A hockey card is a type of trading card typically printed on some sort of card stock, featuring one or more
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
players or other hockey-related theme and are typically found in countries such as Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden where hockey is a popular sport and there are professional leagues. The
obverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''o ...
normally features an image of the subject with identifying information such as name and team. The reverse can feature statistics, biographical information, or as many early cards did, advertising. There is no fixed size or shape of hockey cards, running the gamut from rectangular to circular, however modern North American cards have typically standardized on a rectangular format.
History
The first hockey cards were included in cigarette packages from 1910 to 1913, manufactured by
Imperial Tobacco Canada
Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited is a cigarette manufacturing company operating in Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of British American Tobacco. It was created in 1908 and bought out the Canadian interests of the American Tobacco Company, w ...
for the inaugural
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
season. The 1910 set had a total of 36 cards, each one featuring an illustration of a player. After
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, only one more cigarette set was issued, during the 1924–25 season by Champ's Cigarettes. NHL player
Billy Coutu
Wilfrid Arthur "Billy" Coutu (March 1, 1892 – February 25, 1977), nicknamed "Wild Beaver", was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played ten seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens, the Hamilton Tigers, ...
's biography includes an example of one of the 40 cards issued at that time.
During the 1920s, some hockey cards were printed by food and candy companies, such as Paulin's Candy, Maple Crispette, Crescent, Holland Creameries and La Patrie.
Through to 1941,
O-Pee-Chee
The O-Pee-Chee Company, Ltd. was a Canadian confectionery company founded in 1911 that produced candy until the mid-1990s. Based in London, Ontario, the company produced its first trading card sets in the 1930s, releasing several collections of ...
printed hockey cards, stopping production for
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Presumably, the 1941 involvement of the US in the war affected the hockey card market, since Canada had been in the war since 1939.
Hockey cards next appeared during 1951–52, issued by Toronto's Parkhurst Products. Brooklyn's
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc. is an American company that manufactures chewing gum, candy, and collectibles. Formerly based in New York City, Topps is best known as a leading producer of American Football Card, American football, Baseball card, baseb ...
Chewing Gum began printing hockey cards in 1954–1955. Parkhurst and Topps did not produce cards for the 1955–56 season but returned for 1957–58.
In the 1960s, some hockey card and hockey coin sets were issued by food companies, including Shirriff Desserts, Salada Tea and York Peanut Butter.
Other companies to manufacture hockey cards include
Pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...
, Pacific,
Pro Set
In American football, the pro set or split backs formation is a formation that has been commonly used as a "base" set by professional and amateur teams. The "pro set" formation features an offensive backfield that deploys two running backs ali ...
,
Upper Deck
The Upper Deck Company, LLC (colloquially as Upper Deck and Upper Deck Authenticated, Ltd. in the UK), founded in 1988, is a private company primarily known for producing trading cards. Its headquarters are in Carlsbad, California, United State ...
, In The Game, Panini, Score, and various early 1990s manufacturers (7th Inning Sketch, Classic, etc.). Oil brand
Esso
Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...
briefly issued stamp-sized hockey cards on soft paper in the early 1970s in return for gas purchases.
Post lockout hockey cards (2005-present)
After the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
lockout that cancelled the 2004-05 NHL season, the hockey card market changed dramatically. Prior to the lockout, Upper Deck, Pacific, Topps and
In The Game Trading Cards
In The Game (ITG) was a sports card manufacturing company founded by Brian H. Price in 1998 with its head office in the United States and an office in Canada.NHLPA to produce trading cards featuring NHL players and logos. After the lockout, Upper Deck emerged with an exclusive contract from both parties. Upper Deck paid $25 million over 5 years for this deal with the NHLPA.
Without licensing, Topps did not produce hockey cards. Pacific went out of business, having produced its last set just before the NHL lockout. In The Game continued to produce hockey cards without NHL and NHLPA licensing. They signed current and retired NHL players to individual contracts, allowing the use of their likenesses and autographs. In The Game also signed licensing deals with the CHL, the AHL and
Hockey Canada
Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...
to use players and logos from these organizations in their products. Prior to the
2010–11 NHL season
The 2010–11 NHL season was the 94th season of operation (93rd season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Boston Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Finals four games to three, being the sixth Cup win in Bruin ...
, Upper Deck renewed its license and the NHL and prior NHLPA awarded Panini with a license. Following the
2013–14 NHL season
The 2013–14 NHL season was the 97th season of operation (96th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). This season features a realignment of the league's 30 teams from a six to a four division format. The regular season began Octob ...
, Upper Deck gained exclusive rights, and Panini lost its license.
As of 2022, Upper Deck are commercialising NHL and NHLPA trading cards after the company signed an extension of the agreement license, which it holds since the 2014–15 season.NHL, NHLPA Extend Trading Card License Agreement With Upper Deck by Carol Schram on Forbes, 25 Oct 2021