Tuesday, December 02, 2014

 

Post Cereal Hockey Cards 2014


         
About this time last year, I was pleased to report that the Post Cereal Corporation was unveiling a series of junior hockey cards on their cereal boxes. I have discovered that they are at it again. My grandson Hunter is most pleased with the results.

 



I caught up with Hunter after his game last Saturday at one of the rinks at the Quinte Sports Centre. He is now eight years old, and plays for the Belleville Junior Bulls in the Novice Division. His mother has no trouble getting him to the rink for his practices and his games.

 

One of the first books that we shared with him was a story about Maurice “The Rocket” Richard. Hunter can tell you several facts about Richard, and about the Canadiens. He also enjoyed the classic Canadian hockey story called “The Sweater”. His grandmother has shared her passion for the Habs with the child. He will tell you in no uncertain terms that Montreal is his favourite team, but only if he thinks she is listening.

 

He has always been a Sidney Crosby fan, and lists Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Patrick Roy as his favourite players.

 

There are six different cereal boxes in the Post collection. In the photograph, Hunter is holding the Aaron Ekblad box, taken when he was wearing his Barrie Colts sweater. Ekblad currently plays for the Florida Panthers in the National Hockey League. Sam Bennett plays for the Kingston Frontenacs, and is featured on box # 3.

 





Kikolaj Ehlers, from the Halifax Mooseheads, Nicolas Petan from the Portland Winter Hawks, Jake Virtanen from the Calgary Hitmen and Jeremy Roy from the Sherbrooke Phoenix are also displayed on the front of the boxes.

 





There are four cards on the back of each box, making a set of 24 cards in the series. The company also has a contest associated with the CHL, with a trip for four to the Memorial Cup as the prize.

 

Hockey Canada today released the names of 29 players who have been invited to the selection camp for the Canadian junior team that will play in the World Junior Championships this year. Players featured on the cereal boxes in that group include: Hayden Fleury, Joe Hicketts, Michael Dal Colle, Connor McDavid, and Brayden Point. Virtanen and Petan are also in the hunt for one of the 22 final roster spots. Remi Elie, a forward with the Belleville Bulls, will also attend the selection camp in Toronto.

 

The NHL has a “roster freeze deadline” on December 19. The folks at Hockey Canada need to convince teams like the Florida Panthers to release good junior age players for the tournament before the freeze takes place. I am fairly certain that Ekblad will not be released by the Panthers. Currently, he has 12 points including 3 goals in his first 22 games. He turns 19 in February, and yet he plays with poise shift after shift.

 

 

By the time the tournament begins, Hunter will have most of the names of the players memorized. He did tell me he has difficulty with the French names. He attends Quinte Mohawk School, and studies Mohawk rather than French.

 

Before he headed home he added that he could use another box of Sugar Crisp!

 

James Hurst

Sportslices.blogspot.com

December 2, 2014     

# posted by James Hurst @ 2:44 AM
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