New NHL Players added to my collection: 1761-1770

The third round of this series begins with three more players from 1980-81 Topps, and will also kick off another big run of a set that will continue unto post #4.

1761. Don Murdoch

1980-81 Topps #203

 I do believe that jersey is painted on, even though he did play 10 games for the Oilers the previous season.
Murdoch, from Cranbrook, British Columbia, had a rather short NHL career. He played from 1976-77 through 1981-82 with the Rangers, Oilers and Red Wings. He was an All-Star in his rookie season, and placed second in Calder Cup voting that season. His brother Bob also played in the NHL but is not present in my collection. Don played 320 NHL games, scoring 121 goals and 117 assists.

1762. Blair MacDonald

1980-81 Topps #32

From Cornwall, Ontario, MacDonald had a long WHA career before joining the NHL. He played 7 years in the WHA and only 5 in the NHL. All told, he played from 1973-74 to 1982-83 and played a combined 695 games, scoring 262 goals and 365 assists. He played in the 1980 NHL all-Star game.

1763. Pete Mahovlich

1980-81 Topps #72

From Timmins, Ontario, Pete Mahovlich had a long career, from 1965-66 through 1980-81, and to 1986 in the minor leagues. All told he played 884 games, scoring 288 goals and 485 assists. He won 4 Stanley Cups, all with the Canadiens. He played with the Red Wings, Canadiens, Penguins, and back to the Red Wings. His brother Frank is a Hall-of-Famer and does appear in my collection.

1764. Dan Ratushny

1993-94 Upper Deck #245

A very obscure player, but historic for me- this is my 5000th different NHL (or at least professional) hockey card! In fact, it's the only NHL card Ratushny ever got, though he did get minor league cards. The native of Nepean, Ontario played in exactly one NHL game, very clearly with the Canucks. He didn't score a goal, but he did get an assist during the game. He played in various minor leagues and International leagues until 2000-01, including representing Canada at the 1992 Olympics.

1765. Jonni Vauhkonen

I debated including these players who got cards in the World Junior Championships subsets over the years, but since they got cards in standard NHL sets, I have decided to include them. Since they are representing National Teams as well it was another nod towards including them. Most if not all of them played professionally in Europe which I would collect cards of if I was able to. Vauhkonen played in Finland from 1992-93 through 2001-02, then one year in England and one in Germany.

1766. Igor Alexandrov

Alexandrov played professionally in Europe until 2008-09, alternating between Russia and Germany. He also played one year in the USA in the AHL.

1767. Ondrej Steiner

Steiner played in Europe until 2009-10. He mostly played in the Czech Repubic but also in Russia, Denmark and Finland.

1768. Michal Cerny

If I am correct, he played in the Czech Republic from 1990-91 through 2002-03, except in 1998-99 where he played in Slovakia.

1769. Darcy Werenka

Finally, somebody who has a Wikipedia page! He never played in the NHL, but he played in minor leagues and in Europe until 2011-12.

1770. John Emmons

Emmons actually did play in the NHL, after being drafted in 1993, he didn't debut until 1999-00 with the Senators. He also played with the Lightning and Bruins, and only played through 2001-02. He played 85 total games, posting 2 goals and 4 assists. He played in minor leagues and Europe until 2002-03.

The next post leads off with more WJC competitors. I don't currently have enough cards to make up the 10 people I am showing in each post, so I have to get some new cards before I can finish it and post it. This is a problem I don't think I'll have much trouble solving, considering my COMC order is due in soon and I'm waiting on packages from several bloggers and Trading Card Database members...