A Pack of NNOs: 1991-92 Procards Flint Bulldogs

Procards made several minor league sets and team sets for hockey between 1988 and 1991. They featured teams from the AHL and IHL, and they were sold as team sets in the individual cities of the respective clubs, or you could order the master set from the company. 

Some of the more famous players to make their inaugural cardboard appearance via Procards include Ed Belfour, Mark Recchi, Mike Richter and Dominic Hasek. Of course there were far more minor league journeymen adorning these sets than future NHL stars.

The company's last issue from 1991-92 featured 620 cards from the AHL and IHL, but also included one team from the Colonial Hockey League (CoHL): the Flint Bulldogs.

  
The Bulldogs illustrate one of the neat/frustrating aspects of collecting these minor league sets. Oftentimes, there were variations in the cards depending on where you bought them. For example, the 23-card Flint team is numbered #429 through #451 in the standard 620-card set. But there are some "rink-only extras" to be hunted down.

Twelve unnumbered (NNO) cards--probably available in team sets only sold at the Bulldogs home rink--included 8 players, 3 staff members and the mascot:

• Steve McKinley
• Greg Simeone
• Ron High
• Jack Daly
• Glen Engevik
• Roger Beedon
• Quintin Brickley
• John Heasty
• Boris Bulldog (Mascot)
• Sylvie Neveu (Assistant GM)
• Matt Gallagher (Scouting)
• Bob Davies (Trainer)

So the complete set of Bulldogs totals out at a whopping 35 cards! There are several other little-known unnumbered cards in many of Procards' issues, but this is by far the largest cache of NNOs.

None of the eight additional players suited up for many games with the Bulldogs in the 1991-92 season. And John Heasty hadn't played for two years prior to joining Flint that year!