Top 3 Rookie Cards of the 1954-55 Topps NHL Set
1954-55 marked the first ever NHL hockey card series from Topps. Three significant, albeit working class, rookie cards came out of that set. Combined, the three played 2,915 regular season games in the National Hockey League. Two had played junior hockey together with the Barrie Flyers of the OHA. The same two would start their NHL careers with the Boston Bruins. One would be awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL rookie of the year while two of the three would go on to win the Lady Byng Trophy once in their careers.
Doug Mohns
The number 18 card in the 1954-55 Topps set is the rookie card of Doug Mohns. Mohns played his rookie year with the Bruins in 1953-54 after playing junior for the Barrie Flyers. The defenseman was an immediate success with 27 points while playing all of Boston’s 70 regular season games.
Doug played in the National Hockey League from 1953-54 to 1974-75 with the Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota North Stars, Atlanta Flames and Washington Capitals. He played 1,390 regular season games. During the 2013-14 season, Teemu Selanne will pass Mohns on the list of players with the most games played, pushing Doug to the 36th position.
As a pre-Bobby Orr era defenseman, Doug’s numbers are very good. He scored 248 goals and assisted on 462 for 710 points. Over 94 playoff games, he added 50 points. However, despite the high number of playoffs games, Mohns was never a Stanley Cup champion. Some say that the missing championship was the one thing keeping Doug from being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. It may be the one thing in the vintage hockey cards world that keeps the value of his rookie card at a still respectable $125, book value.
Camille Henry
Camille ‘The Eel’ started his NHL career off with a bang in 1953-54. He scored 24 goals and totalled 39 points over 66 games with the New York Rangers to earn the Calder Memorial Trophy. The Camille Henry rookie card appears as number 32 in the 1954-55 Topps set and has a book value of around $80.
Despite his rookie success, Henry found himself playing just 21 games in 1954-55 before being sent down to the American Hockey League to play for the Quebec Aces. Camille then played all of 1955-56 with the Providence Reds in the AHL before making his way back up to the Rangers midway through the next season.
Henry played in the NHL from 1953-54 to 1969-70 with the Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues. He was teammates with Doug Mohns in Chicago for the last half of the 1964-65 season. Like Mohns, Camille never won a Stanley Cup championship. However, he was awarded the Lady Byng Trophy as the league’s most gentlemanly player in 1957-58.
Over his career, Camille played 727 regular season games. He scored 279 goals and assisted on 249 for 528 points. In the Stanley Cup playoffs, Henry appeared in 47 games and added 18 points.
Don McKenney
Despite number 35 in the 1954-55 Topps set being the rookie card of Don McKenney, he played the full 1953-54 season in the AHL with the Hershey Bears. Another product of the Barrie Flyers, McKenney did become a regular with the Bruins in 1954-55. He played in the NHL until the end of the 1967-68 season with the Bruins, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues.
Don played in 798 regular season NHL games, scoring 237 goals and assisting on 345 for 582 points. He played 58 more games in the Stanley Cup playoffs, adding 47 points. McKenney was a member of the Maple Leafs in 1963-64 with Toronto winning their third consecutive Stanley Cup championship.
Like Camille Henry, McKenney was a one time winner of the Lady Byng Trophy, taking home the hardware in 1959-60 as a member of the Bruins. His rookie card is valued the same as Henry’s, as well.
1954-55 Topps
The 1954-55 Topps set was the first NHL collection for the long-time baseball card producer. A common card from that set is valued at $40. There are 60 hockey cards in the collection with the book value for a complete set at $4,500. The most valuable card belongs to Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings.