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Rick MacLeish 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee Rookie Card

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rick macleish 1971-72 o-pee-chee rookie hockey cardRick MacLeish showed he was a star long before he helped the Philadelphia Flyers to consecutive Stanley Cup championships in the 1970’s. He was a star as a junior in the Ontario Hockey Association under the leadership of the great Roger Neilson.

Rick MacLeish – The Junior Star

MacLeish played in the OHA (now the Ontario Hockey League) for four years from 1966-67 to 1969-70. His first year consisted of just two games with the London Nationals. The following three were played with the Peterborough Petes.

In 1968-69, Rick finished third in the OHA with 50 goals and tied for eighth with 92 points. In his final season, he placed fourth with 45 goals and fourth with 101 points. In that 1969-70 season, MacLeish also finished tied with Jim Schoenfeld for ninth in the OHA with 135 penalty minutes. This was a rarity for Rick. Including his days with the Broad Street Bullies, the most MacLeish sat in a single National Hockey League season was 69 in 1972-73.

Rick MacLeish – The NHL Star

At the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft, Rick was taken fourth overall by the Boston Bruins. The three ahead of his were Gilbert Perreault (Buffalo Sabres), Dale Tallon (Vancouver Canucks) and Reggie Leach (Boston Bruins). Of course, Leach would eventually make it to Philadelphia for the Stanley Cup party, by way of California. Rick never played for the Bruins.


Rick MacLeish Collection

1971-72 o-pee-chee button

opc 1972-73 button

opc 1973-74 button

1975-76 o-pee-chee button

 

opc 1977-78 button

 


Between 1970-71 and 1983-84, MacLeish played 846 regular season games in the NHL with the Flyers, Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. He scored 349 goals and assisted on 410 for 759 points.


Rick played an additional 114 games in the post season, scoring 54 and assisting on 53 for 107 points. In his final year in the NHL, 1983-84, he started the season with the Red Wings and was shipped to the Flyers for his swan song with the team he’d enjoyed so much success with.

MacLeish’s greatest offensive season came in 1972-73 when he scored 50 and assisted on 50 for 100 points over 78 regular season games with the Flyers. He was one just three to score 50 or more and one of four to total 100 points or more. He finished third in goals behind Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins and Mickey Redmond of the Detroit Red Wings. MacLeish finished fourth in the race for the Art Ross Trophy behind Esposito, teammate Bobby Clarke and Bobby Orr of the Bruins.

Of course, Rick has his name on the Stanley Cup twice as Philadelphia won the prize in 1973-74 and 1974-75. The first year, it was a win over the Boston Bruins in the finals and in the second year the victim was the Buffalo Sabres.

Rick MacLeish – The Rookie Card

The Rick MacLeish rookie card appears as number 207 in the 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee set and is worth 5 times that of a common card. He did not appear on a Topps card until 1973-74. His number 135 card from that set is valued at around twice that of a common.

Rick MacLeish Career Stats

Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM
1966-67 London Nationals OHA 2 0 0 0 0
1967-68 Peterborough Petes OHA 54 24 25 49 16
1968-69 Peterborough Petes OHA 54 50 42 92 29
1969-70 Peterborough Petes OHA 54 45 56 101 135
1970-71 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 26 2 4 6 19
1970-71 Oklahoma City Blazers CHL 46 13 15 28 93
1971-72 Richmond Robins AHL 42 24 11 35 33
1971-72 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 17 1 2 3 9
1972-73 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 78 50 50 100 69
1973-74 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 78 32 45 77 42
1974-75 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 80 38 41 79 50
1975-76 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 51 22 23 45 16
1976-77 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 79 49 48 97 42
1977-78 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 76 31 39 70 33
1978-79 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 71 26 32 58 47
1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 78 31 35 66 28
1980-81 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 78 38 36 74 25
1981-82 Hartford Whalers NHL 34 6 16 22 16
1981-82 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 40 13 12 25 28
1982-83 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 6 0 5 5 2
1983-84 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 29 8 14 22 4
1983-84 Detroit Red Wings NHL 25 2 8 10 4
NHL Totals 846 349 410 759 434

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