Tuesday, January 8, 2013

The Ultimate Hockey Card Mullet?

I think every hockey fan is familiar with the mullet.  To me, it's almost an element of the game just like the puck is, or the Captain's 'C', or the goal.  Flipping through tens of thousands of hockey cards over the years, I've certainly seen my fair share of mullets.  Today though, while I was scanning in and cataloging some more of my Hartford Whalers cards I ran across what may be the best mullet I've ever seen on cardboard.

Behold!

This bad boy comes from a Coca Cola-sponsored, team-issued set from 1993-94.  I had about two paragraphs of absolute zingers written about this 'do.  Everything from the cut itself to the pure amount of space that it takes up on this card.  I just deleted all of it though. 

You see, I found out that Marc was apparently fighting with some major demons later in his life, struggling in his career as a hockey coach in the low-level UHL (United Hockey League).  In 2006, while on the road with the team he coached, he hung himself from the shower rod in his hotel room with a belt.  His blood alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit.  Most of the official references to the story (TSN, etc) have all been pulled down, but the information is confirmed out there if you dig a bit.  As someone who has some experience dealing with attempted suicide, I know that it's no joking matter.  I feel extremely sorry for Marc and his family.  So, no mullet jokes here.  Instead, I'll just say rest in peace, and thank you for the 51 games you donned the Whalers sweater for.  I am fairly certain this is the only card out there that features Marc with the Whalers, so I'm grateful to have it in my collection.

Sorry for the most meant-to-be-funny-but-turned-out-depressing post ever...

4 comments:

Brad said...

Whoa- interesting post, that's for sure.

I did a quick Google image search on Mr. Potvin and found this oddball card featuring him in a Whalers sweater http://www.whalershockey.com/whalermania/images/lineup/lineup94_02_26potvin.jpg

Zayden said...

Baddest Mullet on the planet!

Sal said...

Cool mullet, but he's got nothing on Jagr!

Squires32 said...

Agreed. Jagr is still the king

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