BOWMAN’S BEST

LEGENDARY COACH SCOTTY BOWMAN TALKS ABOUT HIS PASSION FOR COLLECTING, AND HIS EPIC STASH OF HIS OWN ROOKIE CARDS.

It’s a collection that merits a segment on the TV show “Hoarders.” Scotty Bowman keeps his massive stash secured in plastic piled in a glass display case. e legendary NHL coach isn’t exactly sure sure how many he owns, but estimates he has amassed about 500 over the years.

“I can’t get any more,” Bowman said of his 1974-75 O-PeeChee and Topps rookies, cards that have soared in value since he began acquiring them.“I cornered the market on them.”

Actually, there are still plenty of both cards to be found on the market. Which is a good thing because the 85-year-old Bowman might be more popular with collectors today than he was during his illustrious 30-year coaching career.

A promising junior star who was forced to abandon his playing career a er fracturing his skull, Bowman went on to coach 2,141 NHL regular-season games for five teams – St. Louis, Montreal, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Detroit. Over those 30 seasons, he led his teams to nine Stanley Cups, a record for coaches that will likely never be broken. During a seven-year stretch in the 1970s, his Canadiens teams won five championships, including four consecutive to close the decade. He went on to guide the Penguins to a Cup in 1992, and the Red Wing to back-to-back crowns in 1997 and 1998 and again in 2002.

He added five more championships to his legacy as an executive, giving him 14 total for his career. Only the name of Jean Beliveau (17) appears on the Cup more o en.

As a result, his rookies rank among the most valuable hockey cards of the 1970s. But Bowman didn’t pay much attention to his cards, or those of any other stars, until the early 1980s.

During trips to Illinois to visit his wife’s family in the summer,

Bowman would see a relative who collected baseball cards. Soon he and his sons got hooked, and they started looking for baseball cards at a place called Bill’s Card Shop in Mt. Vernon.

A few years later, Bowman figured he should start collecting hockey cards because he knew the sport much better than baseball.

In 1990, the owner of a card shop in Pittsburgh suggested Bowman should start buying his own cards.

In those days, card No. 261 featuring a smiling Bowman sporting his blue Canadiens track suit and a whistle around his neck was worth about the price of a pack or two of cards.

e first issue of Beckett Hockey Magazine (September/October 1990) lists the O-Pee-Chee’s value at just 60 cents to $1.50 and the Topps’ at 50 cents to $1.25.

Bowman remembers looking up his cards in Beckett and comparing the values to Don Cherry, another iconic coach whose RCs appeared in the same sets.

“I saw my card when it was like 35 cents,” Bowman said.“I used to laugh because my card was 25 cents or 35 cents and Don Cherry’s was 60 cents. en I passed him. He got a kick out of that.”

Over the course of four or five years, Bowman says he purchased hundreds of his rookies. He said he never paid more than $5 or $6 for one.

Why did he hoard his own rookies?

“It was fun,” said Bowman, who didn’t appear on another mainstream card until the 1990s.

By the end of that decade, his RCs had become the most coveted cards of any NHL coach.

Today, Beckett lists the O-Pee-Chee’s value at $30 to $60

and the Topps’ at $15 to $25.

But Bowman wasn’t simply focused on acquiring his own singles. He sought out other premium RCs for his growing collection as well. He proudly owns the first cards of Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, Michael Jordan, Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan and others.

“I was into the Rookie Cards, because you have to predict who you think is going to be a good rookie and be a good player eventually,” he explained.

His greatest regret? Passing up the chance to purchase a Mickey Mantle RC in the early 1980s.

e occasional misstep aside, Bowman recalls his early collecting days fondly. He regularly haunted flea markets with his sons to look for deals. He would even travel to Canada from his home in Buffalo to buy vending cases of O-Pee-Chee hockey.

Eventually, his sons grew older, and the overproduction of cards in the 1990s – he called the initial series of Pro Set “wallpaper” – dulled his passion for the hobby.

“at was the demise of it,” Bowman said. Ironically, the 1991 Pro Set Hockey Hall of Fame 75th Anniversary Tribute set contains perhaps Bowman’s scarcest card.

Lately, Bowman is thinking he’d like to sell some of his card collection. He also has old NHL media guides and record books he would like to get rid of.

“I got all kinds of stuff I want to dump,” he said.

Bowman, however, will keep his epic stash of his own rookies and select other favorites. He also plans to hold onto one particular set he loves.

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series, Canadian manufacturer Future Trends produced a 101-card black-and-white set showcasing the historic meeting between Canada and the Soviet Union.

All 70 players who skated in the series – from legends like Paul Henderson and Vladislav Tretiak, to lesser-known names like Jocelyn Guevremont and Bill White – were featured. Packs were initially only available at e Bay stores in Canada, according to 1972SummitSeries.com.

Someone sent Bowman an autographed set.

“ey’re beautiful cards,” Bowman said admiringly. “Beautiful.”

Still in the early stages of his career, Bowman settled for watching that series on TV

like the rest of the country. But a er winning Cups with the Canadiens in 1973 and 1976, Bowman was invited to coach Team Canada at the next major international event, the 1976 Canada Cup. e team, led by a badly injured but still brilliant Bobby Orr, knocked off Czechoslovakia to win the title. Bowman has o en referred to that tournament as one of the highlights of his career.

Although he’s not actively collecting these days, Bowman has hardly cut ties with the hobby. In fact, he’s more active than ever

… at least in terms of appearing on cards. He’s become a staple in Upper Deck products over the past few years and his signature continues to be a big draw for collectors. He’s appeared on 27 cards so far in 2018-19 for both Leaf and UD, including 10 in the recently released Chronology issue and one in Ultimate Collection. at’s actually down from last season when he had 53 cards issued, including parallels.

A complete Bowman collection would now feature 452 cards, including 226 autographed issues … perfect for a new generation to begin hoarding.