Hockey History Buffs aged 24-30: How Did You Get Into Hockey History?

[seventieslord]

Fellow history buffs close to my age, I was curious of something - how did you get interested in the history of hockey and what was your introduction to greats of the game's past?

For myself, the answer is easy: It was the 1988 Esso card set that came out. You have to all know the set I'm talking about. It came in a grey book to paste them in, and each card had an envlope-style sticky back and a checklist on the back. This set had three sections: the 60's, the 70's, and the 80's. It featured the best players of each decade and it was by collecting these cards, studying the career stats on them, and memorizing the award winners in the back page, that I set myself on the path that I'm now on.

Just a few years after that, I discovered my dad's old hockey cards from the 1970-1974 period and learned even more about players' nicknames, lesser stars, the summit series, and what other teams guys like Jacques Plante played for besides the Habs. It was around then, that I began buying up hockey books like The Great Book Of Hockey and The 20th Century Hockey Chronicle and demanding the NHL guide and record book for Christmas every year.

But without that Esso card set and the book the cards were pasted in, I doubt I'd have ever become as obsessed with hockey as I am, and I have no idea what my life would look like now.

Click to read more...

 

[Breakaway23*]

I am 31 does that count?

I collected a few hockey cards in the early 90's right after the baseball strike. I loved Doug Gilmour then started following the Leafs, after their great run in 93-94.

 

[MXD]

Fellow history buffs close to my age, I was curious of something - how did you get interested in the history of hockey and what was your introduction to greats of the game's past?

For myself, the answer is easy: It was the 1988 Esso card set that came out. You have to all know the set I'm talking about. It came in a grey book to paste them in, and each card had an envlope-style sticky back and a checklist on the back. This set had three sections: the 60's, the 70's, and the 80's. It featured the best players of each decade and it was by collecting these cards, studying the career stats on them, and memorizing the award winners in the back page, that I set myself on the path that I'm now on.

Just a few years after that, I discovered my dad's old hockey cards from the 1970-1974 period and learned even more about players' nicknames, lesser stars, the summit series, and what other teams guys like Jacques Plante played for besides the Habs. It was around then, that I began buying up hockey books like The Great Book Of Hockey and The 20th Century Hockey Chronicle and demanding the NHL guide and record book for Christmas every year.

But without that Esso card set and the book the cards were pasted in, I doubt I'd have ever become as obsessed with hockey as I am, and I have no idea what my life would look like now.

Combination of the Esso book, Mats Naslund, and Gerry Rochon.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zpYy9A2zid0

 

[Phil Parent]

You know that's a great question.

And the fact is, I don't know. I'm 27, and I have an older brother who has seen the great Islanders and Oilers teams, and he would always tell me about them. So part of it is that.

I can say I have a first hand acquired knowledge from 1989-ish onward, my oldest hockey memory is Flames VS Habs in the cup finals. And I know the 80's through my brother.

But for what came before that, I'd tend to think it was reading online that got me most of my knowledge.

The Forum Closing Ceremonies helped with Habs history since they thoroughly named every decent player that had played for the team up to that point.

Can't neglect the effect doing the ESPN Hockey game series guides had on cementing some great rosters of the 50's, 60's and 70's in my head too.

Fact: Back when he played for the Nords at the end of his career, I didn't realize Guy Lafleur had been a legend for the Habs. I'd only realize it when they had this monster ceremony for his retirement.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

I am only 23, but I will answer anyways. I got into hockey history because I am a natural history buff. My major in school is history and my favourite sport, baseball, has the richest history of any sport in the world imo. When I get involved with something I like to learn as much as I can about it.

 

[MXD]

Also, I wonder who was that Dickie Moore guy I was often pissing in his utility cabinets. Whatever. That sounds awkward... So yeah, the fact that I'm human with... hummm, bodily functions led me to know about Dickie Moore.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

Like FOTS, I'm into history in general so it was only natural to combine this with hockey, another one of my major interests. I really started getting interested thanks to many stories of my grandfather who has stories and insights from as far back as the early 1930s.

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

25, first memories of hockey are the 91 cup final. Combination of a couple things, was able to get pro-set cards dirt cheap back in the day and in their 2nd series they had a line of history cards, mini bios on Morenz or the Kid Line. Loved that stuff. My Dad's stories of the 60's/70's Hawks/Bruins. But mostly, the lockout. While people were searching for hockey fixes, I turned to the past, and now I am hooked.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

25, first memories of hockey are the 91 cup final. Combination of a couple things, was able to get pro-set cards dirt cheap back in the day and in their 2nd series they had a line of history cards, mini bios on Morenz or the Kid Line. Loved that stuff. My Dad's stories of the 60's/70's Hawks/Bruins. But mostly, the lockout. While people were searching for hockey fixes, I turned to the past, and now I am hooked.

the only thing that the lockout did for me was make more than just a casual fan of the nba haha. It is a good thing the Suns won 60 some odd games otherwise I would have just followed tennis with relentless passion History in any sport is amazing, but to me baseball and hockey both have a clear step up on the other big north american sports. So long, so many stories, never gets old.

