1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Minnesota North Stars #9 Team Logo Insert NHL

Description

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Minnesota North Stars #9 Team Logo Insert NHL The 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Minnesota North Stars #9 Team Logo Insert NHL delivers pure expansion-era style through the club’s brilliant green N, directional arrow, and yellow star. Bold, uncluttered, and immediately recognizable, this intact die-cut push-out is a compelling collectible for Minnesota hockey fans, defunct-team specialists, and anyone assembling the 30-card O-Pee-Chee Team Logos checklist. The inserts were distributed in third-series 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee wax packs and brought NHL and WHA insignia together during the first season of open competition between the leagues. Although no number is printed on the physical card, #9 is the standard checklist reference used for the Minnesota North Stars subject. The North Stars had entered the NHL in the 1967 expansion and quickly built an identity around green and gold, the colours displayed so vividly here. By the time this insert appeared, Minnesota had already reached the 1971 Stanley Cup Final, where the club pushed the Montreal Canadiens to seven games. The early 1970s roster featured popular names such as Bill Goldsworthy, Danny Grant, Gump Worsley, and Cesare Maniago, helping establish major-league hockey in the state long known for its deep amateur tradition. The franchise later produced more memorable moments, including another Stanley Cup Final appearance in 1981, before relocating to Dallas in 1993. That move made the original North Stars name and logo enduring symbols of Minnesota sports nostalgia. This O-Pee-Chee issue preserves the emblem in a format designed to be pushed out and displayed, yet the circular piece remains fully seated inside its rectangular surround. Its plain brown adhesive-style reverse and visible circular die-cut are exactly what collectors should expect. It is not a Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual statistical back and it is not a puzzle back. The card has clean overall presentation, strong green and yellow colour, and a largely unmarked cream field. The four corners appear mostly square with only light touches of wear, and the outer edges show minimal roughness without significant chipping. Tiny print specks are visible in the green area, along with a few faint surface traces in the white field, but no major stain, paper loss, or full-card crease is apparent in the scans. The circular die-cut channels are visible around the logo and remain intact, with small natural interruptions at the holding tabs. The brown reverse is even in tone and shows the same circular cut line without writing or a major wrinkle. Centering is one of this example’s strengths, with the logo balanced well from left to right and top to bottom within the cream card. Because the photographs were taken through a protective sheet and cannot reveal every microscopic flaw, the sensible raw estimate is EX-MT 6 rather than a higher grade. That estimate recognizes mild corner and surface wear while giving appropriate credit to the lack of an obvious crease, appealing centering, and vivid eye appeal. This is a strong vintage single with a logo that modern Minnesota collectors continue to celebrate. Grade Estimate: EX-MT 6