WHA Woytowich

A nice, quiet winter night after a snowstorm here in New England. Seems like a great time to post another card in my quest to acquire all of the WHA cards from the 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee set...

Bob Woytowich of the Winnipeg Jets gives me a baker's dozen now when it comes to these cards.  This was the WHA's inaugural year, and the only year that O-Pee-Chee included cards for that league in their flagship NHL release.  These are high series cards, in fact they represent the very end of the set, so they aren't the easiest cards to come across at cheap prices as '70s hockey goes.

Bob Woytowich was a defenseman who was born in Winnipeg, and played there early in his career on his rise to the NHL.  He enjoyed an 8-year career in the National Hockey League, appearing in 503 regular season games.  Woytowich broke in with the Bruins in '64-65, but is probably best remembered for his three and a half seasons with the Penguins.

When the WHA formed, Woytowich made the leap over to the "other league", joining his hometown Winnipeg Jets as an assistant captain.  Aside from the bold, bright colors, I love these cards because they give you such a great look at the absolutely fantastic logos and sweaters that the WHA had to offer.

Here's a look at the back, featuring the WHA league logo and a small write-up that mentions Bob's return to Winnipeg.

Completing a 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee set would be a bear, but I do have a goal of accumulating all 51 of the high number WHA cards.  It'll be years from now if it ever happens, as I don't like to pay more than $3-4 dollars per card if I can help it, but getting a quarter of the way there feels good for now!

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee WHA Progress:  13/51 (25%)