What does it take to get onto Page 1 for each NHL Team?

 Back in June of 2019, I wrote a post documenting the oldest card I had scanned for each team. While that is cool and all, what I really  enjoy is seeing what it takes to get on page 1. 

On the Cardboard History Gallery, I have each album set up to display 120 images, the most that Fotki allows. As I mentioned in the original post, I really enjoy seeing what makes it onto page 1, what it takes to be old enough to make it. Since I'm still fairly new to the NHL...only 4 years actively collecting this month!...it's still very much in flux, unlike the NBA which is almost all 1991-92 or older. 

To make this post, I will list the last card on page 1 at the conclusion of 2020, meaning anything older than that will automatically make page 1. It is set up to automatically place each card in chronological order and then numerical order by set. Seasons with more than one set (which is most of them!) the sets are alphabetical. I'm going to show each card as well, just so this post is fun to look at...both for you now, and me when I return to it in the future. For teams with only one page, I will show the most recent card, again, for my enjoyment when I look at this post in the future.

Let's begin....we see right away that not every team even has a page 2. Remember, these numbers are NOT what's in my collection...JUST what I've gotten scanned so far.

All-Star team...with 92 cards scanned, any All-Star card will make the first page.

2020-21 Tim Horton's All-Star Standouts #AS-13

Anaheim Ducks have 167 cards scanned. Name changes are reflected accurately so the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim have their own listing.

2018-19 MVP Factory Set #117

Arizona Coyotes have 126 cards scanned. With being the second newest name combination (only the Vegas Golden Knights are newer) it's not surprising they are low, barely cracking the second page.

2019-20 Upper Deck #160

The Atlanta Flames have only 25 cards scanned...any card will make the first page. In fact, I would be surprised if the Atlanta version of the Flames ever gets to a page 2.

2011-12 Parkhurst Champions #97

The Atlanta Thrashers, despite being active from the 1990s to the 2010s, have very few cards in my collection, with only 62 scanned, barely half a page. Unlike most of the defunct teams, all my scanned Thrashers cards were issued while the team was active.

2010-11 Zenith #96

The Boston Bruins finally bring us to a long running team, one of the Original 6 in fact. With 410 cards scanned Boston is actually ranked 2nd in number of cards scanned and one of only two teams to clear the 400 marker. 

1994-95 Topps Premier #419

The Buffalo Sabres are one of 3 teams from my home state, and as such I support them, however, it's interesting to note that I could get to 4 teams in other states faster than I could get to Buffalo. They currently have 316 cards scanned.

1999-00 Wayne Gretzky Hockey #22

The Calgary Flames have 330 cards scanned, one of many teams that are in the mid-300s as you'll see. Their last card on page 1 is kind of a mismatch of several teams, but I classed it as a Flames card. It's a Flames photo, labeled as a Sabre, but I'm pretty sure the material is Coyotes. In something like this I went with the photo! 

2002-03 Upper Deck Classic Portraits Starring Cast

The California Golden Seals were another short term team, and with only 18 cards presently scanned, hitting a page 2 seems unlikely.

1975-76 Topps #48

The Carolina Hurricanes were the last team I saw play live (on TV), not counting the Golden Knights who didn't exist yet. I wish they were still in Hartford, but they moved to Carolina in 1997. Since they have a lesser amount of history in both places, they have only 210 Carolina cards scanned.

2017-18 Panini Stickers #43

The Chicago Blackhawks are the only team where I have two name versions combined- because I don't know when they switched from Black Hawks to Blackhawks. It's entirely possible I don't have any cards from the name change, considering they've been around almost 100 years. As it stands now, they have 358 cards scanned, but I would break that out if I could figure out where to do it. Interestingly, the last card on page 1 is one that I recovered and uploaded in the December upload.

1998-99 SP Top Prospects #10. I assure you Doug Gilmour's name IS on the card, it just doesn't show up in a scan, 

The Colorado Avalanche have only existed since 1995, formerly the Quebec Nordiques. They have 263 cards scanned, I seem to pull more of them from packs than I do Hurricanes.

2015-16 Upper Deck #304

The Colorado Rockies, formerly the Kansas City Scouts and currently the New Jersey Devils, are one of the smallest teams represented in my collection, with only 7 cards scanned. It's a team card, which is something I really like. 

1981-82 Topps #50

The Columbus Blue Jackets were only formed in 2000, and they have 211 cards scanned. I know they were one of the last teams if not THE last to hit 100 cards in my collection, although they have been catching up a bit lately.

