Prospecting (with Heroes) - Part 1

Along with the box of Rookie Anthology I showed off last week, I also went back a little further and grabbed a box of this. There's a pretty solid checklist of pre-rookie cards in this, including Karlsson, Galchenyuk, Bobrovsky and Subban. I love minor league baseball releases, so here's a largely minors themed hockey release.

As is usual, I'm not scanning everything, but will highlight at least one card per pack that interests me, for whatever reason.

Pack 1:

With Halloween days away, here's a horror-themed mask that I will probably look for a second one to add to the mask binder. That's Billy the Puppet from the Saw franchise on Clermont's gear.

Pack 2:

I've said in the past that the Sudbury Wolves jersey is a favourite of mine. While you don't see any of the front of it here, you do get a nice look at the simple shoulder patch is once sported.

Pack 3:

The first insert of the box, this coming from a multi-set release that saluted 100 years of collecting. Cyclone Taylor, shown here as a member of the Renfrew Creamery Kings, definitely qualifies for the Heroes portion of the set, going back to the early years of hockey, and being inducted in the HOF in 1947. He's joined in the pack my Shane McColgan, rocking another favourite CHL logo of mine, featuring Ogopogo.  (think Nessie in BC interior).

Pack 4:

This was an interesting pack, with a pre-NHL card of Sergei Bobrovsky, the younger brother of a star, and the second insert of the box. Toews was a third rounder of the Islanders, but never saw the NHL ice, and this was his only major release.

The second insert is another Hall of Famer, on a set commemorating the 75th anniversary of the AHL. He's in a Cleveland Barons jersey here, so this photo is from the early 1950s.

Pack 5:

Another card from the heroes portion of the base set, with the late Pelle Lindbergh sporting Sweden's colours.

Pack 6:

Now that is a jersey worthy of the team name Americans. Being worn by a Russian. I'm just going to assume that is an alternate jersey, since the more familiar one isn't quite as busy.

Pack 7:

A nice pack with a couple Kitchener Rangers cards in the mix. One is in the midst of a star NHL career, while the other is now in the KHL. Scott Glennie shows off s a nice alternate uniform as well on his card.

Pack 8:

The Lewiston Maineiacs was one of the punnier franchise names in hockey history. I don't get much of a chance to post Erik Karlsson cards now with him in San Jose, so I'll definitely highlight his appearance.

Pack 9:

Having a 'Tick' themed mask would definitely be one of the geekier ones in hockey history.

And that's the first half of packs. The rest come tomorrow, and with none of the promised 4 hits appearing in this first bunch, there should be some autographs and relics to come.