 

[roast]

My grandfather and uncle were both big fans...started collecting hockey cards in the late 80s...browsed hockeydb.com quite frequently during the lockout..hah....i'm 25.

 

[Ogopogo*]

I am older than 30 so I apologize for encroaching upon this thread.

I have loved the game since first seeing it on TV in the mid 70s and the NHL has always been a tremendous passion of mine. My other great passion is analysis and numbers so, combining NHL hockey with analysis of the all-time greats was a natural for me.

My two passions directly contributed to me entering a career doing very similar work so, I am pretty happy with where this passion has led me.

 

[MXD]

....I'm also an history buff, although I'm of a specfic era or specific location buff than a TOTAL history buff. I have no particular interest for the Roman Empire, but I do have for the Han empire - no wonder why I've been through Romance of the Three Kingdoms +- 20 (obviously referring to the book...)times, but never got really interested in Outlaws of the Marsh. The Exploration and Reconquista age is an amazing era to learn on as well.

I guess it's the same for hockey, and why I'm not extremely interested in, let's say, tennis history, the two sports I've played the most.

I'm also somebody that likes to read non-fiction in general.

 

[DaveG]

27 in a few days here. Most everything from about 91 on is first-hand knowledge for me and I remember a bit from as far back as 88. But for anything before that it's a combination of a few things. 1) I've always been interested in history, I'm something of a history buff. The two eras that most interest me are the US Civil War and the Cold War. 2) My father, living in Pittsburgh at the time, attended quite a few Penguins games when they were just an expansion team. When he went to Northeastern, the WHA came into being and the Whalers played at Northeastern's arena, so he saw quite a few of those games as well. 3) One of the good friends of our family when I lived in Boston is a pretty big sports reporter for the Herald. A lot of the players he talked about growing up watching got me hooked on finding out more. So between my own interest in hockey, my interest in history and having two good sources that have been around the sport my interest in the history of hockey came rather naturally.

 

[GummoMarx]

Just browsing through old posts, this one caught my eye.

I'd have to trace it back to when I was seven (26 now), hockey was taking hold as my obsession and I had just begun raiding the local library of every book I could get my hands on. I had always been captivated by the olden days, be it movies, music, cars, anything really. This was around 1990 and a majority of the books were published in the 1970s and 1980s. I recall finding a book from 1982 called the New Breed, as I thumbed through the pages, the chapter dedicated to Grant Fuhr caught my eye, especially the pictures of his old rookie mask and the classic goaltending equipment.

I had soon found myself trading my brand new mint Upperdeck, Score, and Pro Set cards for any crumpled and disheveled O-Pee-Chee cards my friend had inherited from a neighbour. (Those Esso cards were also among the OPC's) The dark contrasted photos, equipment and old jerseys of the Kings, Rockies, and Seals had a certain mysterious aura about them. I think I was the only kid in the city with a 1971 Doug Favell card.

From there I was basically hooked, I've always been interested in decades before my time, and hockey has taken a very strong chunk of that interest, if not the primary. As the years went on I read every book at that library, recorded stats of players, years, awards, champions in hundreds of hilroy scribblers, from Gordie Howe to Cap Raedar. It also helped that my dad lived in Edmonton during the 1970's and told me numerous stories of the WHA games he attended. When I moved out it took an extra day to move boxes and boxes of old books, cards, and those infamous scribblers that I had collected over the years.

 

[JarkkoRuutu]

Another history buff here, I'm working on a graduate level history degree, so you could say this is a natural fit (if only I could find a way to work hockey into my thesis, I wouldn't feel so guilty about spending time on this site!) The Cold War especially interests me, so I gravitate towards international hockey played during this time. I started following hockey in the late 80s and received a box of old cards from the 60s-70s from a family friend. That got me hooked, though as a Canucks fan it sure is depressing learning about historical hockey moments

 

[GummoMarx]

Another history buff here, I'm working on a graduate level history degree, so you could say this is a natural fit (if only I could find a way to work hockey into my thesis, I wouldn't feel so guilty about spending time on this site!) The Cold War especially interests me, so I gravitate towards international hockey played during this time. I started following hockey in the late 80s and received a box of old cards from the 60s-70s from a family friend. That got me hooked, though as a Canucks fan it sure is depressing learning about historical hockey moments

I'm actually completing my bachelor of history this year, I've yet to find a way to work hockey into the mix, however I'm proposing a research paper on Cuban baseball for my Cuban history class.

