Saint Patrick was the Apostle
Of Ireland, but he was not born in Ireland or with the name Patrick but Maewyn Succat. The legend of driving snakes out was a metaphor for pagans. He also worn blue not green, and until 1970 pubs in Ireland were closed for his feast day. #hockeycards

153 - Patrick Roy

Roy was a goaltender 19 years for Montreal and Colorado. He was an 11x All-Star, won the Vezina 3x, the Calder, and the Stanley Cup 4x (‘86,’93 with MTL 96,’03 with COL) winning the Conn Smythe 3x, and is in the NHL Hall of Fame. He was nicknamed Saint Patrick.

Hyacinth of Poland was a priest and missionary that worked to reform women’s monasteries in the 1200s. He is the patron saint of pierogis, and of weightlifting after he saved some friars from a fallen statue of Mary that he shouldn’t have been able to lift. #hockeycards

152 - Vincent Riendeau

Riendeau was a goalie 8 years for 4 teams. He was undrafted and signed with the Canadiens and had the top GAA in the AHL from ‘86-‘88 with Sherbrooke. His best was as a Blue in ‘90-‘91 with 29 wins and a 3.01 GAA. He was born in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec.

Big Daddy was an Adam Sandler film from ‘99 that was his highest grossing for a time. He won the Golden Raspberry for worst actor, but also Kid and Teen choice for Best Film and Actor. He met his wife Jackie Titone on set, who would make cameos in all later films. #hockeycards

151 - Randy Ladouceur

Ladouceur was a defenceman 14 years for 3 teams. He was undrafted and signed with the Red Wings where he had a career high 30 points. He later was captain for the Whalers, and Mighty Ducks, and worked as an assistant coach. He was nicknamed Big Daddy.

Phyllis Ellis was a Canadian field hockey Olympian before becoming an actor/director. Her 2022 film she wrote and directed Category Woman is about four female athletes whose medical privacy and human rights were violated over the issue of sex verification in sports. #hockeycards

150 - Stewart Gavin

Gavin was a left winger 13 years for 3 teams. He was a 4th round pick by the Maple Leafs in ‘80, and his career highs came in ‘85-‘86 with the Whalers scoring 26 goals and 55 points. He was married to former Olympian and documentary filmmaker Phyllis Ellis.

Also born in Gothenburg in 1967 was musician Jonas Berggren of Ace of Base. He was in a punk cover band before his sisters Linn and Jenny joined to form a more techno pop group called Tech-Noir, but changed it after inspiration from Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades”. #hockeycards

149 - Calle Johansson

Johansson played 17 years for 3 teams. He was a 1st round pick by the Sabres, and made the All-Rookie team there in ‘87-‘88. His prime years were as a Capital, and had a career high 56 points there in ‘91-‘92. He was born in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1967.

I cheered for the Oilers because my Grandma lived there and it connected us. I cried when Smith scored in his own net, which made my Mom mad because I didn’t cry at my Grandma’s funeral. An emotional shutdown is not a choice, but a biological unconscious reaction. #hockeycards

148 - Steve Smith

Smith played defence 16 years for 3 teams. He was in ‘90-‘91, and won the Stanley Cup with the Oilers in ‘87, ‘88, and ‘90. He scored a career high 57 points in Chicago in ‘92-‘93. In ‘86 the Oilers were eliminated from the playoffs after a Smith own goal.

Lappeenranta is in the south-east Finland bordering Russia. On the city’s coat of arms is the Wild Man, a prevalent medieval figure representing a hairy savage human. It served as a dark reflection of medieval society’s own fears of losing control and civility. #hockeycards

147 - Petri Skriko

Skriko played left wing 9 years for 4 teams. With the Canucks he was their leading scorer for 2 seasons including ‘85-‘86 with a career high 38 goals and 78 points. He holds the team record for hat tricks in a season (4). He was born in Lappeenranta, Finland.

