1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Ralph Backstrom #131 Los Angeles Kings

Description

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Ralph Backstrom #131 Los Angeles Kings This 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Ralph Backstrom #131 Los Angeles Kings card celebrates one of the great winners in hockey history in his golden Forum sweater. Backstrom won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie in 1959 and then helped the Montreal Canadiens capture an astonishing six Stanley Cup championships, and the bilingual biography on the reverse of this very card notes that he scored his 500th NHL point and passed the 900 game plateau the season before this card was issued. Printed in Canada, the card carries the authentic Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back in English and French, not a puzzle back, with the classic orange PRINTED IN CANADA imprint along the bottom edge. The 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee set landed in the same season as the 1972 Summit Series and the founding of the WHA, and its green backdrop portraits have become some of the most recognizable imagery in all of vintage hockey collecting. For Kings fans, Backstrom is remembered as the veteran centre who brought championship pedigree to a young Los Angeles dressing room, and this card, numbered 131, is one of the key mid series stars of the Los Angeles team run. the card shows crisp corners with only whisper light touches at the tips, clean edges with minor roughness at the bottom border, a bright unfaded photo with strong color and gloss, a few tiny printing specks in the tan stock as made, vertical centering measuring approximately 52/48, and horizontal centering sitting slightly toward the left in keeping with the 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee layout, with no creases, wrinkles, stains, or writing visible on the front or back in the high resolution scan. A conservative grade estimate of EX-MT 6 is driven by the light corner touches and faint factory specks, with genuine upside toward NM if the surfaces grade favorably at a third party service. Given Backstrom's six rings, his Calder Trophy, and the enduring popularity of the Canadiens dynasty players across Canada, this clean Canadian-printed example offers excellent value and strong long term demand for set builders and player collectors alike. Grade Estimate: EX-MT 6