Minors Matter
Asport,er more than three decades covering the
I can state with unfettered certainty that there is no passion like that which minor league hockey fans have for their favorite teams.
Maybe it’s a satisfaction that comes from being “in” on prospects before they make it big in the NHL. Maybe it’s the greater access to the players these settings provide, or the extent to which they can become part of the team “family” through booster clubs and fan events. Maybe it’s that, in small towns that offer relatively few diversions, there’s more time to cultivate those bonds.
Whatever the case, that passion extends well outside the rink and into the hobby, where minor league fans have been known to pay extraordinary sums to secure collectibles of, well, ordinary players.
I didn’t grow up in a minor league town, but minor league cards have always fascinated me. I can’t tell you exactly how many team sets I’ve picked up over the years either while in town to watch a game or through mail order, but it’s well into the hundreds. And I can still look back on most of them and remember exactly how they became part of my collection. at’s probably why Bill Hoppe was able to hook me so easily when he pitched the idea that became his story on the revival of minor league cards for the 2022-23 season (see pg. 20).
While the hobby at large was battered by the pandemic, the minor league segment ground to a virtual standstill. e scale at which these sets are produced – and the uncertainty that surrounded icing the games – made them financially unviable. Many of the teams that made them an annual tradition had to forego production for a year or two.
But as you’ll learn, they never lost sight of what those cards mean to the fans, to business partners, and to the players pictured on them. at’s why they’ll be back on the market this year, either as game-night giveaways, promotional tie-ins, or gi shop souvenirs. And given some of the amazing designs and memorable players they’ve delivered in the past, these could prove to be some of the best releases of the season.
If you’re interested, don’t wait too long. You can bet the die-hard minor league fans won’t.