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Ah, yes. The Stanley Cup playoffs are in full swing. Back before the days of ProSet and Wayne Gretzky, O-Pee-Chee periodically featured playoff cards as part of their annual set. The 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee set had eight playoff cards, one for each playoff series and one for the Stanley Cup champion. The cards ran from number 191 to 198. All are considered by Beckett Hockey Monthly
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Of course, the 1973-74 cards featured regular season stats and playoff results from 1972-73. That was the first year of the Atlanta Flames and New York Islanders. The Montreal Canadiens finished first overall with 52 wins and 120 points over the 78 game regular season. The Chicago Black Hawks finished first in the eight team West Division. Phil Esposito led the league with 130 points, earning the Art Ross Trophy.
Here’s a rundown of the 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee playoff cards:
Card #191 – Montreal Canadiens 4, Buffalo Sabres 2. The Habs took out the young Sabres in the Quarter-finals. Gilbert Perreault of Buffalo was featured prominantly on the front of the hockey card.
Card #192 – Philadelphia Flyers 4, Minnesota North Stars 2. The Flyers won the Quarter-final series but it was all Minnesota on the front of the card. Legendary goaltender Lorne ‘Gump’ Worsley is flopped on the ice (mask-less) and Doug Mohns is attempting to prevent a goal. This card should be of value to any Flyers fan – it marked the first playoff series ever won by the club.
Card #193 – Chicago Black Hawks 4, St. Louis Blues 1. On the front of this Quarter-final hockey card is Jim Pappin of the Hawks and Jacques Caron in net for the Blues.
Card #194 – New York Rangers 4, Boston Bruins 1. I’m pretty sure it’s Eddie Johnston in net with Phil Esposito’s head poking out. For the Rangers, it looks like Jean Ratelle and Steve Vickers. Vickers is wearing number 8 – he was the Calder Memorial Trophy winner that season.
Card #195 – Montreal Canadiens 4, Philadelphia Flyers 1. This is simply the oddest decision for a picture by O-Pee-Chee! The losing team’s goaltender is the only player in the picture. That goaltender, from what I can figure, is Michel Belhumeur. Bernie Parent was off doing his WHA thing in 1972-73 and the starter for the Flyers was Doug Favell. However, Belhumeur played a whole 10 minutes in the playoffs and it is his profile that made it onto the card.
Card #196 – Chicago Black Hawks 4, New York Rangers 1. The only recognizable player on the front of this card is Lou Angotti of the Black Hawks, wearing number 6. The Rangers were Angotti’s first team.
Card #197 – Montreal Canadiens 4, Chicago Black Hawks 2. Just Peter Mahovlich on the front of this card. Interesting bit of hockey trivia about this Stanley Cup final series: Game 5, played at the Montreal Forum, saw 15 goals scored as the Black Hawks won 8-7. In net, were the two top goaltenders in the National Hockey League at the time, Ken Dryden and Tony Esposito.
Card #198 – Henri Richard and the rest of the team hoist the Stanley Cup. 1972-73 would prove to be the last of Richard’s NHL record eleven Stanley Cup victories, all with Montreal.
That is Jacques Plante on the Bruins card. He was there for part of the 1972-73 season.
Keep in mind that they weren’t necessarily using action shots from the depicted series on the cards. Many of the action shots that year were taken in St. Louis by Lewis Portnoy.
Thanks Stephen – great info
The flyers goaltender IS Bernie Parent. It is a older picture of him in his ‘ghost’ mask prior to being shipped to Toronto.
And Stephen is correct, the Bruins goalie is Plante. He was traded by the Leafs late in the season and played in the playoffs as well.
So much for Belhumeur’s ’10 minutes of fame’… Thanks for the update, David!
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