1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Player Crests Ed Westfall #13 Push-Out Insert New York Islanders

Description

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Player Crests Ed Westfall #13 Push-Out Insert New York Islanders A brand new franchise needed a leader, and the New York Islanders found theirs in Ed Westfall, the man featured on this 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Player Crests Ed Westfall #13 Push-Out Insert New York Islanders. Printed for the Islanders' inaugural 1972-73 season, this crest shows the two-time Stanley Cup champion just months after he arrived from Boston in the June 1972 expansion draft, making it one of the very first cards ever to represent the Islanders franchise. Westfall had spent eleven seasons as the NHL's premier defensive forward with the Bruins, shadowing the league's top scorers and winning Cups in 1970 and 1972 alongside Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito. On Long Island he became the franchise's first captain, scored the franchise's first ever goal and mentored the young core of Potvin, Trottier and Bossy that would soon build a dynasty, before a long second career as the Islanders' beloved television broadcaster. The Player Crests series is a Canadian exclusive 22-card insert set, pulled one per 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee first series wax pack and never released by Topps in the United States. This is an authentic O-Pee-Chee example with bilingual English and French push-out instructions printed across the front; the reverse is the correct factory blank tan back with the embossed outline of the die-cut shield, so please note it is not a printed bilingual back or puzzle back, which is exactly how the set was manufactured in London, Ontario. The push-out shield has never been removed and the die-cut perforations are fully intact. the silver front presents clean with strong shield colors and a crisp portrait, light wear at all four corners, minor edge rub along the bottom border beneath the card number, centering slightly low and a touch right, and no creases, wrinkles, marks or stains visible across either scan; the blank back carries even vintage toning, a clean embossed impression and no writing or paper loss. We grade conservatively, as this set's silver surfaces reveal faint handling under strict grading lights that casual viewing misses. An essential inaugural-season piece for Islanders collectors and a tribute to one of hockey's great leaders. Grade Estimate: EX-MT 6