Spoiling Myself, Bobby Orr Style

I recently ended up with a nice little bit of cash in my Paypal after doing some custom graphic design work, and instead of doing something responsible, or even saving it for the two boxes of 2016 Gypsy Queen I will inevitably buy, I sent out to spend it on cards I normally couldn't afford. Above was the first purchase and the one I wanted the most. I opened a few packs of Masterpeices when it came out and really liked it, and have always wanted an on-card auto of Bobby Orr, or Saint Robert as he is know in this house, so this was high on my list of "someday, maybe, I might own one of these" cards. It's absolutely gorgeous and is currently, and will be for a long time, displayed most prominently off all the cards in my collection.

Custom Card: 1969-70 Topps Hockey Ivan Boldirev

A custom in style of "Cards that Never Were" we have a 1969-70 Topps Ivan Boldirev. A name that I had not heard of until recently looking back on the 1970's Bruins Cup winning teams, a player than not only has his name on the Stanley Cup, but went on to have a fairly impressive NHL career.

Born in Yugoslavia in 1949, Ivan Boldirev's family emigrated to Canada in 1951. Like any other kid in this country he found hockey and would be drafted by the Boston Bruins, 11th overall, in 1969. The NHL was a 14 team league at that time and the Bruins were a strong and deep team making it hard to crack the roster. After spending all of 1969-70 with the Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central League, Boldirev was called up as a spare body for the 1970 playoffs, and despite never playing in an NHL regular season  or playoff game, his name was engraved on the Stanley Cup, as far as I can tell becoming the only non-goalie to appear on the Cup before playing in an NHL game. He would eventually make his NHL debut in 1970-71 playing in 2 games for the Bruins, then in 11 more in 1971-72 before being traded to the California Golden Seals mid-season. In 1974-75 he would play in his first playoffs, with the Blackhawks, 6 seasons after being immortalized on hockey's Holy Grail. For his career he would play in 1,052 games, scoring 361 goals with 866 points playing for the Bruins, Golden Seals, Blackhawks, Flames, Canucks, and Red Wings. He scored at least 20 goals for 9 straight seasons and reached a career high 35 three times.