1972 O-Pee-Chee Yvan Cournoyer #44 NHL Action Card Montreal Canadiens

Description

1972 O-Pee-Chee Yvan Cournoyer #44 NHL Action Card Montreal Canadiens Yvan Cournoyer was the speed and skill that carried the Montreal Canadiens into their late 1970s championship years, and this 1972 O-Pee-Chee Yvan Cournoyer #44 NHL Action card captures him in one of his trademark moves, sidesstepping the defence, with the vertical caption reading Yvan Cournoyer Sidessteps The Defence, the red NHL ACTION banner, and the white star badge identifying the Canadian R. Wing. The front photo, set in the classic 1972 O-Pee-Chee tan border, shows Cournoyer in his red Canadiens sweater driving past an opposing defender, and the image alone explains why the league's best defences gave him the entire side of the ice. The 1971-72 season was a breakout year. Cournoyer finished second in the NHL in points behind Phil Esposito, was a top finisher in the Hart Memorial Trophy voting, and did it all while playing for a Canadiens club that had won six Stanley Cups in the previous seven seasons. Cournoyer himself won six Cups with Montreal from 1965-66 through 1970-71, was a member of the Canadian team that faced the Soviet Union in the 1972 Summit Series, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982, with his number 16 retired by the Canadiens. The card's own bilingual back describes him as a small-framed player with one of the largest hearts in the NHL and notes that his goal total that season was his career best up to that point. As a 1972 O-Pee-Chee Yvan Cournoyer #44, this card is one of the most popular 1972 OPC action cards in the set and a highlight for any 1970s Montreal Canadiens collection. The reverse is the Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, printed in Canada, and not a US puzzle back. It carries the O. P. C. copyright, the large orange YVAN COURNOYER name panel, and a bilingual biography in English and French describing the player. the front shows only very light surface marks, the corners are sharp with minimal roundness, the edges show only the lightest wear without any visible edge chipping, the centering is good for the era, and the back is clean with very light age toning and no noticeable printing defects. The grade is conservative only in the sense that five decades of binder storage can still hide fine surface marks that a bare-card inspection would reveal, and vintage O-Pee-Chee stock always warrants a cautious look at the corners. This is an authentic 1972 O-Pee-Chee Yvan Cournoyer #44 NHL Action card and a cornerstone piece for 1972 O-Pee-Chee collections, 1970s Canadiens sets, and Cournoyer single-card pursuits. Grade Estimate: EX-MT 6