1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Gary Sabourin #91 Bilingual Back St. Louis Blues

Description

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Gary Sabourin #91 Bilingual Back St. Louis Blues There is a whole generation of hockey fans who can name the original 1967 Blues by heart, and Gary Sabourin is on that list. He was one of the six players who came to St. Louis from the New York Rangers in the June 1967 trade that stocked the expansion club, and he stayed for eight seasons, scoring 20 or more goals four times and becoming one of the most consistent right wingers on a team that went to the Stanley Cup Final in each of its first three years. This 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee card, number 91 from the first series, shows him in a shooting crouch with the stick cocked, and the back notes that he had just passed the 100th goal of his NHL career, a milestone that arrived quietly for a player who never got the headlines of a Berenson or a Plager. The cartoon on the reverse jokes about a fractured leg suffered on March 5, 1971, which is the kind of detail that makes 1970s O-Pee-Chee backs so collectible, since they treat injuries and nicknames as small talk. Sabourin finished with 333 games in a Blues sweater, 741 NHL games overall, and a reputation as a dependable scorer who did his best work in the playoffs. The card is a first series entry in the 340 card 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee set, printed in Canada with the tan border and vertical lettering that define the issue, and first series cards are the most plentiful part of the run, which makes high grade examples like this one a practical target for set builders. The reverse is bilingual English and French with a complete career record through 1971-72, and it is a standard O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, not a puzzle back. The 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Gary Sabourin #91 card belongs in any serious Blues team set and works well as an affordable entry point for new vintage collectors. the green backdrop is rich and clean, the action pose is sharp, corners are firm on three sides with a small rub at the bottom right, and the tan border shows a hint of edge wear near the bottom left with centering around 55/45 top to bottom. The reverse is bright and square with no writing, no tape and no staining, and it is not a puzzle back. EX-MT 6 is the conservative call, with glossy untouched surface, strong color and a clean image, held back only by the single corner rub and the slight vertical centering shift. Grade Estimate: EX-MT 6