2011-12 O-Pee-Chee 'Great Value' Box Break

Tim Thomas Creates Movember Mask Urging Fans To "Grow Your Mo"

Tim Thomas has followed suit behind Jonas Hiller in creating a special Movember themed mask design in an effort to raise money for his charity, the Tim Thomas Foundation.

The mask urges fan to "Grow Your Mo' and 'Beware of the Stache'; it also features the Bruins bear logo sporting a mustache.

At the end of the month the mask will be raffled away along with tickets to a Bruins-Canadiens game on Dec. 19 and a chance to meet Thomas.

2011-12 Panini Score Blaster Break

Picked up this blaster box of the latest Score set from Panini for just under $11 earlier today.  Panini has been bringing more and more to the table year after year with their annual low end set.  At 500 cards, the set won't be easy to complete - loaded with a variety of sub-sets and three parallels per card, it gets crazy.  But for a possible big bang at a low price, how can you not like it.

This year Brodeur is the face of the product; entering his final year of his contract - it's very well possible that this will be his final season of his record breaking career.

TTM Success! Kelly Hrudey

Another TTM success, this time from former Los Angeles Kings alumni netminder and current Hockey Night In Canada broadcaster Kelly Hrudey.

I was sparked to create a custom and send a letter to Kelly after recently watching his 1987 Game 7 "Easter Epic" performance where Kelly made 73 saves (a playoff record) in a 3–2 Islander victory.

Reverse Side

Along with the custom I sent a 1992-93 Pro Set to have signed and returned, which Kelly happily did - aside from the cards, Mr Hrudey also left a short message on my original letter thanking me for the kind words.

Great return from Kelly Hrudey, I especially admire his choice to script me a personalized message at the botom of the original letter.

Favorite Cards: 1988-89 O-Pee-Chee #123 Pat LaFontaine

This post under 'My Favorite Cards' features my very first hockey card - a 1988-89 O-Pee-Chee Pat Lafontaine.

As the story goes - as a kid I found this card in a small storage shed just behind my parents house, stuck to a wall using a tac; the same kind of tac shown on the front of the card.  You can see the puncture wound just above Pat's name.

The cards previous owner was my older brother who grew up a New York Islanders fan but never really collected hockey cards - so in his eyes this Pat Lafontaine card made a better clubhouse wall decal than a collectors item.
Not long after picking up this Lafontaine card I began collecting, loading up on  91-92 Pro Set and 91-92 Ultimate Original Six.  Those were the days.