1972 Summit Series O-Pee-Chee Team Canada Hockey Cards

Much after the fact, Team Canada from the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union was honoured by the Hockey Hall of Fame as the top team of the 20th century. Fourteen individuals from Team Canada have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on the merits of their National Hockey League careers.

There is an on-going campaign to have one more player from the 1972 enshrined in the Hall on his heroics during the Summit Series. That player has the second highest valued card in the 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Team Canada sub-set.

Paul Henderson played in all eight games for Canada, scoring seven goals and adding three assists for ten points. Most importantly, it was Henderson who scored the winning goal in the 6-5 game 8 victory that won the series for Canada.

This was certainly the highlight of Paul’s modest NHL career that spanned 707 regular season games from 1963-64 to 1979-80 with the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Atlanta Flames. Henderson was one of just seven Canadians to play in all eight games.

Henderson’s rookie card appeared in the 1965-66 Topps series as the number 51 card. The Paul Henderson rookie card is valued at $50. The Paul Henderson 1972-73 Team Canada Summit Series hockey card is valued at $20 less. These two cards are easily the most valuable in the Henderson collection.

1972 Summit Series Hockey Card Set

The Team Canada sub-set features 28 cards with cut-out faces on the fronts and the player’s stats from the Summit Series on the back. The full set is currently valued at $300 with a common card going for $8. The most valuable card belongs to Montreal Canadiens goaltender Ken Dryden at $50. Dryden’s Summit Series goaltending partner Tony Esposito has his card valued at $30. In all, 12 cards are rated by Beckett at over the $8 common value.

* Values given are book value from a popular price guide. Prices for cards on auction sites like eBay can be considerably more (or less)..

The checklist for the 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Team Canada inserts: