Hockey Cards - Collecting the Game We Love

Hockey has been around for what seems like forever. The league was organized in 1917 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada after the suspension of operations of its predecessor organization, the National Hockey Association (NHA), which had been founded in 1909. It started with four teams and, through a series of expansions, contractions, and relocations, the league is now composed of 30 teams active franchises. As Canadians, we're proud to say that hockey is our game, it originated in Canada and has a rich history and people feel a special passion for it. If you are Canadian chances are you have a favorite team, and if you do, chances are that team is one of the remaining six teams residing in Canada. Your team is a team that is cheered for through the good times and the bad. As hockey fans, we take pride in our teams and many of us enjoy the hobby of hockey memorabilia collecting. One prominent collecting item is the hockey card. The hard core hockey fans who enjoy hockey card collecting has seen many changes in the industry from the early days of Parkie collecting, to present times which features the hockey hobby box.

In today's hockey card market, we see several different brands featuring a huge range of different types of cards. If you look at the market from the hockey hobby box perspective and not by the pack, we see product prices which range from twenty dollars all the way to eight and nine hundred dollars. We see the basic principles of supply and demand at play in today's market. Cheaper products seem to have a much larger production run, while expensive products have limited production. As a diehard collector, the thrill of getting a rare card out of a box is something that can't be explained through words. Every day we see collectors posting online in blogs and forums about the special rare card that they pulled from a hockey box. Through rare cards we achieve great value in what we attained. Camp and monetary values can be found in hockey cards.

You may ask why card companies bother to produce the low end products which feature little to no value to the seasoned collector. The key word there is seasoned. We all remember being children and collecting those cheap hockey cards for the thrill of the hobby. This is still alive in children in today's market. Companies realize how much hockey cards can mean to a child. This is why we see hockey card packs for sale still at our local corner store. Today's market is set up so that the seasoned collector can enjoy buying limited, expensive products and enjoy the rare and special cards attained. Fortunately, the young can still enjoy pulling that special card from affordable attainable packs. Young, old, rich, and poor can all join in on the thrill of collecting the cards from our favorite teams in the NHL.

It seems that since hockey had been reborn in the 2005 season, we've seen an uptick in hockey card interest. Remember, the 2004 season never happened. There was no hockey for over a year. The new generated interest can be attributed in part to the new young superstars in the league, as well as the fact that we as Canadians really missed the game that we love. For whatever reasons we have, we love the game of hockey and our hockey cards. The hockey hobby box lives on and just keeps getting better.

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The History of the Stanley Cup

The coveted cup. The Stanley Cup is the prize that NHL hockey teams strive to receive at the end of a hockey season.

The history of the Stanley Cup, the most coveted award sought after by the NHL hockey teams dates back to 1892. Lord Stanley, the then Governor General of Canada proclaimed that he thought that a challenge cup should be held from year to year by the champion hockey team in the Dominion.

At that time, there was no cup. Subsequently, Lord Stanley purchased a silver cup that was 7 ½ inches high by 11 ½ inches wide for the price of approximately $50.00. Lord Stanley appointed two trustees of the cup, Philip D. Ross and Sheriff John Sweetland from Ottawa and also set forth conditions to administer the yearly competition.

The champions had to return to cup to the trustees in order that it be handed over to another team which may win it. Each champion team was to have their hockey team name and year engraved on a silver ring fitted on the cup. The cup was never to be the property of a team but to remain a challenge competition.

If the existing trustees resigned this post, new trustees would be named in their place. Unfortunately, Lord Stanley never saw a hockey playoff game nor did he present his cup to a winning team. Lord Stanley had elected to return to his home in England. However, the pursuit of winning the Stanley Cup has flourished over the years and has become a world class sporting competition.

Catherine Kenyeres is a successful author and publisher for [http://www.best-4u-tickets.com].  Catherine has written numerous articles for the sports enthusiast.

Victory of Pakistan Hockey in 1994 Sydney World Cup

One of the most memorable wins for Pakistan in Hockey is the World Cup win in 1994 that brought to the forefront a hero - Shahbaz Ahmad. He went on to become one of the best forwards in the history of Pakistan Hockey. After having joined the national hockey team in 1986, he masterminded a brilliant win - the 1994 world cup. Shahbaz Ahmad was nicknamed "the man with the electric heels" and led Pakistan from the front in the 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 Champions Trophy tournaments; 1988 Seoul Olympics; 1989 Asia Cup in New Delhi; 1990 World Hockey Cup in Lahore; 1990 BMW Trophy Amsterdam; 1990 Beijing Asiad and the most memorable of them all - the 1994 World Cup Hockey in Sydney.

The Hockey World Championships is considered to be an international field hockey competition just like FIFA soccer world cup where teams from across the world participate to win the coveted cup. It is organized once every 4 years by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The first world cup was started in 1971. There are two versions of the Hockey world cup - the men's and the women's. So far five countries have dominated the Hockey world cup but the most successful team is Pakistan who has won it four times. The Netherlands has won the Hockey world cup three times, Germany two times while both India and Australia have won it once. The 2010 Hockey world cup is going to be held in India.

In fact, the entire concept of the Hockey World Cup was conceived by Air Marshal Nur Khan of Pakistan. The idea was proposed to FIH under the name of Patrick Rowley who was the first editor of the World Hockey magazine. The idea got the approval on 26th October, 1969 and was adopted by the then FIH Council in a meeting that was held in Brussels on 12th April, 1970. The FIH came to the conclusion that the inaugural or first hockey World Cup should be held in Pakistan in October 1971. However, due to political strife and several other issues, the venue of the World Cup was moved from Pakistan to the Real Club de Polo grounds in Barcelona, Spain.

The 1971 Hockey world cup in Spain was won by Pakistan who defeated Spain 1-0 in the finals. In the 1994 World Cup in Sydney Australia, Pakistan was up against a strong opponent - The Netherlands. The match ended in a 1-1 draw and went into extra time and then into penalties. Pakistan then went on to win the final on penalties and the score line read 4-3. This was the 4th world cup for Pakistan and Shahbaz Ahmad led them to victory in style. This further reinforced Pakistan as one of the top hockey playing countries of the world. Shahbaz Ahmad also won another laurel - the player of the tournament.

As the 2010 Hockey world cup date draws close, we will have to wait and watch out for the "men in green!"

For further information, please visit Pakistan Hockey Team [http://www.pakistan-hockey.com/]

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SEO Specialist and Article Marketer

Hockey News - Hockey Trivia About the Bruins Loss to the Flyers

So, on "random Stanley Cup hockey trivia and fact Saturday", it's kind of hard not to report on the significance of the Boston Bruins' unbelievable collapse against the Philadelphia Flyers, and look in to just how rare their losing the series after being up 3-0 really truly was...

The Boston Bruins have joined what is now a hat trick of teams that have "accomplished" this failure. The other two NHL teams in history to have lost their playoff series after gaining a 3-0 lead include the Detroit Red Wings - the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Red Wings back in 1942 - and the Pittsburgh Penguins - who fell in classic fashion to the upstart New York Islanders all the way back in 1975.

"History Will be Made" parodies (UPDATE: they've already started) are likely to follow in the coming days, with lines like "What if the Bruins knew how to score?" and "What if Rask had an offense in front of him?" But those will be short-lived hype. More eternally, the 2009-2010 Bruins will now be a footnote to any story covering an NHL series in which one team goes up 3-0. Their play will be studied over and over again for points on "what not to do" on the rink. And in all likelihood, this Bruins team will now serve as a benchmark on what type of roster you don't want when heading in to the playoffs: in their four losses, the team lacked leadership, goal scoring, and all-around toughness. They had the speed and they had the skill, but without any one of those three additional elements, they lacked the necessary goods to move forward in an NHL Stanley Cup playoff series.

A Hockey Chump stick tap to the Bruins' fans who stuck around and saw their team off the ice last night during what has to be probably the most painful moment in the franchise's history. That's true heart and dedication, which is a lot more than what we saw from the Bruins during the second and third periods.

Hockey Chump: http://www.hockeychump.blogspot.com

Wayne Gretzky Hockey Jerseys Are Available From All His Former Teams

Wayne Gretzky went from a talented kid that took his first strides on the rink his dad made for him in the backyard, to one of the greatest athletes in the history of professional sports. Notice that I said any sport, not only one of the greatest in hockey.

Since he was quite small as a kid and never really grow enough to look like a hockey player, Wayne relied on his smartness. He became a decent skater, but what separated him from the crowd was his ability to look one step ahead of everyone else. It didn't even help that many opponents put two guys on him as shadows.

Wayne was just too smart for them. If someone rimmed the puck along the board, Wayne was in the other corner to pick up the puck before anyone else even had understood that the puck was going there.

During his career he reached more highs than any other player in the history of the National Hockey League and even today fans can celebrate Wayne Gretzky's achievements with a wide variety of merchandise. You can find everything from the early Edmonton Oilers home and road jerseys to framed photographs of the Great One.

Wayne Gretzky began producing point from the day he first set his foot on a NHL ice and he has given hockey fans from around the world so much to cheer about over the years.

But how does a player become this great?

My answer to that question isn't that he was more skilled that others (even though he was). If I am to point out one single attribute that made him stand out from the crowd, I would say he reached such success because he was more competitive than the rest of the guys.

You can take any sport, not only ice hockey. The players that become legends are always the ones that are more competitive than the rest.

Wayne Gretzky was one of these guys, he just hated to lose and put a lot of pressure upon him in order accomplish great things out on the ice. And accomplished he did. Big time.

As people saw that he could deliver on a consistent basis and win games and rings to his club, his popularity grew proportionally and it's still unmatched in the NHL.

Today the sheer amount of Wayne Gretzky merchandise available is correlated to this popularity. Fans who want to look like the famous hockey player can find signed jerseys, sticks and photos as well as other Wayne Gretzky merchandise.

While buying any of his original jerseys is expensive, fans can always buy a nice replica jersey with his name on the back. And I think most people agree that having a replica Gretzky hockey jersey is better than not having a Gretzky jersey at all.

Johnny writes about search engine optimization as well as the NHL and ice hockey equipment.

Disciplined Savagery On Ice, In The Name Of The Nation - NHL Hockey

History has sufficient evidence of good evolving out of evil. In more moderate terms, great things are achieved out of strife and struggle. The resultant is usually way beyond expectations. NHL or the National Hockey League is one such example. It is defined as a sports organization made up of professional ice hockey teams in North America.

With roots in the strife that enveloped NHA or the Canadian National Hockey Association and the other team owners, the National Hockey League was born in 1917. The founding teams were the Wanderers, Senators, Canadians, and the Toronto Arenas, now known as the Maple Leafs. In spite of the struggle that the league faced in the first decade of its existence to stay in business, the teams ripped apart other teams on the ice, mercilessly. Only once in 1925, another league got the chance to win the Stanley Cup. At other times, it was the NHL all the way.

Due to its Canadian origin, Canadians have historically formed the majority of players in the NHL. However, with the steady expansion of the NHL hockey games, the number of American and other European players in the NHL has steadily risen. This led to the improvement in quality of the NHL Hockey League.

Today, with expertise from America, Canada and Europe, the NHL is the world's premier ice hockey league in the professional arena. It has also been recognized as one of the major professional sports leagues in North America. When NHL began, it had only five teams. With time, NHL witnessed expansions, fall-outs and relocations and is finally composed of 30 teams, 24 of them are American and 6 Canadian. Nevertheless, many of the league's players on the 2005-06 rosters are Canada born.

The Depression in the 1930's and the World War II saw a drastic fall in the number of teams in the NHL league. By 1942, the number of teams reduced to six. They were - Montreal Canadians, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks and New York Rangers. These teams are still referred to as the Original Six. For the next 25 years, these were the only teams in the NHL.

The National Hockey League is divided into two distinct seasons. The Regular season begins on the first Wednesday of October and continues through the beginning of April. The Playoffs season begins from April and continues till June. The latter is an elimination tournament where two teams pour heat on ice to win the best-of-seven series. The final team becomes the owner of the Stanley Cup.

Swati Banerjee is the owner of Writing Ink, a web content management firm based out of India. Please take a minute to visit http://www.writing-ink.com to experience how the bright young minds here make magic with words!

Why Getting a Custom Made NHL Hockey Jersey is a Good Idea

The NHL hockey jersey, apart from being witness to the colorful unfolding of our favorite hockey league's history, is also one of the most popular pieces of sports merchandise being sold today. Almost every sporting and sport memorabilia and collectibles store worth its salt carries a variety of NHL memorabilia, especially NHL hockey jerseys. However, at times it happens that in spite of the huge glut of NHL hockey jerseys in the market, you might not be able to find the exact jersey that you are looking for.

This might be because you are in search for an antique jersey that is no longer very popular amongst NHL fans today. Another reason could be that you do not like the detailing on the jerseys being sold, because one or more small, yet crucial details are missing from the jerseys. One more reason why buying NHL hockey jerseys might become a problem could be because of the prohibitively high prices that some jerseys come with, especially if they carry brand names and logos of any major sporting brand in the world.

One great idea that comes to everyone's rescue when it comes to situations like those presented above is that of getting custom made NHL hockey jerseys. All the problems mentioned above can easily solve themselves when you start getting your jerseys custom made. There are a large number of professional jersey makers, who can create the perfect NHL jersey for you, complete with all the large and small details and that too for a lesser price than what you would have to pay for a model with a brand icon and lesser details.

Going to a custom jersey maker is also a good idea if you have given up on finding the jersey you are looking for because of its unavailability in all kinds of stores. A good custom jersey maker will be able to create a jersey for you even if it is what your favorite team was wearing thirty years before or if it belongs to a team that is not playing league hockey anymore. On top of this, most jersey makers should be able to put in all the little details that you want on your favorite jersey.

Another good thing that a custom jersey maker might be able to do is put your name on your NHL jersey, so that you actually feel like you are a part of your favorite hockey team when you wear it. So if you are really serious about your NHL hockey jerseys, then locating a good jersey maker who can create all kinds of NHL hockey jerseys is a good idea. In case you can't find one in your town or city, then do not despair, because there are a number of good online jersey making companies that let you customize and design your jersey on their web pages and later on make and ship that jersey to you. Wearing a jersey that you have designed yourself will increase the pleasure that you get from sporting your favorite team's colors, so why not go and locate a good jersey maker asap?

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