Blow Out the Candles July 6

Hall of Famer George Armstrong is celebrating his 82nd birthday today.

 1964-65 Parkhurst Tallboys #122

"The Chief" played for 21 seasons with the Maple Leafs and was their captain for 11.  He was a seven time All-Star and 4 time Stanley Cup Champion.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1975.

Another hockey Hall of Famer is celebrating a birthday today.

Ranger and Bruins great Brad Park is 65.

 1971-72 Topps #40

Honors and achievements

Named to the First All-Star Team in 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976 and 1978.
Named to the Second All-Star Team in 1971 and 1973.
Runner up in Norris Trophy voting in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976 and 1978
Received both the most First Team All-Star nominations (other than Earl Seibert, who retired before the trophy was awarded) and was runner-up for the Norris more times without winning the Norris than any other defenceman in NHL history.
Played in the NHL All-Star Game in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978.
Retired as the leading defence scorer in Rangers' history and the second leading defence scorer in Bruins' history to Bobby Orr.
At the time of his retirement, had played the most seasons in league history for a player never missing the playoffs.
Currently 13th all-time in NHL history in defence scoring.
Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988, in this first year of eligibility.
Along with Butch Goring, one of the last two active players who had played in the 1960s.
In 1998, he was ranked number 49 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
Ranked No. 11 on the all-time list of New York Rangers in the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).

Rock and Roll pioneer Bill Haley was born in Highland Park Michigan on this date in 1925.

Actor and animal right activist Burt Ward is 68 today.

If the name Burt Ward doesn't ring a bell here's how you probably remember him.

Burt played the Boy Wonder on the 1960's TV version of Batman.

Comedian Pat Paulsen was born in South Bend, WA. on this date in 1927.

Pat is best known for his roles on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" in the 1960's and his several mock runs for President of the United States, the first of which came in 1968.

Presidential campaign slogan: "I've upped my standards. Now, up yours."

Singer Nanci Griffith is 60 today.

I like Nanci's version better than Bette Midler's

Pianist and conductor Vladimir Ashknazy celebrates his 75th birthday today.

A younger Vladimir

Autographed Cards A-Z Hockey Edition N-P

When I got back into collecting five or so years ago one of the things that excited me was the availability of autographed cards.  Perhaps I went a little overboard but I think I picked up some nice cards.  This will be an A-Z series of posts with varying numbers of cards.

Eric was a long time Blackhawk on the teams I grew up with.  He was part of the 1960-61 Stanley Cup Championship team.

 2007 Parkhurst #81

Darren's a likeable guy who played briefly for the Hawks and went on to become a broadcaster.  According to Wikipedia he and Steve Yzerman are BFFs.

Pappin, pictured here as a Leaf is another Blackhawk I grew up watching.  He was a regular from 1968-74.

 2002 Topps Reprint #TMLA-JP

A Hall of Famer, Parent's jersey, #1, was the first to be retired by the Flyers.

 2007 Parkhurst #92

I think of Hall of Famer Park as a Ranger.  

 2007 Parkhurst #93

Another Hall of Famer and member of the 1960-61 Blackhawks Stanley Cup Championship team.  He won the Norris Trophy 3 consecutive years.  These Topps Archives cards are outstanding!

 2002 Topps/OPC Archives Reprint #7

Pronovost is a 5 time Stanley Cup Champion and Hall of Famer

 2007 Parkhurst #102

Confession- I bought this because I like the name Puppa. POOPA!

2005 ITG Franchises #A-DPU

Blow Out the Candles July 6

Hall of Famer George Armstrong is celebrating his 81st birthday today.

 1964-65 Parkhurst Tallboys #122

"The Chief" played for 21 seasons with the Maple Leafs and was their captain for 11.  He was a seven time All-Star and 4 time Stanley Cup Champion.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1975.

Another hockey Hall of Famer is celebrating a birthday today.

Ranger and Bruins great Brad Park is 64.

 1971-72 Topps #40

Honors and achievements

Named to the First All-Star Team in 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976 and 1978.
Named to the Second All-Star Team in 1971 and 1973.
Runner up in Norris Trophy voting in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976 and 1978
Received both the most First Team All-Star nominations (other than Earl Seibert, who retired before the trophy was awarded) and was runner-up for the Norris more times without winning the Norris than any other defenceman in NHL history.
Played in the NHL All-Star Game in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978.
Retired as the leading defence scorer in Rangers' history and the second leading defence scorer in Bruins' history to Bobby Orr.
At the time of his retirement, had played the most seasons in league history for a player never missing the playoffs.
Currently 13th all-time in NHL history in defence scoring.
Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988, in this first year of eligibility.
Along with Butch Goring, one of the last two active players who had played in the 1960s.
In 1998, he was ranked number 49 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
Ranked No. 11 on the all-time list of New York Rangers in the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).

Rock and Roll pioneer Bill Haley was born in Highland Park Michigan on this date in 1925.

Actor and animal right activist Burt Ward is 67 today.

If the name Burt Ward doesn't ring a bell here's how you probably remember him.

Burt played the Boy Wonder on the 1960's TV version of Batman.

Comedian Pat Paulsen was born in South Bend, WA. on this date in 1927.

Pat is best known for his roles on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" in the 1960's and his several mock runs for President of the United States, the first of which came in 1968.

Presidential campaign slogan: "I've upped my standards. Now, up yours."

Singer Nanci Griffith is 59 today.

I like Nanci's version better than Bette Midler's

Pianist and conductor Vladimir Ashknazy celebrates his 74th birthday today.

A younger Vladimir

Wall Display

A few years ago I was looking for a way to display some of my cards.  There are some nice wall displays out there but they're a bit pricey for me and the ones from the craft store are kind of the opposite.  I'm not all that handy with tools but I managed tocobble together this shadowbox that as you can see will comfortably display forty or so cards.  I change it out every now and then and since hockey season started I filled it with some of my favorite vintage cards.

Here are the cards from the top row, (Topps 1971-72):