Parkhurst Products Parkhurst hockey cards were manufactured by Parkhurst Products , a Canadian manufacturer of sports card s . Their cards were primarily for ice hockey but also featured Canadian wrestlers . Based in Toronto , Ontario , Parkhurst produced its first hockey cards in 1951 and continued for over a decade as the primary cardmaker for that sport before ceding the market to Topps . Although Parkhurst was a very popular brand in Canada , it only had the rights to produce cards of the Detroit Red Wings , Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs . In some years , it only had the rights to produce cards featuring players from Montreal and Toronto and the sets for any given year could consist of fewer than 70 cards . Return in 1991 . After disappearing in the 1960s , the Parkhurst hockey card brand was resuscitated in 1991 by Dr . Brian H . Price and licensed to Pro Set . After the hockey card explosion of 1990 – 91 , Parkhurst cards were back in the marketplace . Pro Set promoted Parkhurst as a premium brand of cards . Series I and Series II were available in both English and French and featured the rookie card s of players such as Dominik Hasek and John LeClair . The 1991 – 92 Update Set was the final release of the year and was the most valuable of all three sets . One of the key rookie cards of that set was of Bill Guerin . Of note , the cases of Parkhurst cards were sequentially numbered , and this was the first time hockey card cases were numbered . When Pro Set , Inc . entered Chapter Eleven bakruptcy protection prior to the 1992 – 93 NHL season , Price traveled weekly from Toronto to Dallas and became the unofficial hockey brand manager . The second year of Parkhurst ( 1992 – 93 ) was the last with Pro Set as the company went bankrupt and Price took his Parkhurst tradename and license to the Upper Deck Company , an agreement which began with the 1993 – 94 season . As part of the Upper Deck / Parkurst license agreement , during the 1993 – 94 hockey season , Price was allowed under the Upper Deck / NHL license to create and release three retrospective Parkhurst trading cards sets . The first set of cards was known unofficially as " The Missing Link " . These cards were produced to complement the fact that Parkhurst did not make cards in 1956 . All the cards in the set featured the Original Six teams . The cards featured stats from the 1955 – 56 season , and had a very retro feel to them , with a no - gloss finish and simple design . One of the most unusual cards in the set was a card featuring the likeness of Johnny Bower in a New York Rangers uniform , while other Parkhurst traditions were upheld , such as action cards . The popularity of this set led to two other retro - style sets , one commemorating the 1964 – 65 season ( in the " Tall Boy " format Topps used that year ) , released in 1995 , and a subsequent set issued in 1996 . This set " commemorated " the 1966 – 67 season , which signified the rookie season of Bobby Orr and the final Stanley Cup triumph of the Toronto Maple Leafs . Once again , all Original Six teams were featured in the set and each pack contained a " wheel " , akin to the Shirriff pieces issued around this time . There was one wheel issued per pack , which paralleled the shell cards ( player cards ) in the set , as well as 10 bonus wheels that paralleled the Beehive - inspired inserts of Orr and Gordie Howe . Aside from the Missing Link sets , three other series were issued by Price and Upper Deck ( two series in 1993 – 94 and one in 1994 – 95 ) in North America . One other set released in 1994 – 95 was the Special Edition set , originally distributed solely in European markets ( though a strong amount made the way across the Atlantic ) . It was a smaller set and could be distinguished from the standard Parkhurst cards of 1994 – 95 by its unique numbering with an SE prefix . This set was unique because it featured the first cards of players like Jarome Iginla and Jean - Sebastien Giguere . After two years , Upper Deck breached their Parkhurst license agreement in 1995 , thus the brand was no longer in Upper Deck ' s hands . With no place else to turn , Price created his own release , Parkhurst International , only available in the European markets . Some of the highlights from the 1995 – 96 Parkhurst set can be found in Series II , including the first card of Wayne Gretzky in a St . Louis Blues uniform . Although the controversy of this card was that Wayne Gretzky ' s face was superimposed over previous captain Shayne Corson ' s body , it was not correct . Wayne Gretzky was also featured on another card in the Series II set , but this time , it was on the back . Kevin Stevens was featured in Series II as a member of the Los Angeles Kings . On the back of the card is a picture of Kevin Stevens and Wayne Gretzky wearing the Los Angeles Kings ' third jersey . This is the only known card that features an image of Wayne Gretzky in this infamous Kings " playing card " jersey . Despite these unique Gretzky issues , the brand disappeared after 1995 – 96 , save for phone card and 24 - karat gold specialty issues . For the 50th anniversary of the initial set , the Parkhurst brand was relaunched by Dr Price ' s new venture In The Game Trading Cards . The set originally appeared as an insert in various 2000 – 01 products before being re - introduced a year later as a standalone set . Parkhurst was issued both in 01 – 02 and 02 – 03 before becoming a larger brand name in 03 – 04 , where it was broken up into multiple sets , including Parkhurst Rookie and Parkhurst Original Six , which was subdivided into six sets . Several collectors still debate the legitimacy of these cards being considered rookie cards , since they were team - specific . The only other set issued under the Parkhurst moniker was Parkhurst Retro ( in the 02 – 03 season ) , which utilized the 1951 – 52 design . The new incarnation lasted only a few years before the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout threw the trading card market into chaos . During this year , the NHLPA did not work with In The Game . ITG , rather than use the Parkhurst name , used alternate titles such as Franchises and Heroes and Prospects under a license from the NHL . Prior to the lockout , Ted Saskin of the NHLPA made a back room deal with Upper Deck making them exclusive licensee for NHLPA hockey trading cards . When the NHL resumed operation , the NHL got wind of the NHLPA ' s arrangement and agreed to give Upper Deck an exclusive arrangement as well . In 2005 , Upper Deck acquired the Parkhurst name and issued another Parkhurst set . This was a unique brand that was launched late in the 2005 – 06 season , featuring 700 cards and had a card of Alexander Ovechkin ' s goal , lying flat on his back ( card number 588 ) . Another unique card commemorated the first head - to - head meeting between Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby ( card number 600 ) . In all , there were four cards of Alexander Ovechkin ( card numbers 588 , 597 , 600 , and 700 ) , while there were six cards of Sidney Crosby ( card numbers 526 , 586 , 587 , 593 , 657 , and 694 ) . Not to be forgotten , this set also features Stanley Cup Hero Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes ( card number 614 ) . Parkhurst returned in the 2006 – 07 season , with a shift in focus to retired players . The set included a wide variety of autographs , from Hall of Famers such as Patrick Roy to cult favourites like Bobby Smith .