The Rookie Cards of the 4 Winners of the WHA’s Bill Hunter Trophy

The Bill Hunter Trophy was the WHA’s version of the Art Ross Trophy. For seven years between 1972-73 and 1978-79, the World Hockey Assocation handed out the Bill Hunter Trophy each year to the player with the most points during the regular season. Although Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull were the poster-children of the league, neither got their names on the Bill Hunter.

Over seven years, four different players led the WHA in scoring. Three of the four players won the Bill Hunter Trophy twice. All four played in the National Hockey League at some time, as well. Just one was drafted into the WHA and began his professional career there. Of the four players, two have rookie cards that are rated by Beckett Hockey Monthly. The other two have rookie hockey cards that are limited in value to semi-star status.

Andre Lacroix

Andre Lacroix was the first ever winner of the Bill Hunter Trophy. A one time winner of the Eddie Powers Trophy as scoring leader in the OHA, Lacroix scored 50 goals and totaled 124 points with the Philadelphia Blazers in 1972-73. Two years later, Lacroix won the Bill Hunter again, this time with the San Diego Mariners. The numbers were increased with 147 points consisting of a WHA record of 106 assists. Lacroix, along with Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, is one of only four major league hockey players to surpass 100 assists in a single season.

Andre played a total of 325 regular season games in the NHL. He played with the Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Black Hawks before the WHA and spent one partial season with the Hartford Whalerrs after the WHA came to end. In the first six of his seven WHA seasons, Lacroix surpassed the 100 point plateau. He will forever remain the all-time leader for points in the WHA with 798 over 551 games.

The Andre Lacroix rookie card appeared in the 1968-69 O-Pee-Chee series as number 184. Lacroix was a member of the Philadelphia Flyers and the card is valued at $12, the most valuable of these four player’s rookie cards.

Mike Walton

The Mike Walton rookie card appeared as number 86 in the 1965-66 Topps set. To give him the benefit of the doubt, Walton was considered a semi-star and his rookie card is valued at $10. Mike won the Bill Hunter Trophy in 1973-74 with 117 points on 57 goals and 60 assists as a member of the Minnesota Fighting Saints. Walton played just three years in the WHA, all with Minnesota from 1973-74 to 1975-76, before returning to the NHL.

Walton began his NHL career in 1965-66 with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He played a total of 588 regular season games with the Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks.

Real Cloutier

Real Cloutier was the final winner of the Bill Hunter Trophy. Cloutier won the award with 129 points in 1978-79 and had previously won it in 1976-77 with 141 points. Real was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques, ninth overall at the 1974 WHA Amateur Draft. He played with the Nordiques from 1974-75 until the demise of the WHA. He continued on with Quebec for four years in the NHL before ending his career in a Buffalo Sabres uniform.

Since he is the only one of the four to begin his pro career in the WHA, Cloutier is the only one to have his rookie card appear in an O-Pee-Chee WHA set. The Real Cloutier rookie card is number 63 in the 1974-75 O-Pee-Chee WHA series. The card is valued at $5 by Beckett.

Marc Tardif

Marc Tardif was one of the greatest players to ever play in the WHA. Marc won the Bill Hunter Trophy in 1977-78 with 154 points, an immortal WHA record. Tardif also won in 1975-76 with 148 points. Despite this, Tardif is not appreciated in the hockey card collecting world. The Marc Tardif rookie card that appears in the 1970-71 O-Pee-Chee series is at semi-star status and worth $5.

Tardif was the second overall pick of the Montreal Canadiens at the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft. Marc began his pro career with four years in a Habs uniform before jumping ship to the World Hockey Association for the 1973-74 season. Perhaps the greatest Los Angeles Sharks player to ever exist, Marc scored 40 goals during the teams only season in the league. His 316 career WHA goals is the all-time lead. After the WHA ended, Tardif stayed on with the Quebec Nordiques and played four years in the NHL before retiring.