A Place Of Our Own
Three collectors put hockey in the spotlight at the 2019 National Sports Collectors Convention.
It might be the biggest annual event on the hobby calendar, but the National Sports Collectors Convention has never exactly been home ice for hockey fans. Sure, an intrepid collector might discover the odd showcase featuring Connor McDavid and Patrick Kane cards if he were to navigate the show’s crowded aisles and scour the thousands of booths, but hockey’s always been an afterthought at the National.
Three show veterans sought to change that by creating a hockey card haven at the 2019 NSCC show in suburban Chicago. Shortly after the show closed its doors on August 2, a die-hard group of hockey card enthusiasts migrated across the street for the first ever Hockey Fest to hang out, trade cards and talk stick and puck.
“I just wanted to have a place for hockey people,” said Mark Petree, one of events organizers. “What, maybe one
in every 100 people at the National has a hockey jersey or hat on? Why not have a spot for us misfits?”
Petree, of Trees Collectibles in Warren, Mich., and Aaron Nowak of of SlabStox. com, shared a booth on the show floor, but both wanted their National experience to be about more than just selling cards. They came up with the idea for a hockey trade night about two weeks before the National, and settled on renting a room at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare hotel across the street from the main show to give collectors a space to meet up.
“[In the past], people would come up to our booth and say ‘Oh, you have hockey!’” Petree said. “Then they’d stand for 20 minutes to talk hockey. Hockey Fest gave us all a spot to hang out and trade, and get to know each other a little more.”
The last-minute nature of the event may have hampered its attendance, but it didn’t curb anyone’s excitement.
“We didn’t know about hockey trade night until we were already at the National, or we would have brought more to trade,” said Mike Bergmann, owner of Lower Level Sports Cards and Collectibles in Winnipeg, Man. “We wish we had more to trade to help others with their collections.
“I just wanted to have a place for hockey people,” said Mark Petree
e trading part was a lot of fun. It was about collecting, not about what the cards were valued at.”
One highlight of Hockey Fest was a free raffle, with prizes such as complete sets of hockey cards, several hockey games, and a few vintage Starting Lineup hockey figures. Every attendee walked away with something. e organizers also ordered pizza, since almost everyone was hungry and tired from walking the floor at the National.
“I came to the National hoping to get some hockey, but there wasn’t much at the show,” said 13-year-old Brandon C., of Parkland, Florida. “When I came to Hockey Fest, that’s where I got a lot of hockey cards. It was cool to find hockey collectors just like me.”
A general trade night was held the evening before, drawing over 1,000 people, dwarfing Hockey Fest by comparison. But the all-sports event was almost too big for its own good, with many collectors just sticking with people they already knew. e more intimate size of Hockey Fest provided a chance for everyone to meet and make new friends.
“I got to talk to everybody, and everybody got to talk and trade with everybody else,” Petree said. “You wouldn’t be able to do that at a monster-sized trade night.”
“We enjoyed both trade nights,” said Bergmann, who brought his two sons. “We got to talk to people at both, but we felt more attachment with the people at hockey card trade night.”
e organizers (including your author, who helped with promotion), hope that this is the start of something that could grow, giving hockey fans a dedicated time and place to meet up and trade cards at future National conventions. ey’re already planning a Hockey Fest next year when the show will be held in Atlantic City.
“Seeing those kids’ smiles and excitement was great,” Petree said. “And people were talking about it the next day. I was getting text messages and messages on Instagram saying ‘I can’t wait for next year. I hope you do this again.’”