One Card Post - A Houston Aero

What:  1972-73 O-Pee-Chee #303 - Gordon Labossiere
Where:  eBay
How Much?:  $.65 (part of 40-card lot for $25.99)

Why?:  I've really been enjoying chasing the first-ever WHA cards from the '72-73 O-Pee-Chee hockey release this year.  When I found a lot of 40 cards from this set for sale, many of them from the WHA subset, at a price that worked out to 65 cents per I couldn't jump fast enough.

Gord Labossiere was your classic example of a guy who had trouble staying on an NHL roster full-time, but was really able to revive his career at the WHA level.  He did manage to play in over 200 total NHL games between 1963 and 1972, but found himself playing in the AHL just as often as in the NHL during that stretch.  Labossiere migrated to the WHA to begin the '72-73 season with the Houston Aeros, and would play with that franchise for the next four seasons (the final four of his professional career).

Gord racked up a career-high 96 points during his first year in the rival league, and would go on to win two Avco Cups (the WHA's equivalent of the Stanley Cup) during his tenure with Houston.  This is actually the first Houston Aeros card I've landed from this release to date. 

With Gord here I'm now up to 10 of these, and I've got a few more to post still.  I'm starting to think that I might be able to knock off this entire subset by the end of the year, that would feel like a pretty significant accomplishment to me!