 

[hfboardsuser]

When I got Ultimate Hockey for Christmas. I think I was 16 or 17.

Edit: Oh yeah, it was also one of those years I first found out that the brother-in-law of my mom's best friend was Milan Marcetta.

 

[Trottier]

Just browsing through old posts, this one caught my eye.

Better question: how does anyone aged 26 know anything about GummoMarx?! (Good stuff.)

True story: my wife and I were looking to buy a vacation home earlier this decade and came thisclose to buying his old home in Palm Springs, before purchasing another.

Of course, it had been through several owners since he last lived in it, many decades ago.

(Groucho remains my hero.)

 

[GummoMarx]

Better question: how does anyone aged 26 know anything about GummoMarx?! (Good stuff.)

True story: my wife and I were looking to buy a vacation home earlier this decade and came thisclose to buying his old home in Palm Springs, before purchasing another.

Of course, it had been through several owners since he last lived in it, many decades ago.

(Groucho remains my hero.)

Indeed the lost Marx brother, and many think it was Zeppo. That's pretty cool though. I'm an old film buff, it's my minor. Something about the lesser characters of Hollywood that many people don't remember, or were deemed tragic. Plus it's such a cool moniker.

 

[seventieslord]

Hello guys.

Didn't think I'd see this thread again.

 

[JarkkoRuutu]

I'm actually completing my bachelor of history this year, I've yet to find a way to work hockey into the mix, however I'm proposing a research paper on Cuban baseball for my Cuban history class.

Neat! I think Cuban baseball would be a cool topic. The school I did my BA at offered a Sport History course that I sadly never fit into my schedule.

 

[Hawksfan2828]

When I was a kid I was obsessed with hockey and all history in general so the two subjects naturally mixed. I used to collect vintage hockey cards as well. 20 years ago when I was 10 I was collecting cards of guys like Bobby Orr, Bobby Hull, Gordie Howe etc rather then players of my era. In the summers I would watch vintage games [60's, 70's, 80's] on VHS daily and read hockey history books as well.

 

[lextune]

Significantly over 30 but answering anyway!

Grew up in Boston in the Orr era, so hockey was a Religion.

Was lucky enough to spend many nights at the old Garden, where Bruins history (and hockey history in general), was often a topic.

I never grew out of it, (happily/thankfully).

 

[kaiser matias]

I'm probably the youngest (21) to answer this question:

Its a combination of my two greatest interests: hockey and history.

Always found ways to combine the two, and while I don't remember when I first began looking into the history of hockey, but I imagine it had to do with getting some different hockey books on hockey, and them including historical figures in it (Cyclone Taylor, Vezina, Morenz, Shore, etc). Remember sometime in grade 1 or 2 reading a book, The Stanley Cup: The World Series of Hockey by Frank Orr (remember it because I always thought he was related to Bobby); never finished the book, which I believe went up to the Flyers back-to-back wins, but always read the first part, which was 1893-1910ish.

For my 7th birthday I was given the Legends of Hockey VHS set, chronicling the history of hockey from 1893 to 1996 (the present); actually spent the rest of my party that day watching a bunch of old men talk (the likes of Howe, Lindsay, Beliveau, etc) instead of playing with my friends. Watched those videos so many times, the box is starting to wear out, and I want to find some DVD versions so I can see it again.

Also a factor was collecting hockey cards since I can remember. Reading the stats on the back and wondering who was the best at what led me to buying my first Record Book, the 1999 edition. That book was used to often in the 5 years between buying the newer version that itsall bent out of shape and tattered. Also bought the official NHL yearbook from 1997-2001 (Canucks poor play kept me away for a few years), and am disgusted at what they pass off for an official yearbook these days. Those older ones had every type of stat imaginable, including full stats for the AHL and IHL.

So to sum it up, I've been interested in the histroy of hockey since I got interested in the sport. It just offers so many interesting things to know, its great.

 

[JFA87-66-99]

For me it was when I was about 9 years old and I took out a bobby Orr book from the library it was kind of a kids book but I remember just being fascinated with the book and its pictures. I really started getting into researching the history of hockey when I was about 24 and I'm 29 now. I think it was the strike year and I was home from work for almost a full year because of major surgery. so with no hockey to watch i just started buying every hockey book I could find. Total NHL,King of Ice, and Ultimate hockey really fuelled my obsession. I cooled off a little bit the last year or so mainly because I've been busy with my 2 year old daughter. but I recently joined the ATD and now my obsession is back full-time again.