1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Don Luce #38 Buffalo Sabres Center

Description

1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Don Luce #38 Buffalo Sabres Center This 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee card documents Don Luce in his third season with the Buffalo Sabres, shown in his curly-haired, mid-70s prime wearing the club's classic white home jersey against a vivid red backdrop. Luce had already established himself as a reliable, defensively responsible center after being acquired from Detroit in a trade during the 1970-71 season, and the card back reinforces his growing importance, noting that "Buffalo is the third NHL stop for Don, but he seems to have found a permanent home" as he continued refining a two-way game that emphasized positioning and faceoff skill as much as scoring touch. The whimsical cartoon panel on the reverse adds a personal touch, noting that "Don wears contact lenses while playing," a small but charming detail typical of O-Pee-Chee's cartoon-and-biography format from this era. Luce would go on to become one of the most respected defensive forwards of his generation, later earning multiple nominations for the Frank J. Selke Trophy and helping anchor Buffalo's penalty kill throughout the franchise's rise to the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals. His durability and consistency made him a fixture in the Sabres lineup well into the following decade, and cards from this early stretch of his Buffalo tenure remain popular with franchise-focused set collectors. The reverse, printed in O-Pee-Chee's standard Canadian bilingual English and French format, provides a full statistical breakdown of his 1972-73 season and career totals to that point. this card is confirmed as a genuine Canadian O-Pee-Chee issue, presented in the standard back color, not a puzzle-back variety. Close inspection reveals moderate corner softening on at least two corners, clean but slightly worn edges, and centering that drifts noticeably toward one border, a common characteristic of this red-bordered print run given its unconventional torn-edge photo window design, which made consistent centering more difficult to achieve during production. The red border retains reasonable color vibrancy with only slight natural toning, and no creases or major surface scratches are visible under inspection. Given the visible corner and centering issues, we apply a conservative grade rather than assuming better condition than the photographic evidence supports. A solid, affordable addition for any Buffalo Sabres team-set collection from this pivotal era. Grade Estimate: VG-EX 4