Parkhurst had a problem with mistaken identity in their 1953-54 hockey card set. Al Arbour and Bill Dineen were rookies with the Detroit Red Wings and appearing on cardboard for the first time. Arbour’s rookie card was number 37 and Dineen’s was number 38. The only problem is, it was Dineen’s mug on the number 37 card and Arbour’s on 38. Parkhurst wasn’t done. The card of the Montreal Canadien’s Dickie Moore, number 28, featured a shot of Jean Beliveau on the front of the card.
Just the facts:
- Al Arbour’s rookie card had Bill Dineen’s picture on the front in error.
- Arbour’s 1953-54 Parkhurst rookie card is valued at $100.
- Arbour was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996.
- Al coached the New York Islanders to four consecutive Stanley Cup championships, starting in 1979-80.
- Al Arbour won the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year for 1978-79.
The Al Arbour rookie card is valued at $100 by Beckett Hockey Monthly, while the Bill Dineen card comes close at $80. The 1953-54 Parkhurst set consisted of 100 hockey cards. The complete set is valued at $4,500 and a common card goes for $20.
Arbour played 626 regular season games in the National Hockey League from 1953-54 to 1970-71. Al played for the Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks, Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues over his career. In three of his final four years in the NHL, he played for the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup finals. The Scotty Bowman coached teams were unsuccessful in each of the three attempts.
He was no stranger to the minor leagues during his playing days. In 1964-65, he won the Eddie Shore Award as the American Hockey League’s best defenseman as a member of the Rochester Americans. He found himself on two Calder Cup winning teams in the AHL.
It is as a National Hockey League head coach that Arbour is most remembered as. He began with the St. Louis Blues, replacing Scotty Bowman in 1970-71. For the 1973-74 season, he left St. Louis for Long Island to become head coach of the New York Islanders. His Islanders teams of the early 1980’s are legendary. The team won four consecutive Stanley Cup championships from 1979-80 to 1982-83. The year before the run of four began, 1978-79, Arbour was honoured with the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year.
In 1996, along with Borje Salming, Bobby Bauer and Bob Cole, Al was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the builders category.
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1949-50 | Detroit Hettche | IHL | 33 | 14 | 8 | 22 | 10 |
| 1951-52 | Windsor Spitfires | OHA | 52 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 0 |
| 1952-53 | Edmonton Flyers | WHL | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 1952-53 | Windsor Spitfires | OHA | 56 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 0 |
| 1952-53 | Washington Lions | EHL | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 1953-54 | Sherbrooke Saints | QHL | 19 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 24 |
| 1953-54 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 36 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| 1954-55 | Edmonton Flyers | WHL | 41 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 39 |
| 1954-55 | Quebec Aces | QHL | 20 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 55 |
| 1955-56 | Edmonton Flyers | WHL | 70 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 109 |
| 1955-56 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1956-57 | Edmonton Flyers | WHL | 24 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 24 |
| 1956-57 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 44 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 38 |
| 1957-58 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 69 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 104 |
| 1958-59 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 70 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 86 |
| 1959-60 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 57 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 66 |
| 1960-61 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 53 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 40 |
| 1961-62 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 52 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 68 |
| 1962-63 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 63 | 6 | 21 | 27 | 97 |
| 1962-63 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 1963-64 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 60 | 3 | 19 | 22 | 62 |
| 1963-64 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1964-65 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 71 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 88 |
| 1964-65 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1965-66 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 59 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 86 |
| 1965-66 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 1966-67 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 71 | 3 | 19 | 22 | 48 |
| 1967-68 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 74 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 50 |
| 1968-69 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 67 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 50 |
| 1969-70 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 68 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 85 |
| 1970-71 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 22 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| NHL Totals | 626 | 12 | 58 | 70 | 617 |
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