Friday Pack of Cards

As I've been promising, this week's pack of cards is a little bit of a surprise. I found a card shop that had a few packs of these on sale, so the next couple weeks or so will be of this brand instead of Upper Deck or Bowman.

What's the mystery brand? Here's a hint: It starts with Park and ends with husrt.


That's right, 1992 Parkhurst Series 2 Cards. I've always been drawn to Parkhurst and other ProSet cards, because they just look like awards themselves. notice that there tends to be more of the player pictured and less of the designer border. And no white space on the cards. Nice.


(click for a bigger view)

1) Alexei Kasatonov - New Jersey Devils - The flavor text on the back of this card is all hard hitting statistics and background on the player, which is nice to see. At this point, Kasatonov had potted over 100 points in 3 seasons. Notice another example of the NJ Retro jerseys.

2) Claude Vilgrain - New Jersey Devils - I'm pretty sure that Vilgrain is the first (and only) NHL player from Haiti. In his first (close to) full season (his 3rd season in the NHL) he managed 46 points in 71 games, an impressive mark.

3) Bruce Driver - New Jersey Devils - Completing that trio of (d)evils, quite appropriately, is Bruce Driver. Interestingly, Driver was originally a draft pick of the Colorado Rockies (who later became the New Jersey Devils). Driver was always a heavy hitter on the blue line, though his 297 points in 512 games isn't anything to laugh at either. Much more solid a player than I remember.

4) Brian Noonan - Chicago Blackhawks - Noonan, a 9th round pick who made it to the NHL as a goalscorer, also played a solid defensive game. The Boston native even managed 19 goals in a position as an injury call up player in 1991-92.

5) Bob Probert - Detroit Red Wings - If you're unfamiliar with Bob Probert, your best bet is to search YouTube and watch as the fight video results flood in. He was never too much of an offensive threat, but rarely lost a fight. A real bruiser of a player. A goon by that times standards, less so by todays.

6) Guy Larose - Toronto Maple Leafs (Rookie) - I'm unsure as to whether or not he's related to the Chad Larose on the Hurricanes now, but he seems a little young to be. Another late round pick, he was originally drafted by Buffalo, traded to Winnipeg, then to the Maple Leafs before even playing more than 10 games. Still, in 34 games with the Leafs in 1991-92, he managed 14 points. Not too shabby.

7) David Bruce - San Jose Sharks - Bruce was one of the more skilled players that San Jose claimed in their expansion draft. The former 2nd round pick in 1983 managed 38 points in his intial season with the Sharks, one of the better players statistically on the expansion team.

8) Bob Corkum - Buffalo Sabres (Rookie) - Bob Corkum was never a stand out talent, but he was an inaugural member of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, managing 51 points in the teams first season, his highest single-season points total in his career.

9) Gerald Diduck - Vancouver Canucks - A former 1st round pick of the Islanders, I was pretty unaware of Diduck's career. But It seems that he was a skilled defenseman, though he took a lot of penalties (909 PIMs in 454 games to this point)

10) Kirk McLean - Vancouver Canucks (Leader) - McLean was really in his prime at this point. Despite injury, he managed to tie with Detroit's Tim Cheveldae with 38 wins. Also in this season, he established career bests for games played (64) and GAA (2.74), as well as doubling his previous career total for shutouts in one season.

11) Craig Wolanin - Quebec Nordiques - Kind of a weird card to land between two leaders. Some interesting notes as per the flavor text: Wolanin was one of the key parts to a trade that sent Peter Stastny to New Jersey. He was also the 3rd overall pick in 1985. Also, Wolanin was able to step right into an NHL lineup, a testament to his ability.

12) Jeremy Roenick - Chicago Blackhawks (Leader) - The best video game hockey player ever was also the NHL's leader in Game Winning Goals in 1991-92 with 13 GWGs. Interesting note via the flavor text: the 4th player in Blackhawks history to break 100 points with the team, and the fifth US-born player to record a 50-goal season.

Hope you enjoyed the little change of pace. I've got enough card for a few more weeks of Parkies. From there...we'll see what happens!