November 9, 1989 the Berlin Wall came down. It was built by East Germany in 1961 to stop the brain drain of citizens fleeing to West Berlin. There were two walls that created a heavily fortified death strip in between where over 100 people died over the years. #hockeycards

146 - Jari Kurri

Kurri played right wing 17 years for 5 teams. He was a 5x All-Star and won 5 Stanley Cups with the Oilers. In ‘84-‘85 he scored 71 goals, 135 points and won the Lady Byng and is in the Hall of Fame. The photo on the back is from a game November 9, 1989.

Kramfors is the site of the Torsåker witch trials of 1675. It was the largest and deadliest single-day witch execution in Swedish history, occurring over a decade before the famous Salem witch trials with 65 women and 6 men beheaded and burned at the stake. #hockeycards

145 - Peter Eriksson

Eriksson played 20 games for the Oilers in ‘89-‘90 after being drafted in the 4th round. He scored in his first two games, but finished with 3 goals and 3 assists. He won Bronze with Sweden at the ‘88 Olympics in Calgary. He was born in Kramfors, Sweden.

Created by Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario was originally named Jumpman in his ‘81 Donkey Kong debut and was a carpenter, not a plumber. The Super Mario Brothers real names are Luigi Mario, and Mario Mario as revealed in the ‘93 movie starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo. #hockeycards

144 - Mario Lemieux

Lemieux was a centre 17 years for the Penguins. He was a 9x All-Star, won the Calder, the Pearson 4x, the Art Ross 6x, the Hart 4x, the Masterton, and the Smythe 2x while winning the Stanley Cup in ‘91 and ‘92 and is in the Hall of Fame. He was Super Mario.

Born in 1963 MacInnis is a baby boomer, even though the years are slightly different in the US and Canada. It was first used to describe post WW2 population and college enrolment increases, and were the dominant demographic until millennials took over in 2019. #hockeycards

143 - Al MacInnis

MacInnis played defence 23 years for the Flames and Blues. He was a 7x All-Star, won the Smythe leading in scoring and winning the Cup with the Flames in ‘89. He won the Norris with the Blues in ‘98-‘99, and is in the Hall of Fame. He is nicknamed Boomer.

The term "blazer" originates from the "blazing red" jackets worn by the Lady Margaret Boat Club of St. John's College, Cambridge. It was used to describe brightly colored jackets indicating club, school, or team affiliation before evolving into the modern navy style. #hockeycards

142 - Rob Brown

Brown played right wing 11 years for 5 teams. He was an all-star with the Penguins in ‘88-‘89 with a career high 49 goals and 115 points playing with Lemieux. He scored a WHL record 212 points and 136 assists in just 63 games playing for the Kamloops Blazers.

Elk’s original name was wapiti, Cree for “white rump” for the light fur around their tail. Male elk use a high pitched roar called bugling to attract mates that reaches a frequency of 4000 hz, which compared to its size no other animal has the same abilities. #hockeycards

141 - Joel Otto

Otto was a centre 14 years for the Flames and Flyers. He was undrafted and signed by the Flames had a career high 25 goals, 59 points in ‘85-‘86, and won the Stanley Cup in ‘89. He also won the World Cup with USA in ‘96. He was born in Elk River, Minnesota.

Casper the Friendly Ghost was originally a 9 min animated short film in ‘45 created from a book by Joe Oriolo and Seymour Reit. In the ‘95 feature film with Christina Ricci, Casper’s backstory was that he died as a child due to pneumonia for being abandoned outside. #hockeycards

140 - Steve Kasper

Kasper was a centre 13 years for 4 teams. He won the Selke his 2nd year with the Bruins in ‘81-‘82, and his career high was in ‘87-‘88 with 26 goals and 70 points the year they went to the Final where he shadowed Gretzky. He was nicknamed The Friendly Ghost.

The term beaker comes from Medieval Latin Vivarium meaning cup. The term is strongly associated with the Bell Beaker culture of the European Bronze Age circa 2800 BCE, named after distinctive bell shaped drinking vessels discovered by archaeologists. #hockeycards

139 - Gary Nylund

Nylund was a defenceman 11 years for 3 teams. He was drafted 3rd overall by the Maple Leafs in ‘82 just ahead of Scott Stevens and Phil Housley who went 5,6. He became a fireman, and was awarded the Medal of Bravery from a 2001 fire. He was nicknamed Beaker.