2017-18 Upper Deck #52

The Dallas Stars have been around since 1993-94 and although they wear my favorite color I have a hard time warming up to the team. They have 263 cards scanned. We've had two inserts show up in this project already but this is the first parallel.

2014-15 Artifacts Red #59

The Detroit Red Wings had been the lowest ranked Original 6 team, but they moved past the Blackhawks in December, currently with 361 cards scanned. Their last card on page 1 is not a hockey card, but a multi-sport card.

1996 Sports Illustrated for Kids 2 #474

The Edmonton Oilers have had a huge amount of superstars on their team, and it shows with 325 cards scanned...I'd say at least a quarter of all Oilers cards are one of 4 people- Gretzky, Messier, McDavid and Draisaitl. 

2002-03 Topps #150

The Florida Panthers are not the first team I think of when I think of hockey, let's put it that way...yet they still have crossed my scanner tray 262 times. The last card on the first page is a terrible photo of who is probably my favorite player in franchise history, a card I got in the first NHL box I opened. 

2016-17 Fleer Showcase #44

The Hartford Whalers have only 95 cards scanned, so they are getting closer to a page 2. I expect they will hit it in 2020 but only time will tell.

2015-16 O-Pee-Chee Platinum Team Logos #T-32

The Kansas City Scouts are a rarer team, only in operation for two years before moving to Colorado and eventually New Jersey. Only 7 cards have been scanned for the team, and I would be surprised if a page 2 is ever hit with this team, as well. 

1976-77 Topps #92

with 377 cards scanned, the Los Angeles Kings are pretty high up in the rankings- 5th, to be exact, but only three cards ahead of 6th place Vancouver.

1996-97 Collector's Choice Meet the Star Trivia Challenge. This oversize card was only available as a prize in the Meet the Stars contest...I got it at a card show if my memory is correct. It's die cut although that doesn't show well as I scanned it with the lid open. 

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim have only 76 cards scanned, so they are only on one page. Eventually they will get onto a second page.

2005-06 Upper Deck #246

The Minnesota North Stars have 106 cards scanned, and are closing in on a second page. I suspect they too will hit that mark in 2021. 

1992-93 Ultra #321

The Minnesota Wild debuted in 2000, but since they are still active and getting a lot of cards, they have already surpassed the North Stars. The Wild have 170 cards scanned.

2018-19 MVP #237. Interestingly enough this was the first rookie card out of the first and only box of MVP I've opened so far.

With 387 cards scanned, the Montreal Canadiens hold third place in the scan rankings. They had held 2nd place for a year but Boston passed them recently.

1994-95 Donruss #146. This set only has the player's name in foil on the front, and it's very hard to read in hand...much easier to read in scans.

The Nashville Predators went to the first Stanley Cup finals I ever saw, and are getting close to smashing the 200 card barrier, with 195 currently scanned. 

2017-18 Upper Deck #359. 17-18 Upper Deck becomes the first set to appear as more than one team's last card on page 1. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not that the 17-18 set was the flagship I chased the most. 

The New Jersey Devils begin a streak of three localish teams to me, all between 1 to 2 hours away from home. With 338 cards, the Devils have gotten a bit of a bump from several Devils themed "Welcome to the NHL" packages I received from fellow collectors.

2000-01 Upper Deck Vintage #211. Fitting that the best player in franchise history represents the team here. 

I know as a Rangers fan I'm supposed to hate the Islanders...but I don't. In fact, I consider them my second favorite Eastern team and third favorite overall. I do need to increase my collection for them, I'm only at 382 cards scanned, good enough for 4th place on the list. 

1995-96 Emotion #108. Got to love the fisherman design. However, I don't think "Slap" is an emotion. 

The New York Rangers are my favorite team, a position they took during the latter half of 2016-17 season, the first I watched. I lucked into finding a huge stash of Rangers cards, and it shows- 

with 1978-79 Topps #235 being at spot #120. The Rangers currently stand at 988 cards scanned, and will become the first NHL team to cross the 1000 barrier when I do my monthly upload of all the cards I scanned in January, on February 1st.. According to the stats on the Trading Card Database (which are inflated because they count cards that shouldn't be counted towards a team) no other team has even hit the 1000 cards in my collection barrier yet, although 4 of the other Original 6 teams have cleared 800 cards, and Toronto is at 770, so getting closer. 

The second Ottawa Senators have my favorite logo in the league, due in no small part to my obsession with ancient Rome. They have 244 cards scanned.

2016-17 Fleer Showcase #56. The first set I ever opened a box of makes it's second appearence.

