Whalers A to Z - Christer Abrahamsson

I'll be chronicling my attempts to collect a card of every player who ever suited up for the Whalers (and has a card) here under the title "Whalers A to Z".

Christer Abris, who legally changed his name to Christer Abrahamsson, seemed like an appropriate place to start this project.  He's the very first Whaler on the list alphabetically.  Far from a household name, Christer played the majority of his professional career in Sweden.  The exception was a three year stint with the New England Whalers of the WHA from 1974 to 1977.

New England signed Christer from the Swedish Elite League prior to the 1974-75 season.  During his first season with the team he appeared in just 16 games, going 8-6-1 with a 3.24 GAA and a shutout.  Abrahamsson saw increased time the following year, appearing in 41 games, however his GAA increased and his win percentage and save percentage both decreased.  Nevertheless, the Whalers played him even more in his third season with the team in 1976-77.  His GAA increased again, and he posted just 15 wins to 22 losses, failing to record a single shutout.  The team released him following the season.

I chose to show Christer's 1975-76 O-Pee-Chee WHA card, because it's the only card of his that I currently own.  He's got a couple in the '76-77 WHA set that I'll be chasing down soon...

Mr. Hockey's Stick!

Just a few weeks ago I picked up my first Gordie Howe certified auto.  When I saw today's card up for auction a short time later, I thought it would be the perfect card to accompany my autograph.

This Pieces of History game-used stick card comes from the 2001-02 Upper Deck Legends set.  The checklist for these relic inserts is quite impressive, and Howe is actually featured twice (once with Detroit, once with Hartford).  Howe is referred to as Mr. Hockey on the card front.

Here's the back, similar split design as the front, this time with a more closely cropped head shot from the front photo contained within the same circle that the stick piece was on the front.  Once again, Gordie is referred to only as Mr. Hockey, multiple times.  Odd that the word Howe doesn't appear once anywhere on this card.

I'm happy to have added my very first Howe relic to my growing Whalers collection.  This one was a steal too, at just $15 shipped.  I have a few other Whalers game-used cards I'll be showing here in the near future...