More '70s Topps Goodness

And so I returned to the Beckett Marketplace the other day to continue work on my 1970 Red Wings team sets. How I would love to head down to my LCS to find these gems, but the state of hockey card collecting in the state that I live in is, well, literally non-existent. There are a grand total of two brick-and-mortar card shops within 50 miles of me, and neither stock hockey cards. At all. No packs. No singles. It's tragic. Thus, cherry-picking sites like Beckett is, by necessity, my only means of feeding this addiction.

So on to the cards...

1970-71 Topps No. 21 - Roy Edwards

Ontario native Roy Edwards made the leap from the minors to the Red Wings in the 1967-68 season, where he amassed a 15-15-8 record in 41 games. He had a solid year in 1969-70, posting 24-15-6, but by the 1970-71 campaign Roy's time in net had dwindled a bit and he finished the year at 11-19-7. After spending the following season with the Penguins, Roy would be back with the Wings for two more years before hanging up his skates for good.

1970-71 Topps No. 23 - Ron Harris

After a couple of short call-ups with the Wings in the mid-'60s, defenseman Harris played his first full NHL season with the newly-minted Oakland Seals in the 1967-68 campaign. In one of hockey's most unfortunate moments, Ron was directly involved in a play that sent North Stars forward Bill Masterton hard to the ice, causing massive trauma and, not long after, death. Ron returned to the Wings the following season, where he would stay until being claimed by the Atlanta Flames in the 1972 expansion draft.

1970-71 Topps No. 26 - Gary Unger

Gary may be best known as "Iron Man" Unger, having set the record for most consecutive games played at 914 between 1968 and 1979 (a record long since surpassed). Hitting the big league with the Maple Leafs in 1967, the year in which he was traded to the WIngs, Gary scored a career high 42 goals during the 1969-70 season. His time in Detroit would be brief, however, as he would head to St. Louis late in the 1970-71 campaign.

So there you have 'em. I also picked up a few odds and ends in this same order, but those will have to wait for another post.