1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Gerry Hart #139 Rookie Card Bilingual Back New York Islanders

Description

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Gerry Hart #139 Rookie Card Bilingual Back New York Islanders Every legendary franchise has a first chapter written by players who never got a banner, and Gerry Hart is one of the men who wrote the New York Islanders' opening page. This is his rookie card, number 139 from the 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee second series, and it shows a 24 year old defenseman from Flin Flon, Manitoba who had been left undrafted, cut his teeth in the Detroit system and then became the twelfth pick of the Islanders in the 1972 expansion draft. The back of the card tells the story in two languages, noting the shoulder surgery that cost him the start of the previous season and the 290 penalty minutes he piled up in his last year of junior hockey, which is a very polite way of saying he was not fun to play against. Hart was listed at 5 foot 9 and 175 pounds and played like he was six inches taller, and he spent seven seasons on Long Island as the grit at the back of a club that went from a 12 win expansion season to five playoff appearances, killing penalties, blocking shots and leading the team in penalty minutes in that very first year with 158. He later played for Quebec and St. Louis, finished with 730 NHL games and was named to the 1978 All-Star Game, and he was remembered across the hockey world when he passed away in May 2023 at age 75. For team collectors, the 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Gerry Hart #139 rookie is a genuine cornerstone, one of the few cards that documents the birth of an NHL franchise, and it pairs perfectly with the Arnie Brown and Billy Smith cards from the same expansion class. the pink background is clean with vivid color, the black team name lettering up the left side is crisp, and there is only a faint touch of wear on the bottom left corner plus a very light edge tick near the top right, with centering close to 60/40 left to right and a marginally narrow right border. The bilingual back is bright, unmarked and fully readable with both the English and French text present, and it is a standard O-Pee-Chee bilingual reverse, not a puzzle back. A conservative grade of EX-MT 6 reflects strong corners overall, glossy untouched surface, honest original color and no creases, with the only deductions coming from the light corner touch and slightly off center cut. Grade Estimate: EX-MT 6