.
Enter Steve Penney.
Penney had been called up after the Habs waved the white flag and dropped the last 6 games of the season. Penney went 0-4 and shone with an .835 SP. And then he went full Ken Dryden and swept Boston in 3, surrendering only 2 goals.
Heart. Crushed.
(On the bright side, my hometown Maine Mariners took their 77 point season all the way to the Calder Cup.)
Penney led the Habs to the conference finals, falling to the defending Stanley Cup champion Islanders. Despite getting into only 4 regular season games, OPC made the right call and gave Penney his card. And when OPC issued its 1984-85 set, Penney was the #1 goaltender on a revitalized Montreal team. This card would have been insane.
And a year later he was traded to Winnipeg, supplanted by some jerk who pronounced his name "Roi" when it was clearly Roy. Penney was out of the league entirely by 1988.
I am certain there are modern equivalents to Penney, but right now all I can think of is Blaine Lacher and Jim Carey, who also burnt many a collector by 1996. But their stories will be told at a later time.
Warren Young - Topps/OPC #152
There were surely some collectors who would have known better and stayed far, far away from Warren Young. But many would have been sucked in when the 28 year old rookie - yes, twenty-eight - exploded for 40 goals in his first full NHL season. The Michigan Tech grad had been drafted back in 1976, but by the time he graduated, the WHA had merged with the NHL and the jobs available had shrunk. He kicked around in the Eastern and Central hockey leagues before getting a crack at the AHL in 1983-84 while the Pittsburgh Penguins were busy tanking their season. Even when the Pens abandoned any pretense of competing, he did not get the call.
And then in 1984, he got paired with a nice young man from Laval and voila, he was a 40 goal scorer. That's just how good Mario Lemieux was.
Lemieux, of course, ran away with the Calder en route to a 100 point season. In today's hobby frenzy, his card would have been Crosby/McDavid level. And odds are, his 28 year old rookie linemate would have basked in a lot of that glory.
Young took his services to Detroit, where he of course could not reproduce his prior season. (Though he wasn't terrible - 22 goals at the NHL level is still decent.) Detroit essentially gave him back to Pittsburgh, but by then Mario was propping up other players, and Young faded back into obscurity. Like Steve Penney, he was gone after 1988.
Modern comparison: Jonathan Cheechoo. The right good player can suddenly become a great player when teamed with a superstar. This is no slight against these players - look at all the players McDavid has failed to elevate. Even the greats can't do it single-handedly.
Kjell Dahlin - 1986-87 Topps/OPC #15
Hockey mad Montreal drives the prices of almost every rookie sky high as they desperately hope for a new superstar. But rarely do any of their rookies actually deliver. Dahlin, in his first year, scored 32 times. Quick, name any other Canadien to score 30 times in his rookie season. (Quick, name any Canadien to score 30 goals between 1998 and 2011 - there are only 5, and most did it just once!)
Zut alors! A rookie with 32 goals and 71 points! A new superstar is born!
And seeing as how few of you have even heard of this guy, I guess you know where this ends. Back in Sweden. Dahlin played two more seasons, averaging half a point a game, which was pretty standard for any forward in the mid-80s. Then he went home and played until 1994.
Modern equivalent: Sadly, Montreal has no modern equivalent of Kjell Dahlin. In that none of their rookies ever do anything in their rookie year... [rim shot]
*Trivia question answers: The only other Habs rookie to score 30 is Boom-Boom Geoffrion with 30.
The 5 30 goal men of that wretched era are Michael Ryder (twice), Alexei Kovalev, Richard Zednik, Eric Cole, and Max Pacioretty. There are no 40 goal men since 1994.
Jimmy Carson - 1987-88 Topps/OPC #92
This one started out pretty well. Carson was the #2 overall pick in 1986, so there was plenty of hype awaiting his debut. The 18 year old put up 79 points in 80 games but lost the Calder to fellow King Luc Robitaille, who ran up 84 points on 45 goals to Jimmy's 37. (Ron Hextall also made a loud argument for the trophy.) He kept pace with Luc the following year, with 55 goals and 107 points. Collectors who invested in Carson rejoiced!
And then he got traded for Wayne Gretzky. Let me tell you, in the alternate universe, this card spiked in a frenzy. Carson would now be playing with Kurri, Anderson, and Messier. And in year 1 in Edmonton, it went well with another 100 point season.
But Carson didn't like playing in Gretzky's shadow and demanded a trade. The American was sent home to Detroit, where so much good in hockey went to die in this era.
I kid the Motor City. Detroit was just about to begin its ascent to the top, but they had Yzerman and Fedorov, and didn't need Carson. He was sent back to Los Angeles in 1993, where he was now literally in Gretzky's shadow. This 2nd homecoming of sorts didn't work either, and after increasingly meh stints with Vancouver and Hartford, he left the NHL for good in 1995, leaving many collectors, investors and fools deep in the hole.
Modern Equivalent: Perhaps Dany Heatley comes closest, although there is no tragedy in Carson's story. There are no players who came out of the gate this hot and then faded to nothing in the last 20 years.
What about Scott Gomez?
At least Jimmy Carson knew when to walk away.
Mike