The Philadelphia Flyers are the most orange team in history, but the greatest Flyer ever, Gritty, does not yet appear in my collection. 

1997-98 Leaf Banner Season #7. A die cut, serially numbered insert. It's actually cut to the shape of a banner. 

The Phoenix Coyotes used to be the first Winnipeg Jets, now they are the Arizona Coyotes. I really wish they had updated the uniform when they changed the name from Phoenix to Arizona, because I constantly have to double check to make sure I'm putting them in the right album. With 112 cards scanned, this version of the team is very close to a second page.

2020 National Hockey Card Day USA #NCHD-11. Nobody local took part in this program so a fellow collector helped me out.

The Pittsburgh Penguins won the first Stanley Cup I ever saw. They have 355 cards scanned.

1996-97 Metal Universe #128. This is a fairly tame card from this bizarre set's options. 

Coincidentally, the Quebec Nordiques also have exactly 76 cards scanned. They will get to a second page at some point. It may not be 2021 but it will happen.

2018-19 SP #96

The San Jose Sharks are my second favorite Western team, 4th overall, due in large part to Brent Burns (in my top 5 favorite players) and their great uniforms.

They have 292 cards scanned. 

2013-14 Score #424

I have only seen 4 Stanley Cups being raised, but 2 of them were teams that had never won before. The Blues did it when they won the 2018-19 Championship. I have scanned 338 cards of them.

1998-99 Bowman's Best #18. A set that scans absolutely terribly.

Back in 2015, a friend of mine sent me thousands of hockey cards- literally over 2000. He thought I would enjoy it. He was sure right! That now forms the backbone of my collection. Since he is a Tampa Bay Lightning fanatic, I got a lot of Lightning cards, which had been his duplicates. While a lot of them still await scans, the Lightning have 335 scanned.

2007-08 Artifacts #24

Of the Original 6 teams, the Maple Leafs rank last in both cards scanned and cards present in my collection, with 351 scanned.

2000-01 Topps #78

With 374 cards scanned, the Vancouver Canucks have quietly taken the 6th spot in number of cards scanned, but could pass Los Angeles easily, trailing only by three cards. I suspect they will go back and forth for a while, always fun for me to pay attention to when I do my monthly uploads.

2000-01 Aurora #143

I am an NHL fan because of the Vegas Golden Knights! There was a thread on the Trading Card Database talking about but not showing their logo, and I decided to put on NHL Network to see what it was. I got hooked! By the end of that showing of On the Fly, repeating the next morning, I was an NHL Fan for life. It has been a part of every single day of my life ever since, and always will be. (Not just NHL- all hockey!). I am a big Knights fan and probably always will be because of that, but in the short portion of the 16-17 season I watched before they existed, the Rangers became "my team". The Knights are my #2 team, and I want them to win every game- unless they are playing the Rangers. 

I hit 200 Knights cards scanned in December, and I would say of all the full time teams, they likely have the highest percentage of cards in my collection vs. scanned. with 209. The Database says I have 255, but again, those numbers are inflated because they include checklists, multi-player cards, League leaders, etc. 

2018-19 O-Pee-Chee Platinum The Future is Now #FN-4

The Washington Capitals have 308 cards scanned, and were the first team I ever saw win their first Stanley Cup. 

2007-08 MVP #81

The first Winnipeg Jets became the Coyotes, and they changed their team name twice, so all three versions have lower numbers. The Winnipeg Jets 1 have 83 cards scanned. I expect they will hit a page 2, but not likely this year.

2012-13 In the Game Between the Pipes #99. This set should have stuck with the minor league players, but there are some airbrushed or closely cropped NHL cards in the set as well. It was not licensed by the NHL, so they couldn't show the uniforms. Even so, I'm a big fan of the set. This is the only post-existence Jets 1 card in my collection. 

The Winnipeg Jets 2 started out as the Atlanta Thrashers before moving north in 2011. Despite a relatively short existence, they have already made it to a page 2, with 156 cards scanned. 

2018-19 Upper Deck #448. Little was with the team it's entire time in Winnipeg but was hit in the head by a puck, which ruptured his ear drum, essentially ending his career. I happened to be watching that game and it made you cringe just watching. 

In addition to the teams shown, there is also one card for the Quebec Bulldogs, an NHL team that lasted only 1 season- 1919-20. They cannot possibly get a second page, and I had only one card of them when I began this post...2 by time I was done writing it. Stay tuned for "The NHL's Forgotten Franchises", an in-depth history piece I am working on that I hope to publish in a week or two, that will have more information on that team and several others that were not in my collection...but now are.