The 1910-11 Imperial Tobacco c56 set was the first ever hockey card set featuring players of the National Hockey Association. There were 36 cards in the set, all considered rookie cards. The complete set is valued at $10,000 with the lowest valued card still worth well over $100. The ‘tobacco’ cards measured 1½”x2½”.
The cards were based on the 1909-10 season, which was entirely played in 1910. The NHA consisted of seven teams mostly located along the Ottawa River. Each team played twelve games during the regular season. The Montreal Wanderers lost just one game to take first place. Les Canadiens finished dead last winning just two games.
The game was quite offensive with teams scoring 14 or more goals in a single game on five occasions during the regular season. Near the end of the season, the Renfrew Creamery Kings walloped the Ottawa Hockey Club 17-2. At the time, only goals were recorded. Newsy Lalonde, who split his season between the Canadiens and Renfrew, led the league with 38 goals in just 11 games.
The Stanley Cup was still a challenge cup at the time. In January, 1910, Ottawa defeated the Edmonton Eskimos to take possession of the cup. The Montreal Wanderers took over the Stanley Cup in March as NHA champions.
Four hockey cards from the 1910-11 set are valued at $1,000. Two belong to Art Ross with the other two featuring Newsy Lalonde and Fred ‘Cyclone’ Taylor.
Art Ross played just three games in the NHL. In the league’s first season, 1917-18, he appeared in three games with the Montreal Wanderers. Ross played 131 games in the NHA between 1909-10 and 1916-17. Art was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1949.
Fred ‘Cyclone’ Taylor played just 29 games in the NHA over three years. He is legendary for his play with the Vancouver Millionaires of the PCHA from 1912-13 to 1922-23. In the PCHA, Taylor scored 159 goals in 131 games. Cyclone Taylor was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947.
