Statement from the NHLPA’s Adam Larry:

“Over the past few months, the NHLPA has been assessing the impact that a lockout shortened season would have on our trading card business, as well as how to specifically the rookie card class of 2012-13. After discussions both internally and externally, including with many stakeholders within the trading card industry, we have decided to restrict the rookie class for the 2012-13 product to those players who debuted between the 2012 All-Star Game and the conclusion of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals. This means that all rookies who debut during the 2012-13 season will have their rookie cards appear in 2013-14 products.

The NHLPA encourages collectors to check Panini’s and Upper Deck’s official blogs for more details on their respective upcoming 2012-13 releases. We look forward to continuing our relationship with both Panini and Upper Deck to bring the best hockey players in the world to life through the dynamic and expanding trading card market.”

Translation: There will be no new Rookie Cards in product in 2012-13. The rookies that are in products now such as ChrisKreider, Sven Baertschi and JadenSchwartz will be the only rookies in products this season.

However, that makes 2013-14 products loaded just as it was in 2005-06, the season after the last lockout.

Look for more on Beckett.com in the coming days.

Beckett Hockey Editor Susan Lulgjuraj speaks with ESPN’s Michele Steele on the impact the NHL lockout had on hockey cards.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Hockey Editor

I received a box of 2012-13 Swiss Playercards. The box featured players in the Swiss league, including NHL stars that were locked out such as John Tavares and Tyler Seguin.

Check out the video to see the contents.

Susan Lulgjuraj is an editor of Beckett Hockey. You can email her here with questions, comments or ideas. Follow her on Twitter here. Follow Beckett Media on Facebook.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Hockey Editor

The hockey world woke up to exciting news Sunday morning. The NHL and NHL Players Association reached a tentative agreement to play hockey this season.

If the agreement holds up, there shouldn’t be a work stoppage for at least 10 years.

There have only been 11 hockey products between In The Game, Upper Deck and Panini America so for this season. But the upcoming schedule has several products coming out within the next couple of weeks.

Collectors are happy to get new rookies into their products. The top three rookies in early 2012-13 products have been Chris Kreider, Jaden Schwartz and Sven Baertschi.

Right now, it’s time to enjoy getting hockey back. In a few days, we’ll break down what we can expect.

What player are you most looking forward to seeing this season?

In the meantime, enjoy these tweets from hockey players and fans about the lockout ending.

Upcoming products
Jan. 15 – Upper Deck SP Game-Used
Jan. 16 – Panini Titanium
Jan. 30 – Panini Limited

Susan Lulgjuraj is an editor of Beckett Hockey. You can email her here with questions, comments or ideas. Follow her on Twitter here. Follow Beckett Media on Facebook.

Beckett Hockey Editor Susan Lulgjuraj opened the newest line of KHL Trading Cards. The cards include many NHL stars who are playing overseas because they are locked out from the NHL.

Check out this special international Box Busters of KHL cards.

For those looking to get boxes of KHL cards, check out Sereal’s official eBay store.

The video is a little long, but there were 50 packs – 50 PACKS! – in the box.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Hockey Editor

MISSISSAGUA – Hockey isn’t dead – at least not in Canada.

Hockey collectors and dealer turned up at the 2012 Sports Card & Memorabilia Expo. They found plenty of people talking about Canadians favorite sport, even if the NHL is in a lockout.

Each morning of the Fall Expo started with a line of people waiting for the doors open. Some had an idea of where they wanted to go and zoomed for those tables when the doors unlocked. Other just wanted to get their early so they didn’t miss anything.

“It’s fun to be here because it lets me enjoy hockey a little bit,” Ralph Slindburg of Kitchener, Ontario said. “We have hockey here with the other leagues, but something is still missing with the NHL not going on.”

The lockout seems to be affecting people in different ways; however, some dealers have only seen minimal losses.

“It really hasn’t been too bad,” Dave Martin of DRMZ Cards from Guelph, Ontario said. “It’s harder to move newer stuff. Collectors are looking at older stuff right now.”

Like Martin, newer hockey product hasn’t been the selling point for many dealers. There have only been about five products to hit shelves for the 2012-13 season – all lacking major rookies outside one or two players.

Instead, dealers have been pushing older sets, helping collectors fill in holes.

Martin started his card business in 2004, just in time for the last lockout. While it wasn’t the ideal time, sales significantly jumped for the 2005-06 season as it had an amazingly strong rookie class.

He doesn’t think the same will happen this time around.

“I thought it would be back by mid-November,” Martin said. “I don’t think people are just going to forget about it though. It’s not going to be like 05-06. Even then, the second tier rookies were really good. ”

Even officials from card companies were cautious about the show. But were happy to see the turn out this weekend.

The Upper Deck and Panini America booths were busy throughout the show as collectors looked to snag wrapper redemption packs.

There was also plenty of hollering coming from that end of the floor as hockey fans won giveaways.

“It’s extremely steady and busy. The great thing about the fans up here is that they’re extremely passionate,” Upper Deck’s Chris Carlin said. “One of the competitive advantages we have is Team Canada. By having Team Canada in the Priority Signings set, people may be upset at the NHL, but they can’t be upset at their country. That helps.”

The only thing many dealers or worried about is a lengthy lockout or another canceled season. While sales may be slightly slower right now, a canceled season would certainly change that.

Susan Lulgjuraj is an editor of Beckett Hockey. You can email her here with questions, comments or ideas. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Hockey Editor

Even though new NHL products may be limited over the coming months, there may still be new products with NHL players in it.

Several NHL athletes have gone overseas to compete in the Kontinental Hockey League, or KHL, including Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin and Ilya Bryzgalov.

