526 - Louie DeBrusk As part of the dismantling of the Oilers dynasty, Edmonton traded Mark Messier to the New York Rangers for DeBrusk, Bernie Nicholls, Steven Rice and a player to be named later. The Oilers completed the trade by sending Jeff Beukeboom to the Rangers for David Shaw. Louie DeBrusk - played six seasons with Oilers, scoring 31 points and recording 797 penalty minutes in 228 games. DeBrusk signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent in 1997. Bernie Nicholls - three seasons removed from scoring 70 goals with the Kings, Nicholls played parts of two seasons with ..read more

The late 1980s represented the 'last dances' for two dynasties - the Edmonton Oilers and the Soviet Union. After winning four Stanley Cups in five years between 1984 and 1988, the Oilers slowly disassembled their team. The City of Champions won one last title in 1990, and officially ended the dynasty throughout the early 1990s by trading Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr, Glenn Anderson and Mark Messier. The tale of Fuhr and Anderson's trade is detailed below. The Soviet Union's fall is considered to have occurred in December 1991. The idea of a centralized, socialist government took a major hit, as did ..read more

As this journey through hockey history winds its way into the 'high series' of 1991-92 Upper Deck, we are beginning to encounter players that have already been featured on cards in the series, Kirk Muller being our first example. As part of the high series, players that were traded before the 1991-92 season began or early in the season get a chance to be pictured with their new team. To avoid repeating content, when these players come up I will instead review the trade that they were involved in, looking at the fate of the players with their new franchises, and declaring a winner. In the case ..read more

From the 1960s to the mid 1990s, the American men's national hockey team was considered an also ran on the international stage. Canada, the Soviet Union/Russia, and even Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic and Sweden were the big players on the international stage. The 1980 Miracle on Ice at the Olympics aside, the last time the United States even earned a medal at the World Championships was a bronze in 1962. Between the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympic gold and the Miracle on Ice, their best finish was a silver in 1972. At the world juniors, it was two bronze medals (1986 and 1992). The US faired slightl ..read more

Crowning the best hockey nation in the world was a difficult task throughout the 20th century. The banning of professional players for best-on-best tournament like the Olympics and World Championships was laudable for its emphasis on promoting amateur sport. In practicality, Communist bloc nations such as the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia made a mockery of the process, with their so-called ‘amateurs’ prevented from becoming North American professionals. As a result, from 1963 to 1993, the Soviet Union/Russia won all but seven World Championship tournaments, with Czechoslovakia winning four g ..read more

If you were alive in the 1990s, you will remember the phenomenon that was inline skating, aka Rollerblading. No one was immune to its charms, and that includes the game of hockey. While roller hockey had existed for many years, the best incarnation of a pro roller hockey league to date has to be Roller Hockey International, which ran from 1993 to 1999. One of the league founders, Dennis Murphy, was the man behind the World Hockey Association. One could write an entire book on the topic of the league and its rise and fall (in fact, a great one is Wheelers, Dealers, Bucks & Pucks: A Rocking ..read more

With the group of players featured in this blog post it was hard to come up with a unifying thread for the introduction piece. As a result, I present to you to the top five players with the most career penalty minutes in the playoffs. The top four have already individually been featured in the blog in previous posts, so I've tried to add some new context to the information below. Of most interest is the general decrease in penalty minutes in the playoffs, which seems to follow the general trend across regular season play. Less fighting, less brawls, less penalties. Looking at 2016 to 2013, onl ..read more

It is a popular thing for hockey writers to do - take an Entry Draft from the past, and re-select the players based on years of hindsight. Seems easy right? I am going to give a try today with the 1985 draft. Why 1985 when this is a website called 90s hockey card history? Two of the players featured in this post were drafted in 1985. And I have an affinity for the year of my birth. Without further ado, below is my re-selection of players from the 1985 draft. Rankings are based strictly on best talent, not best team fit or any other criteria. Original # 1 pick - Wendel Clark, Toronto Maple Leaf ..read more

The successor to Alan Eagleson's Canada Cup tournaments, the 1996 World Cup signaled a massive shift in international hockey. The United States stunned Canada to win a best-of-three finals, and Russia played its first best-on-best tournament since the collapse of the Soviet Union. As with any international tournament, there is always fan discussion regarding rosters, particularly who made the roster and who did not. In honour of that discussion, below are my curated choices of one seemingly random player from each country's roster (minus Germany): Canada - Lyle Odelein (featured in the post b ..read more

In modern times, many teams have a franchise player that is 'untouchable', meaning they won't be traded for anything. Often these players have been drafted and developed by a team, representing a significant investment in draft capital, resources, and fan attachment. More often that not these players are former #1 draft picks, the anointed saviors after years of tanking and rebuilding. The 1990s were different. Draft picks were thrown around like rice at a wedding, and being a #1 pick offered almost guarantee you would stay with a franchise more than two or three seasons. The tale of Joe Murph ..read more