1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Ted Harris #118 Minnesota North Stars

Description

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Ted Harris #118 Minnesota North Stars Captains rarely get the credit they deserve, and this 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Ted Harris #118 Minnesota North Stars card is a fitting tribute to one of the most respected rugged defenders of his era. The front carries the classic 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee design with a bright red backdrop, bold black team lettering running up the left side, a yellow nameplate, and the green North Stars N logo in the lower right. Harris is captured in a clean portrait wearing the white North Stars sweater, smiling directly at the camera in a shot that has aged beautifully over five decades. Ted Harris broke into the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens and won four Stanley Cups in Montreal before Minnesota selected him in the 1970 intra-league draft. He was immediately named captain of the North Stars, a role he held through 1973-74, and later added a fifth Stanley Cup ring as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1975. He also captained Minnesota during the franchise's early playoff runs and later coached the club in the late 1970s, making him a true pillar of North Stars history. The reverse of this card is the Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, printed in Canada with an English biography on top and a French translation below, a career record table running from 1963-64 through 1971-72, and a cartoon noting that Ted spends his summers at a cabin at Lake Winnipeg. The back is printed on the light cream stock typical of the set with a bold orange header block. The front shows solid gloss and strong color with no creases or wrinkles visible under inspection, and the black team lettering is crisp. Centering is slightly shifted toward the left and top with the tan border a touch heavier on the right side. All four corners show light softening consistent with a handled vintage card, with the upper left corner showing the most noticeable touch of rounding. The edges are largely clean with only minor fuzzing along the bottom border and no significant chipping into the tan surface. The back displays the even toning expected of 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee stock, with no writing, staining, or paper loss. Based on the corner wear and the slight centering shift, a conservative raw estimate lands at EX 5, with the potential for a grader to reward the strong surface and eye appeal. This is an ideal card for a North Stars collector building the team set or a fan of the champion Habs defenders of the 1960s. Ships securely in a protective sleeve and rigid top loader from Alex Collect in Ontario. Grade Estimate: EX 5