Hockey Cards

Paired with cigarettes, candy and other food, the earliest hockey cards were released near the start of the 20th century. Similar to other sports, the hockey card market transformed over the years to accommodate the growing interest.

Following a period of niche, regional sets in the early 1900s, established brands arrived in subsequent decades, including O-Pee-Chee, Parkhurst and Topps. Wayne Gretzky is the key name for hockey card collectors, especially his rookie cards in 1979-80 sets. Nearly a decade later, the first Upper Deck Hockey card product came for the 1990-91 season.

Like the rest of the card market, hockey cards transitioned in the 1990s and 2000s to the modern approach that is built around rare parallels, inserts and autographs.

In The Game, Pacific, Panini, Topps, and Upper Deck each held NHL licenses at various times in the 2000s and 2010s. However, since 2014-15, Upper Deck has been the sole option for NHL cards as the company has the exclusive trading card license.

Topps can make licensed NHL sticker cards. In addition, Leaf produces unlicensed hockey card sets.

The database below features hockey cards by the individual product, including checklists with parallels, rarity, pack odds, short print info, set details, expert analysis, release date, and more.