1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Gerry Meehan #22 Dark Back Sabres Captain

Description

1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Gerry Meehan #22 Dark Back Sabres Captain This striking 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee card of Gerry Meehan, posed confidently in his white Buffalo Sabres jersey against the set's bold red, jagged-edged border, documents the tenure of the franchise's very first team captain during one of the most important developmental stretches in Sabres history. Selected by Buffalo in the 1970 NHL Expansion Draft, Meehan had already established himself as the club's inaugural captain and a dependable offensive contributor by the time this card was issued, and the reverse notes that "he is the captain of the Sabres and now is used to good advantage instead of left center" as coaching staff continued to maximize his versatility across forward positions. The card back also recounts a memorable individual feat, that Meehan once "scored 3 goals in five minutes" during a game, a burst of offense that remains one of the quicker scoring outbursts documented on any O-Pee-Chee cartoon panel from this era. Meehan's importance to the Sabres extended well past his playing days; he would go on to serve in the franchise's front office and eventually become general manager, giving him one of the most complete organizational résumés of any player from Buffalo's formative years. This particular example is confirmed as a Dark Back parallel, one of two recognized back-color variations produced across the 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee print run, a detail that increases its appeal to collectors assembling parallel sets of this visually unique, red-bordered release. The bilingual English and French statistical panel details his 1972-73 season totals and career numbers, consistent with O-Pee-Chee's standard Canadian production format. this card is confirmed as a genuine Canadian O-Pee-Chee issue in the Dark Back color variety, not a puzzle-back format. Careful visual review shows generally sharp corners with light softening at the bottom right, clean edges with no significant chipping, and centering that sits reasonably close to even on the left-right axis with a slight shift top-to-bottom. The red border retains vibrant, unfaded color, and the jersey photography is crisp with good contrast. No creases or surface blemishes are visible in the available images. Given the light corner wear and minor centering shift, we are applying a conservative Grade Estimate: EX 5