1969-70 O-Pee-Chee NHL Hockey Cards

The 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee NHL hockey card set consists of 231 cards featuring players from all 12 teams in the league at the time. The most valuable player card belongs to Bobby Orr. Other significant cards in the set belong to Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings, Bobby Hull of the Chicago Blackhawks, Jacques Plante of the St. Louis Blues and Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins.

The top rookie card in the 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee set belongs to Tony Esposito of the Chicago Blackhawks. Other important RC’s belong to Serge Savard of the Montreal Canadiens and Pat Quinn of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The set also includes a special ‘Mr. Hockey’ hockey card featuring Gordie Howe. There is a version of this card with a number and without a number. Both versions are valued almost equally.

The Topps sister set has just 132 cards and is valued considerably less. This set lacks the Tony Esposito rookie card and Serge Savard’s RC is the highest valued first year hockey card.

1969-70 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist

Back To O-Pee-Chee NHL Index Page

1969-70 O-Pee-Chee NHL Hockey Card Complete Collection [Video]

1969-70 NHL Season

1969-70 was the last year of a 12 team National Hockey League. The following season, the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks would join as expansion teams. This season marked the emergence of the Boston Bruins as a super power in the NHL.

The Bruins tied the Chicago Blackhawks for the overall lead during the regular season with 99 points. Boston went on to win the Stanley Cup championship, beating the St. Louis Blues in the final. It marked the first Cup win for the Bruins since 1940-41.

As usual in the era, the league was dominated by Orr and Esposito. However, it wasn’t Phil Esposito, it was his brother Tony. Bobby and Tony were 1-2 in Hart Trophy voting as the NHL’s most valuable player and really the only contenders for the award.

Orr was, for the most part, a unanimous decision for the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman. This was fueled by his league leading 120 points which gave him the Art Ross Trophy, the first time a blue liner had ever won the award.

Tony Esposito’s 2.17 goals against average and unbelievable 15 shutouts over 63 games made him a unanimous selection for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. His brother did pretty good with 99 points, second best to his Boston teammate Orr.

The playoffs were controversial before even starting. The Montreal Canadiens finished tied for fourth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Division with the New York Rangers. However, the Rangers were awarded the tie-breaker and the Habs did not qualify for the post season for the first time since 1947-48. They would not be in the same position again until 1994-95. Montreal’s 92 points would have placed them first place in the Western Division.

Along with the Norris, Art Ross and Hart Trophy, Bobby Orr was also honoured with the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. This marked the only time in NHL history that a player won four individual awards.

Just one future member, Bobby Clarke with the Philadelphia Flyers, of the Hockey Hall of Fame made his debut in 1969-70. Other important players to start their career include Butch Goring, Keith Magnuson, Gilles Gilbert, Marc Tardif and Guy Charron.

Hockey Hall of Fame goalies Johnny Bower and Terry Sawchuk appeared in their final National Hockey League games. Bower retired as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs while Sawchuk passed away after the season was over. His final club was the New York Rangers.

1969-70 NHL Standings

1969-70 NHL Scoring Leaders