The 1963-64 Topps NHL hockey card set consists of 66 cards featuring players from the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers. It would be the last year that Topps and Parkhurst would split the six team league in two with Parkhurst getting out of the hockey card business. Previously, Parkhurst printed cards featuring players from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens.
Not a heavy rookie card class, the 1963-64 Topps set features Ed Johnston, Ed Westfall, Ed Van Impe and Gilles Villemure as its star RC class. The usual suspects shine as far as value is concerned with Bobby Hull, Jacques Plante and Stan Mikita leading the way.
Out of the 66 cards, three are team pictures and one is a checklist, the rest are individual player cards. The front of each card features a player head shot, along with a black and white glimpse of an action photo. The action photos are inserted randomly but the Glenn Hall card is interesting in that Hall appears in both the profile picture and the action shot.
As far as uncorrected errors, this set seems to be without flaws. We have no documented UER’s. Perhaps, the only error Topps made with this set was the scratch off trivia answers on the back. Most did not stand the test of time and are no longer visible.
1963-64 Topps NHL Checklist
1963-64 Topps NHL Hockey Card Collection [Video]
1963-64 NHL Season
In the 1963-64 NHL regular season, the Montreal Canadiens edged out the Chicago Blackhawks by a single point for first place in the six team league. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings also qualified for the post season. The New York Rangers and Boston Bruins fell way behind and were out of contention.
The Stanley Cup playoffs were rather upsetting. The third seed Maple Leafs ousted the Habs in the first round while the fourth place Red Wings took out the Blackhawks. The Maple Leafs ultimately captured the championship over Detroit. It was the first time since the seven game series format was introduced in 1938-39 that each playoff matchup went the distance.
The Canadiens and Blackhawks dominated the individual awards. From Chicago, Stan Mikita took the Art Ross, Pierre Pilote won the Norris and Ken Wharram was awarded the Lady Byng. From Montreal, Jacques Laperriere won the Calder, Jean Beliveau won the Hart and Charlie Hodge won the Vezina.
The All-Star selections were as equally unbalanced with Chicago taking five of the six First Team positions. Tim Horton of the Maple Leafs was the only non-Blackhawks to be selected to the top team. Gordie Howe of the Red Wings and Frank Mahovlich from Toronto made the Second Team to break up the two team monopoly.
1963-64 NHL Standings
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA |
| Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 36 | 21 | 13 | 85 | 209 | 167 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 70 | 36 | 22 | 12 | 84 | 218 | 169 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 33 | 25 | 12 | 78 | 192 | 172 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 30 | 29 | 11 | 71 | 191 | 204 |
| New York Rangers | 70 | 22 | 38 | 10 | 54 | 186 | 242 |
| Boston Bruins | 70 | 18 | 40 | 12 | 48 | 170 | 212 |
1963-64 NHL Top 10 Scoring Leaders
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Stan Mikita | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 39 | 50 | 89 | 146 |
| Bobby Hull | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 43 | 44 | 87 | 50 |
| Jean Beliveau | Montreal Canadiens | 68 | 28 | 50 | 78 | 42 |
| Andy Bathgate | NYR / Toronto | 71 | 19 | 58 | 77 | 34 |
| Gordie Howe | Detroit Red Wings | 69 | 26 | 47 | 73 | 70 |
| Kenny Wharram | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 39 | 32 | 71 | 18 |
| Murray Oliver | Boston Bruins | 70 | 24 | 44 | 68 | 41 |
| Phil Goyette | New York Rangers | 67 | 24 | 41 | 65 | 15 |
| Rod Gilbert | New York Rangers | 70 | 24 | 40 | 64 | 62 |
| Dave Keon | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 23 | 37 | 60 | 6 |