Playoff Cards of the 1978-79 O-Pee-Chee Set

In 1978-79, the playoff hockey card was on its way out. The O-Pee-Chee set from that year featured just three cards, one for each semi-final series and one for the Stanley Cup finals. The following year, their would be just one card commemorating the Stanley Cup final.

Of course, the three cards featured the Stanley Cup playoffs from the 1977-78 season. The Montreal Canadiens won for the third consecutive season. The Habs would win again the following year to cap four in a row. Montreal beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in the semi-finals and the Boston Bruins took out the Philadelphia Flyers in the other semi-final series to set up the final matchup.

Montreal finished first overall during the regular season with 59 wins and 129 points. Boston finished second overall, and first in the Adams Division, with 113 points. Unlike today’s format, the two finalists, Montreal and Boston, were from the same conference. In fact, three of the final four were from the Prince of Wales Conference with just the Philadelphia Flyers being from the Clarence Campbell Conference.

1978-79 O-Pee-Chee #262 features the semi-final series between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs. Montreal swept the series in four games. Featured on the front of the card are Jack Valiquette for the Maple Leafs with Ken Dryden, Bill Nyrop and Brian Engblom for the Canadiens. Just off the left edge of the picture, you can spot the ‘C’ of Darryl Sittler.

Montreal beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 in the quarter finals to reach this series. Toronto beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 in the preliminary round and took out the New York Islanders in seven games in the quarters to earn the right to lose to Montreal.

1978-79 O-Pee-Chee #263 features the other semi-final series between the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers. Boston won the series in five games. On the front of the card, Rick MacLeish of the Flyers tries to jam the puck past Boston goalie Gerry Cheevers while Bruins defenseman Brad Park looks on.

To get to the series, Boston swept the Chicago Black Hawks in the quarter-finals. Philadelphia met the Colorado Rockies in the preliminary round. In Colorado’s only ever playoff series, they were swept by the Flyers in two games. Philadelphia took out the Buffalo Sabres in a five game quarter-final to reach the semis.

1978-79 O-Pee-Chee #264 shows Larry Robinson with the Stanley Cup. Robinson was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup playoffs most valuable player. Boston pushed Montreal to six games, with two games going to overtime. The final game was a 4-1 victory for the Canadiens at the Forum in Montreal.

The complete 1978-79 O-Pee-Chee set consisted of 396 hockey cards and is valued at $200. These three cards are a bargain at $.50 each for the semi-finals cards and $.75 for the Stanley Cup finals card.