Through my own experiences of selecting photos to appear on trading cards, something inevitably slipped through the cracks and the revelation of each mistake (usually in the form of a snarky email or message board posting) was like a punch to the gut - especially when you think you made every effort to ensure that you had the right player. Sometimes, the photographer marked the wrong name on a slide or file. Sometimes, you forgot to check a minor detail.
Shit happens, right?
In the days before the collecting world went online, and even before the boom years, there were no scathing criticisms posted for the world to see and the photo editor had already moved on to other duties by the time anyone had really noticed. If only I had that luxury during my decade at In The Game! Usually, Dr. Price blew his top in an epic fashion once a mistake went public. However, the explosion was normally quick and within a few minutes, we had all moved on. If I made a mistake, I simply owned up to it and kept pushing to make sure it was not going to happen again. Try as you might, though, it inevitably would - but not from a lack of trying on my end to aim for perfection. It's funny, but I can remember most of the big mistakes and they still sting to this day. It's embarrassing, but at least there's a good story to tell.
Speaking honestly, I think collectors need to move out of the "gotcha" mentality when a card company makes an error like that, but I know that is just not going to become a reality.
All that being said, one of my favourite error cards of all-time is perhaps a bit obscure compared to some, but it does have a Hall of Fame connection to it.
The 1977-78 O-Pee-Chee set has a distinct lack of key rookie cards and a rather bland design which has kept it from being a hobby favourite, but it did have an unintentional cameo on the debut card of then-St. Louis Blues prospect Rick Bourbonnais. A fourth round pick in 1975, he played in just 71 games at the NHL level before settling in the minors and moving on to Europe. The player that actually appeared on the card had a much greater impact, though.
Who was it? Oh, only one of the greatest players in franchise history - Bernie Federko.
There are some hockey fans that simply discount Federko's on-ice accomplishments and that is a bloody shame. They will say that he never deserved to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but that mentality is simply ignorant in my opinion. He spent 13 seasons with the Blues and shattered more than a few team records. Playing in a smaller hockey market like St. Louis might have kept him from the richly-deserved spotlight and if he had played in New York or Boston - or even a Canadian market - his legacy would be a lot different today.
When I was younger, I knew he was a special player. He consistently put up great numbers and made a couple of All-Star Game appearances (only two, really?), but the Blues played in the Norris Division, which was always perceived by some as being weaker in some ways, and he only came close to a Stanley Cup Final once (Wales Conference Final in 1985-86). To me, he was an underappreciated star who never got his proper due - even after being elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. I was pleased to sign him to a trading card deal on at least a couple occasions and he was more than gracious in our interactions.
So, how on Earth did he end up on the Rick Bourbonnais card? Well, I asked my old pal and iconic hockey photographer Steve Babineau about it and he theorized it was simply a small mistake where someone at O-Pee-Chee or Topps thought the 24 on Federko's sleeve was actually the 28 worn by Bourbonnais. Case closed.
By looking at Federko's game log for his debut campaign, we can determine the exact date the photo was taken at Boston Garden - February 3, 1977. At the time, the Blues were in the middle of a season where they finished first in a very weak Smythe Division with a 32-39-9 record. They were in their 10th season at that point and had only missed the playoffs once (1973-74) at that point. They were also on the brink of transitioning from a consistent middle-of-the-pack team to a bottom feeder as the wheels came off over the next two campaigns before rising back to contention by the dawn of the next decade.
So, what was so special about this night? For starters, the Blues were hungry for victory and were riding a five-game winless streak - the previous game being a 3-3 tie that came at home two days earlier to the same Bruins club.
The seventh overall pick in the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft, Federko had been called up to the Blues for a three-game trial in December, 1976 and the first-year pro had been sent back to the Central Hockey League's Kansas City Blues. Over 42 games in the minors, he simply proven to be too good for that level of competition with 30 goals and 69 points and his arrival in St. Louis was to be expected.
A quick look at the box score for this particular contest shows that Federko scored his first career goal on fellow Hall of Famer Gerry Cheevers to tie things up at one in the second period. He also earned his first assist on Ted Irvine's late goal. but it was not enough as Boston won by a 5-4 margin.
Of special note as well, legendary enforcer John Wensink of the Bruins scored for the first time that night on Doug Grant.
Bourbonnais and Federko were actually linemates during the 1976-77 season and were joined by another rookie in Brian Sutter (who had his first career point as well, an assist on Federko's goal).
By the time this card hit convenience stores in early 1978, Bourbonnais was playing the last few games of his NHL career, but Federko and Sutter were only warming up. By 1978-79, the pair had a perfect new linemate in Wayne Babych and a year later, their defensive woes were placated with the arrival of Mike Liut (who was drafted in 1976 along with Sutter and Federko!). From 1979-80 to 2003-04, the team did not miss a single playoff appearance - a remarkable feat indeed when you consider how close they were to packing up an moving to Saskatoon in 1983!
While most people who own this card may dismiss it as a mere common, it truly is so much more than that. It will not cost much to own one and you may get it for the price of a basic card from this set if you are lucky!
So is that Bob Plager in the background behind Federko?
ReplyDeleteLooks like him to me!
ReplyDelete