Skip to content

1951-52 Parkhurst Number 66 – Gordie Howe Rookie Card

  • by

Parkhurst entered the hockey card market with a bang with its 1951-52 series. Consisting of 105 cards, this was the first set produced by Parkhurst and the first mainstream hockey card series since the 1940-41 O-Pee-Chee v301-2. Because of the absense of hockey cards for over a decade, most cards from the 1951-52 Parkhurst series were considered rookie cards.

Check out Gordie Howe rookie cards on eBay, right now!

1951-52 parkhurst gordie howe rookie card detroit red wings
1951-52 Parkhurst #66 - Gordie Howe rookie card.

Three rookie cards stand out from the set. Number 61 featuring Terry Sawchuk of the Detroit Red Wings is valued at $1200. Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard’s number 4 rookie card is valued at $1500. The gem of the series is the Gordie Howe rookie card which is valued at $3000 by Beckett Hockey Monthly. Less valuable at $500 is the only true hockey card ever produced of Bill Barilko. Number 52 of the 1951-52 set is an ‘In Action’ card featuring Barilko scoring the overtime Stanley Cup winning goal on Gerry McNeil of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1951 finals. Barilko would die in a plane crash in late August of 1951.

Gordie Howe didn’t get on cardboard until his sixth season in the National Hockey League. Not to worry, though, Gordie would get many more opportunities to be immortalized on hockey cards. Howe played 26 seasons in the NHL and an additional six in the World Hockey Association.

Howe played for the Detroit Red Wings from 1946-47 until the end of the 1970-71 season. Gordie then retired, was honoured by O-Pee-Chee with a commemorative retirement card in the 1971-72 series and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972. By 1973-74, he’d had enough of retirement and was back playing for the Houston Aeros of the WHA. Along with his sons, Mark and Marty, Gordie played with the Aeros until the end of the 1976-77 season. The three Howes played two more seasons with the WHA New England Whalers and Gordie played one final NHL season with the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80 at the age of 52.

In all, Howe totalled 1767 regular season games in the NHL, scoring 801 goals and totalling 1850 points while sitting out 1685 minutes in penalties. The games total still stands as an NHL all-time record. Gordie is just one of three players to surpass 1700 career regular season games with the others being Mark Messier and Ron Francis. His goal total is second only to Wayne Gretzky and his point total is third behind Gretzky and Messier. Interestingly, his PIM total still sits him 90th overall all-time. Add to these totals an impressive 419 games in the WHA with 509 points – alone a decent career for many, many players.

Over his career, Gordie Howe won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s top point-getter on six occasions. He appeared in the top 5 scorers for 20 consecutive seasons. Howe also won the Hart Trophy as the league MVP on six occasions. He was part of four Stanley Cup winning teams in Detroit and was a member of 23 NHL All-Star teams. Gordie’s number 9 was retired by the Detroit Red Wings, one of only six to be honoured by the team.

 

1 thought on “1951-52 Parkhurst Number 66 – Gordie Howe Rookie Card”

  1. Hi i have some 1951-52 parkhurst that i`m willing to sell 70 cards of 104 with 8 doubles includes winning goal and terry swaychuk all mint condition from 7.5 to 10 if any interested let me know

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

* indicates required