2013 trade package #12: Buckstorecards knows Detroit is Hockeytown

As he's done a few times recently, Doug from Sports Cards From the Dollar Store let me know he was going to be sending me a nice trade package.  He's already generous enough to set aside hockey Wolverines for me from whatever he pulls, the LCS, etc.  And he carried on that tradition once again, the fruits of which you can see over on TMM at your leisure.

But this time he was nice enough to once again throw in some cards of the boys of Hockeytown--the Detroit Red Wings!

I figure a page's worth of cards deserves its own trade post, especially in this case thanks to the player selection.  Konstantinov is one of my favorite all-time Wings and he always seemed under-appreciated in the NHL as far as I was concerned, but I also know that many in the game have a bias towards the Europeans (not to mention American college players).  Not that I ever cared--he was a force on the blue line and one of the best hitters in the old EA NHL games in the heyday of Sega.

The Yzerman card is especially great because it pairs one of the franchise's greatest ever players with possibly its greatest ever coach:  Scotty Bowman.  I think when you pile up as many Cups as Bowman did, you can dish out analysis all you want.

Holmstrom is one of the team's all-time great grinders, willing to sacrifice his body in front of the net to annoy opposing goalies and net a few garbage goals of his own.  He was a key cog on the team for a long, long time and finished with a very successful career.

Hasek just missed out on a Cup win with Buffalo, then came to Detroit for the 2001-2004 and 2006-2008 seasons.  He won titles with the 01-02 and 07-08 teams, adding to an already impressive career that also included Olympic gold, backstopping the Czechs to the 1998 Nagano hockey crown.

Cleary was notable as the first-ever Newfoundlander to get his name on the Cup.  After being a first-round selection by the Blackhawks, he's experienced a nice amount of success in Detroit, including winning it all in 2008.

Filppula is a Finnish Forward who's brought some decent scoring to the Wings since joining them full-time in 2006-07, meaning he has one Cup under his belt already.  Hudler is Czech but just about everything else I just said applies to him, except for his 2009-10 layover playing in the KHL, plus the fact he now plays for Calgary.  And Zombo, one of the great hockey names, came to the Wings from hockey factory University of North Dakota, and was a defenseman with the team for parts of eight seasons.

Thanks again for a great deal, Doug, and once again I owe you, but will even us up soon!