1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Gerry Desjardins #99 Vintage Los Angeles Kings Goalie

Description

1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Gerry Desjardins #99 Vintage Los Angeles Kings Goalie Add a centerpiece of early expansion hockey history to your collection with this original 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Gerry Desjardins #99 vintage hockey card. Serving as the primary guardian of the crease for the early Los Angeles Kings franchise, Desjardins played a vital role in popularizing professional hockey in Southern California. This distinctive vintage card stands as a testament to an era when goaltenders wore fiberglass masks and relied on sheer instinct and raw athleticism to block blistering slap shots. Gerry Desjardins captured the hearts of Canadian and American hockey enthusiasts alike during his notable career in the National Hockey League. Renowned for his aggressive stance and spectacular glove saves, he earned a reputation as a highly dependable netminder across the league. This specific card highlights his early tenure with the Los Angeles Kings before he went on to achieve further success with the Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres. For collectors focused on the 1967 expansion teams, Desjardins represents the backbone of the Kings' foundational years. The reverse side of the card features the highly desirable O-Pee-Chee bilingual back layout, providing a short biographical sketch and player statistics printed in both English and French. This localized detailing makes Canadian O-Pee-Chee variations uniquely prized among collectors worldwide compared to their American Topps counterparts. The cartoon illustration on the back whimsically captures his playing style, emphasizing his fearlessness in tracking loose pucks and clearing out the crease. A detailed physical evaluation reveals this card is in heavily circulated vintage condition. The centering is shifted noticeably toward the top edge on the front. All four corners show heavy wear, rounding, and soft layering. The edges display pronounced chipping and silvering, which is typical for the rough-cut O-Pee-Chee stock of this era. Significant surface wear, localized creasing, and age-related browning are present across both the front and the reverse sides. Grade Estimate: GOOD