1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Player Crests Pat Quinn #1 Push-Out Insert Atlanta Flames

Description

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Player Crests Pat Quinn #1 Push-Out Insert Atlanta Flames Lead off the legendary 22-card crest set with the man who would become one of hockey's most towering figures. This 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Player Crests Pat Quinn #1 Push-Out Insert Atlanta Flames shows the big Irish defenseman in the very first season of the expansion Atlanta Flames, where he served as a foundational blueliner and locker room leader. Quinn was already famous, or infamous, for his thunderous 1969 playoff bodycheck on Bobby Orr in Boston Garden, one of the most talked-about hits of the Original Six expansion era. What came after this card makes it even more collectible. Quinn became one of the great coaches and executives in hockey history, guiding the 1979-80 Flyers through their record 35-game unbeaten streak, taking the Vancouver Canucks to the 1994 Stanley Cup Final, coaching the Toronto Maple Leafs through their beloved early-2000s runs, and leading Canada to the historic 2002 Olympic gold medal in Salt Lake City, the country's first in fifty years. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 2016, and as card number 1 of 22 his crest is the set's natural cornerstone. This is an authentic Canadian O-Pee-Chee insert with bilingual English and French push-out instructions printed on the front; the reverse is the correct blank tan back with the embossed die-cut shield outline, not a printed bilingual back or puzzle back, exactly as issued in 1972-73 first series wax packs. The push-out shield remains fully intact and has never been pressed out, preserving the card in complete original form. the silver front is clean and attractive with deep black shield borders and a sharp portrait, four corners showing only light touch wear, faint edge rub along the bottom, centering a touch high within the silver frame, and no creases, wrinkles, pencil marks or surface stains visible in the scans; the blank back carries smooth, even age toning with a well-defined embossed outline and no flaws of note. We grade conservatively because the reflective silver stock of this set exaggerates every handling mark under grading lights, so the number below represents a floor rather than a ceiling. A key card of a Hall of Fame builder from a tough vintage insert set, ideal for Flames, Canucks and Leafs collectors alike. Grade Estimate: EX-MT 6