Ice, Ice Baby (Blue)

The Pens/Bruins game is too frustrating to watch at this point, so I figured now would be a good time to break out some recent hockey additions.

Armed with a book of Canada to US stamps, I sent out a few TTM's a while back to some former hockey players to the north.  I admittedly know little about the Pens history that predates my birth, meaning aside from a few off years here and there, I've known little other than playoff caliber teams.  Researching the retired players who sign consistently and finding cards of them has been a fun way to explore the team's history a bit more.

I admittedly know just about nothing about hockey cards.  But I absolutely love the 1968/69 design, which also happens to be the inaugural release for the Pens.  The cards have a far more vintage design than their year lets on, and to a certain extent reminds me of the early 50's Bowman sets in baseball.

This Earl Ingarfield card is, simply put, gorgeous.  The design is clean and sharp, and I love the diagonal Pittsburgh script on the jerseys and the less familiar baby blue sweater.

Hockey is a distant third in terms of my favorite Pittsburgh sports.  I'm still learning the game, and know next to nothing about the cards, except where the sets parallel the baseball and football releases.  But hopefully as my meager Pens collection grows, I will continue to explore the history of the team and learn a bit more about some of the players.  But that's no small task when I have yet to figure out...where to actually find hockey cards, since they are almost nonexistent at cards shows in Ohio, and vastly overpriced in Pittsburgh.