Carnie's Comments

 

I'm thinking about hockey cards today after learning a Saskatchewan family is auctioning their unopened set of 1979 O-Pee-Chee hockey cards. The set could contain over 20 Wayne Gretzky rookie cards. It could fetch up to $3 million or more.

I've got a few hockey cards including several I treasure. Most of them are only worth a few dollars but to me, some of the autographed cards I have are priceless.

One I wish I had was a 1971 Billy Hicke card. It was his last full season in the NHL with the California Golden Seals. I bought it at a shop at the mall in Moose Jaw back in the day just a few minutes before I walked across the parking lot to call a game on the radio between the Moose Jaw Warriors and Regina Pats.

Hicke was running the Pats at the time. I always enjoyed talking to him. He called me "Hammer". He called everybody "Hammer".

I wanted him to autograph the card for me. I approached him near the Pats' locker room and showed him the card. 

His face lit up as he admired the card and he said, "Look at that beautiful boy!"

He was all smiles and before I could ask him to autograph it, he tucked it into his inside jacket pocket and said, "Thanks, Hammer" and he walked away.