1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Phil Esposito #76 In Action Boston Bruins

Description

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Phil Esposito #76 In Action Boston Bruins Phil Esposito standing in the slot was Phil Esposito at his deadliest, and the 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Phil Esposito #76 In Action Boston Bruins card celebrates the greatest goal scorer of his generation with that exact caption running up the left border while the starburst reads Boston Centre. There is a delicious coincidence in the numbering too, since card number 76 belongs to the man who had just fired 76 goals in 1970-71, a single-season record that stood as the NHL standard until Wayne Gretzky rewrote the record book more than a decade later. That same season he piled up 152 points, and by the time this card was printed Espo already owned five Art Ross scoring crowns and two Hart Trophies as the league's most valuable player. His legend reached far beyond rinks. In September 1972 he became the heartbeat of Team Canada in the Summit Series against the Soviets, scoring seven times and delivering a tearful on-air rallying cry after the Game 4 loss in Vancouver that told a shaken nation the players had left everything on the ice, a broadcast moment that still plays in Canadian documentaries every September. Months earlier he had raised the Stanley Cup for the second time with Boston, and his post-playing career was just as bold: he was the founding president and general manager who brought the Tampa Bay Lightning into the NHL in 1992, and he entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984 alongside his brother Tony's era of greats. The card back praises exactly what the photo shows, noting he brings hockey fans to their feet and is at his best shooting from the slot in front of opposing netminders. The reverse is the Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back with that bio printed in both English and French, not a puzzle back. corners show only light tip wear with faint whitening at the lower right tip, the top border is a touch narrow which gives centering of about 55/45 top to bottom and approximately 55/45 left to right, the edges carry very minor chipping at the upper left and nothing else of note, and the surfaces are free of creases, wrinkles or marks beyond a couple of faint factory print specks. With strong color and no structural damage, a conservative raw grade of EX-MT 6 is right for this copy, since the slight centering tilt and tiny corner touches keep it from a near mint claim. A cornerstone card for any vintage hockey collection. Grade Estimate: EX-MT 6