08/09 UD Hockey Legends Masterpieces – the end

Okay, I’ve been long winded as I go through this box, so for those of you bored with the history hockey, this is it and then we’ve got the Updates and Highlights box to go through next. Let’s finish this off quickly.

Pack 14
85 Gordie Howe
23 Mike Bossy
62 The Sutters (with torn border)
35 Jari Kurri

Hey, is that John Kerry in a Penguins jersey? His constituents are gonna be pissed.

Pack 15

19 Daryl Evans
4 Bill Barilko
58 Peter Stasny
33 Bobby Orr

There was actually one card I was hoping to get two of in this box, and it was Bobby Orr. But not this one. This one:

One for my set, and one for folks who like midair moments. And this is probably the most famous midair moment in hockey, after Orr scores the Stanley Cup clinching goal in overtime of Game 4 of the 1970 finals. I’m going to spoil it here by telling you I got none of this one.

Pack 16

40 Rick Vaive
21 Patrick Roy
26 Denis Savard
1 Lord Stanley Brown Border parallel with torn border

There’s one problem with the goalie cards in the set – it’s hard to really discern a face under the mask. This one isn’t too bad, and I realize goalies wear masks, but it’d be like pulling a Chipper Jones while his face is blocked by his arm. Sure it’s Chipper, but it it really Chipper? Oh, and I have nothing to say about the third Lord Stanley, even if it is a parallel.

Pack 17

41 Borje Salming
70 Rogie Vachon
64 Rick MacLeish
50 Joe Mullen

If I hadn’t already discussed Mullen, he’d get his due here.  Instead, I present one of the uglier cards I’ve seen this year.

Pack 18

16 Theoren Fleury
87 Mark Messier
2 Lester B. Pearson
45 Glenn Anderson Brown Border parallel with (you guessed it) a torn border

Here’s Fleury celebrating his game winning goal in game 6 of the opening round of the 1991 playoffs.   The Flames would lose game 7.

Fleury played hard for his size and had a good career before ultimately running into problems with drugs and alcohol.  He played overseas briefly hoping to get back in the NHL, but finally retired to open a concrete coating company which he hoped to turn into a reality TV show.  Seriously.

I’m sure he’d rather be remembered for this, though:

The box:
Base: 67 out of 87 (77%)
Duplicates: 1
Canvas Clippings Brown Border: 2 – Frank Mahovlich, Joe Mullen
Masterpiece Brushstrokes: 1- Ron Ellis
Masterpieces Matte Blue Border: 1 – Marcel Dionne (49/50)
Masterpieces Matte Brown Border: 2 – Lord Stanley, Glenn Anderson

So was it worth it? Financially, probably not. This box was made even worse by the lack of the 4th memorabilia card (which was replaced with a third parallel card) and the fact that four of the hits and two of the base cards had torn borders. But if you enjoy hockey history, and you’d almost have to to read this far, it’s a fun box to break.

I’ve got doubles to trade to finish the set, and I’ll trade my inserts for similar Rangers inserts, if you’ve got them.