1993 Classic '93 Hockey Draft

  

If you remember the Classic baseball cards (and game) from the late-1980s, this pack of hockey cards will seem familiar.

 

 

 

  

And by the time the early 1990s rolled around, the Classic brand was all-in on the rookie craze—or more specifically, the "pre-rookie" craze. 

 

Have a hockey prospect at your local college? We'll give him a card! Know a minor-league player who's ready to break into the NHL? We'll give him a card, too! 

 

And that's where we find ourselves with the Classic '93 Hockey Draft set. It tops out at 150 cards, and includes plenty of up-and-coming talent, along with some established pros. There's also a chance to pull some fun inserts and autographs. Let's see which 10 cards we found in this particular pack. 

 

Well, it's three sad trombone sounds to start off. O'Sullivan made it to the AHL level, Savoie played professionally in France and Switzerland for a few years, and Guerard played 2 games for the Ottawa Senators in 1994-95 before going back to the AHL, and then to Europe for a couple of years.

 

 

 

Great action on that Shtalenkov card! The Russian goalie had a solid 9-year NHL career, suiting up for Anaheim, Edmonton, and Phoenix. Grant Marshall would have an even better pro career, winning Stanley Cups with Dallas in 1998-99 and New Jersey in 2002-03. As for Vesa Viitakoski, he had a few cups of coffee with the Calgary Flames from 1993 through 1996, but played most of his career in the Finnish professional leagues and seemed to be a pretty solid point-scorer.

 

 

 

Ted Drury (brother of Chris) had a good NHL career, playing for the Flames, Whalers, Senators, Ducks, Islanders, and Blue Jackets across his 8-year career. In the middle there, Alexandre Daigle was hyped up as the next big star back then, as he dominated the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League during the 1992-93 season. (He has 6 different cards in this set!) Although he didn't live up to the hype, he had a serviceable 10-year NHL career and was a 20-goal scorer twice. On the right, Antti Aalto spent 4 seasons with Anaheim before finishing his pro career in the Finnish Elite league.

 

And the last card in the pack?

 

 

 

Pavel Bure!

 

"The Russian Rocket" had been in the NHL for a couple of years at this point, but Classic managed to fit him into their set in his Russian uniform. (It's part of a "flashback" subset that includes other greats in their early days, like Mike Bossy, Chris Chelios, and Jari Kurri.)

 

Now here's an example of a card back. 

 

 

 

It's a little basic, but a rather large full-color image takes up most of the space!

 

And that's that. For the first time on APTBNL, a pack of 1993 Classic '93 Hockey Draft. 

 

No inserts or autographs found, but it was a fun look back at a unique time in the hobby.