A look at my NHL Collection afer my first full season

The NHL has rapidly grown in importance to me. Since I "discovered" the sport back in October 2016, it has been a part of every day of my life since then...and it's becoming a bigger and bigger part all the time. The NHL -and hockey in general, I'll watch any form of hockey I can find- is now omnipresent in my life. I would say it's a safe bet to say that the "NHL era" of my collection is now in full swing. I've speculated on if that would happen in the past, and for sure, it has.  In fact, to be honest, the NHL is currently my #1 sport. It's surpassed the NBA...in such a short time it's come out of nowhere and become my #1. (but I will still collect the NBA to a high degree)

As you know, I like to document things...you might say I'm obsessed by it, and I wouldn't argue that point. When I began collecting the NBA in 1996 and NASCAR in 1992 there were not as easy ways to document as there are now. For one, the Trading Card Database didn't exist yet, which is where I'm gong to be pulling these screencaps from. Also, the leaderboards for my other two sports are pretty much set in stone...since I began tracking my collection on the Database there has only been one significant change to the top 10 people in either sport. The NHL, being new and wide open, may not be that way, and I am curious to track that as time goes on.

I thought I would take a look at my statistical leaders as reckoned by the Database in all the major statistical categories they provide. All these stats are accurate to the conclusion of the season. I've gotten more cards since then, but I specifically didn't add them on there so I could do this post. I've been planning it out since the Finals were going on but didn't get a chance to actually write it for quite a while. My plan is to track my collection in this format at the conclusion of each season, to see how it changes over the years.

I keep my statistics a little differently than the Database does. For example, if it's a League Leaders card, I count it as a League Leaders card, while the Database counts it towards each person's and team's total. Team cards, where applicable, are tagged to the person, where I track them as team cards. So there are some differences in the numbers shown and what I consider the "actual" numbers...but this is the best I can do considering to get to my numbers I'd need to scan everything and enter it into my Excel charts...something I can't do any time soon, there' s too much.

Please remember you can click on each screencap to see it larger and easier to read. 

Top 25 Players:

I'm not totally surprised Wayne Gretzky is leading. I am a little surprised his number is so high already, with 56 cards. Being the best player, and being active in the 90s, leads to a lot of cards being produced. Mark Messier has had the lead at various points as well, but the "official" leader is The Great One. Brian Leetch being third surprises me. Being a big Rangers fan, I do get his cards in team lots, so that must have helped him. Henrik Lundqvist, my favorite player in the sport, is in a three-way tie for 4th. That will change when I finish going through my COMC box, and get my next COMC order. It's probably going to put him in contention for the lead, actually. Lundqvist, Jagr and Iginla are players who I chase single cards of. Vincent Lecavalier was #1 before I officially became an NHL collector. A good friend of mine, a long time Lightning backer, sent me almost 4000 cards in 2015, and he included most of his duplicates...Lecavalier is his favorite player so that's how he got so high.

Top 25 Teams:

No surprise here, with the Rangers leading by a large margin. (165 cards). What actually DOES surprise me is the fact that the Islanders don't crack the top 10. Being a local team, I have access to their cards more than most teams. I must not be pulling too many of them out of packs. Also, people know me as a Rangers fan and sometimes send me Rangers just for the heck of it, which helps their numbers...as does the fact that I chase Lundqvist and Mats Zuccarello cards as singles. Just for my own future reference, the Vegas Golden Knights are in a tie for 40th, with Finland, with 22 cards in my collection.

Top Years:

This is an interesting chart, because I'm collecting everything all at once. My NBA and NASCAR collections are all very strong in certain times, because I was collecting heavily in certain times, meaning I have more cards from then. Some years, in the NBA especially, are so high that I doubt any year can ever catch them, even if I could afford to collect how I want to. The NHL is different, however, because I'm going for it all- and my funds are not high enough to buy up everything like I want to- however the current season is pretty darn high, as is last season..just due to the fact I have easy access to them.  It's nice to see such a mixture of years in the top 10. Only 4 years from the 90s are in the top 10 currently...I suspect that will change at some point, as I add more and more cards that I'm currently missing.

Top 25 Sets:

The Top 25 Sets is one that I think will change the most from year to year, as every day it could change. As of right now, just one Blaster can get a set into the top dozen, as that is all I have from 17-18 O-Pee-Chee. I don't know if any set can catch 1990-91 Pro Set though, but I don't mind - it's my favorite NHL set (that I've discovered, anyway)

Top 25 Brands:

I'm not really a big fan of this chart but had to screencap it anyway, just because it's there. Upper Deck seems like it's got an insurmountable lead, but I suspect OPC and Topps could vie for the lead if I had all the 80s and 90s cards I don't have yet.

Those are all the stats the Database gives you. at least for your own collection, but here are two leaders I've added on my own.

Lowest SN:

SN 1/2. I still can't believe I pulled this card! This will not be my lowest numbered card for very long- I have a printing plate in my COMC box waiting to be shipped.

Oldest Card:

1957-58 Topps. The oldest NHL card I've seen in person since I began collecting the sport. The NHL has cards going back to the 1920s, but I have not seen any yet...and I doubt I could afford one anyway!

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has sent me NHL cards...more than half my collection has arrived as gifts or trades! I was at 9928 NHL cards at the conclusion of the season.