Those players will be coming to KHL cards, starting with the first series, a spokesperson from Sereal said, the official licensee of KHL cards and stickers.

“We are honored to produce cards for players like Kovalchuk, Ovechkin, Datsyuk, Malkin, Gonchar, Bryzgalov and many more,” Sereal wrote on its official Twitter page on Thursday.

Sereal creates about four to five KHL products a year. A Locomotiv Memorial Series was created as part of the 2011-12 product line. All the money raised from the sales of that set will be donated to the families of the victims.

Sereal’s flagship product consists of a basic trading card set. There are standard cards with multi-level parallels of the base cards. There are also several inserts included in the product.

“We really hope that we will be able to have also autograph cards from all these stars in the first collection,” Sereal spokesperson Kristians Purvins said.

Fans looking to get past and future KHL products can visit Sereal’s eBay store.

Check out the gallery to see examples of KHL cards.

Susan Lulgjuraj is the editor of Beckett Hockey magazine. You can email Susan here with ideas, comments and questions. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Hockey Editor

Every day the NHL lockout goes on, hockey fans get more antsy without a resolution.

Some hockey collectors might not want to bother with cards because they are so disappointed. But the lockout can be a good time for collecting – as long as you can deal without having much new product.

Here are five tips to collecting during a lockout to get you through the coming weeks.

1. Search for bargains
During any work stoppage, there will be collectors who lose interest in their respective sport. This is a great opportunity for others to find deals. Head to card shows and scour the auction sites because there are bargains to be had at a time like this without much competition looking for similar cards.

2. Know what’s coming
Even though there will not be many new products during a lockout, there are some. Currently, Upper Deck Artifacts is still on the release calendar for early October, and Panini America has a product focused on retired players slated to come out in several weeks. You don’t want to miss out on something you would enjoy because you stopped paying attention to the hobby.

3. Fill in the blanks
This is the ripe time to play catch up with older sets. Find the pieces you’re missing with the peace of mind knowing you don’t have to worry too much about new products.

4. Look overseas
Just because the NHL isn’t skating doesn’t mean players are sitting by the phone. Many NHL players headed to Europe and Asia. Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Ovechkin have already made their debuts this season with the Kontinental Hockey League. Oddball items might pop up of these players, which could add more character to collections.

5. Don’t forget the minors
One thing the 2004-05 lockout did was boost the talent in the American Hockey League and the ECHL. Many athletes played down a level from where they should have been that season. The same is going to happen now. Look at minor league rosters and check out schedules to see when certain players will be in town. Hint: Start with the Oklahoma City Barons. Edmonton sent 26 players to the Barons including Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Susan Lulgjuraj is the editor of Beckett Hockey magazine. You can email Susan here with ideas, comments and questions. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Hockey Editor

Every day that passes without an agreement between the NHL owners and the NHL Players Association, it seems hockey is heading closer to a lockout.

Of course, this will effect cards. Specifically, you won’t be able to collect all those rookies you were hoping to see. There’ll be no Nail Yakupov or Ryan Murray on trading cards anytime soon if there is a lockout.

Hockey rules state players can’t be on cards until they appear in an NHL game.

For now, one of the rookies driving early products is New York Rangers’ Chris Kreider. He didn’t appear in a game last season until the playoffs, but he had a terrific start to his career. In 18 playoff games, Kreider had five goals and two assists.

His first Rookie Card came out in 2012 O-Pee-Chee. He also has four other cards in OPC with Rainbow, Black Rainbow and Red parallels. In addition, there is an OPC Retro card of Kreider.

Currently, Kreider has one other RC on the market in 2012 Score with a number of parallels.

Kreider’s first autograph is being offered through Score, but as a redemption. However, there’s a good chance this card could be fulfilled next week at the 2012 NHLPA Rookie Showcase in Toronto, Canada.

Most of the big sports have events like this especially to help card companies get photos of rookies before they play in games. This week, basketball had its rookie photo shoot with the likes of Anthony Davis and Bradley Beal in the house.

(Related post: Photo gallery from the NBA Rookie Shoot)

Next week, hockey kicks off its shoot for Panini America and Upper Deck.

Kreider will be at the event along with 29 others. However, some of their cards are going to have to wait for the end of a potential lockout.

Here’s a full list of the players at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase.
・ Tyson Barrie (Avalanche)
・ Nathan Beaulieu (Canadiens)
・ Beau Bennett (Penguins)
・ Jack Campbell (Stars)
・ Charlie Coyle (Wild)
・ Emerson Etem (Ducks)
・ Alex Galchenyuk (Canadiens)
・ Dougie Hamilton (Bruins)
・ Quinton Howden (Panthers)
・ Tomas Jurco (Red Wings)
・ Jared Knight (Bruins)
・ Leo Komarov (Maple Leafs)
・ Chris Kreider (Rangers)
・ Scott Laughton (Flyers)
・ Joe Morrow (Penguins)
・ Ryan Murphy (Hurricanes)
・ Ryan Murray (Blue Jackets)
・ Brock Nelson (Islanders)
・ Jamie Oleksiak (Stars)
・ Griffin Reinhart (Islanders)
・ Morgan Rielly (Maple Leafs)
・ Justin Schultz (Oilers)
・ Jaden Schwartz (Blues)
・ Reilly Smith (Stars)
・ Ryan Spooner (Bruins)
・ Jarred Tinordi (Canadiens)
・ Tyler Toffoli (Kings)
・ Mark Visentin (Coyotes)
・ Austin Watson (Predators)
・ Nail Yakupov (Oilers).

Susan Lulgjuraj is the editor of Beckett Hockey magazine. You can email Susan here with ideas, comments and questions. Follow her on Twitter here.