1975-76 O-Pee-Chee 135 Eric Vail Hockey Card (Front)
1975-76 O-Pee-Chee 135 Eric Vail Hockey Card (Back)
1975-76 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist
Card Notes
He’s strong on his skates, and led the Flames with 39 goals last year. Won Calder Trophy as NHL’s top rookie this past season, second Flame in three years to win it.
En Français
Il est solide sur ses patins et, l’an dernier, il mena les Flames avec 39 buts. Gagnant du Trophée Calder comme meilleure recrue pour 1974-75; le deuxième joueur d’Atlanta à le recevoir en trois ans.
Details
ERROR! Eric Vail was the first member of the Atlanta Flames to win the Calder Trophy, not the second in three years, as the back of this 1975-76 O-Pee-Chee hockey card suggests. The Flames entered the National Hockey League for the 1972-73 season. Steve Vickers of the New York Rangers was the Calder winner that year. In 1973-74, the award went to Denis Potvin of the New York Islanders.
A second member of the Flames would win the Calder Trophy but not until the 1976-77 season. That year, Willi Plett took the honours. It would be the last time a player would win the award while the franchise was located in Atlanta. Just three players have won the Calder with the Calgary Flames: Gary Suter (1985-86), Joe Nieuwendyk (1987-88) and Sergei Makarov (1989-90).
The fact that Eric Vail was rookie of the year at all was a study in persistence. Vail was a second round pick by Atlanta at the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft after a stellar season in the OHA Junior A with the Sudbury Wolves in 1972-73.
Eric didn’t jump right to the NHL, however. He spent 1973-74 mostly with the Omaha Knights and didn’t exactly post through the roof numbers. In 37 games, he scored 10 goals and assisted on 18. Still, the Flames had their eye on him and he managed to get into 23 NHL games with Atlanta that season.
1974-75 would turn out to be a career year for Vail. He would never again top the 39 goal plateau during his career in the National Hockey League. He would surpass the 30 goal mark two more times. In all, Eric played in 591 regular season and 20 playoff games in the NHL between 1973-74 and 1981-82 with the Flames and Detroit Red Wings.