Box Break - 1995-96 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey - Packs 5 & 6

Pack 5:

#113 - Steve Yzerman (Double)

Alright, just 5 packs in and the doubles have begun. Since you've already seen Yzerman's card, here's the back. One of the cooler back photos so far, a couple of Hall-of-Famers in celebration.

#92 - Viktor Kozlov

#166 - Sergei Nemchinov

#91 - Mikhail Shtalenkov

#76 - Petr Svoboda

#80 - Ted Donato (Double)

#8 - Luc Robitaille

Here's where the pack starts picking up steam.

#84 - Mario Lemieux

#185 - Tomas Sandstrom

#20 - Geoff Sanderson

#254 - Mike Milbury's Scouting Report - Ray Sheppard

#219 - Mats Sundin 5th Anniversary (Electric Ice)

Plenty of fleur-de-lis on this card.

Best card in the pack:

#84 - Mario Lemieux

Very few players could beat out a Quebec Nordiques Electric Ice card, but Super Mario is one of them.

Pack 6:

#257 - Mike Milbury's Scouting Report - Brett Lindros

#248 - Mike Milbury's Scouting Report - Paul Coffey

#267 - Aki-Petteri Berg Star Rookie

#124 - Radek Bonk

#106 - Patrick Flatley (Double)

#120 - Geoff Courtnall

#79 - Doug Brown

#42 - Jiri Slegr

#146 - Igor Kravchuk (Electric Ice)

#153 - Lyle Odelein

#186 - Eric Desjardins

#27 - Yuri Khmylev

Best card in the pack:

#124 - Radek Bonk

Probably the weakest pack so far, Bonk wins on account of a nice horizontal photo.

Box Break - 1995-96 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey - Packs 3 & 4

Glad to see that some fellow collectors appreciate 1995-96 Upper Deck hockey as much as I do! Here's packs 3 and 4...

Pack 3

#253 - Mike Milbury's Scouting Report - Teemu Selanne

#227 - Jeremy Roenick 5th Anniversary

#269 - Shane Doan Star Rookie (Electric Ice)

One thing I would've changed about the set would be to use in-game photos for the Star Rookie cards. Some of these guys may not have suited up for NHL action yet, but how about photos from Juniors/College/AHL rather than these yearbook shots? Nonetheless, a pretty nice card to get the Electric Ice parallel of. Doan's been a solid player throughout his career, and is the face of the Coyotes franchise. He's the only guy left on the Coyotes who was with them back in the Jets days.

#197 - Adam Oates

#22 - Dean Evason

Former Hartford Whaler, current Washington Capitals assistant coach.

#49 - Steve Duchesne

#141 - Kris King

Nice shot of the Winnipeg Jets sweater (see, I'm learning Captain Canuck!).

#80 - Ted Donato

Ted currently serves as the head coach of Harvard University's hockey team.

#17 - Dallas Drake

#87 - Mike Donnelly

Donnelly's the victim of a textbook hook in this photo.

#98 - Pat Verbeek

#134 - Jeff Friesen

Best card in the pack:

#17 - Dallas Drake

It was hard not to go with former Whaler Pat Verbeek or the Doan Electric Ice rookie, but ultimately the photo of Drake dodging a hip check was just too good. His facial expression sealed the deal.

Pack 4

#232 - Peter Bondra 5th Anniversary

#228 - Felix Potvin 5th Anniversary

#43 - Joe Sacco

#150 - Shjon Podein

#184 - Brendan Shanahan

Casual NHL fans living outside of New England may not remember that Shanahan even spent a season with The Whale. In a shining example of the kind of crap trades that ruined the franchise, Hartford dealt Chris Pronger (ever heard of him?) to St. Louis for Shanahan. Brendan would play one great season in Hartford but was then shipped off to the Red Wings. Pronger would go on to...ugh....

#89 - Steve Larouche

#121 - Kelly Buchberger (Electric Ice)

#175 - Dave Lowry

#62 - Ray Whitney

Nice shot. Ray currently plays with the Phoenix Coyotes as well, although he's on a different line than Shane Doan.

#47 - Jamie Storr

Might want to put a helmet on buddy.

#15 - Alexei Yashin

My 13-year-old self would've been ecstatic to pull this card back in 1995. The first ever draft pick of the expansion Ottawa Senators, Yashin earned a Calder Trophy nomination for his rookie season. His career in Ottawa was marred by contract disputes and other off-ice issues. He ultimately ended up with the Islanders, and played with them until what looks likely to be his final NHL game, in 2007. He's still playing in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League, and has been pretty damn successful as well. In fact, the KHL did "player-based teams" for their All-Star game last season, sort of like Team Staal/Team Lidstrom from this year's NHL All-Star game. What were the names of the KHL All-Star teams? Team Jagr and Team Yashin.

#113 - Steve Yzerman

Nice card to end the pack with. It was impossible to be a young NHL fan in the 1990's and not like the Detroit Red Wings.

Best card in the pack:

#184 - Brendan Shanahan

If either of the Yashin or Yzerman cards had been horizontal they probably would've won out, but as it stands I'll go with the Shanahan, even though it reminds me of a very painful time in Hartford Whalers history.

Packs 5 and 6 coming soon!