1984-85 Pro Hockey Season

The '84-85 season crescendoed to monumental season-ending showdown with Edmonton's hockey dynasty facing a leather-tough Philadelphia club in the championship series. The two clubs boasted the two best records in the league: Philly featured a stout defense and the league's award-winning goalie, while Edmonton's high-flying offense was triggered by its nearly-unstoppable MVP center, "The Great One," who hit the eye-popping 200-point plateau for the third time in four seasons (including a league-record 135 assists!). Philly won game one of the cup series in front of a rowdy home crowd, but Edmonton hammered out a 3-1 road win in game two and, with the series shifting to Canada, won three straight at home. They clinched the title and earned the champagne shower with an 8-3 thrashing of the visitors in game five.

But—maybe things will turn out differently on YOUR game table! Outside of Philly and Edmonton, there were a number of playoff-worthy clubs, any of whom could get hot and perhaps displace the real-life champs. The Adams division featured a very close three-team race between Montreal, Quebec and Buffalo, with four points separating first and third places. Chicago and St. Louis went neck-and-neck all season in the Norris division: St. Louis won fewer games, but had more points. Despite not winning their division races, both Quebec and Chicago fought their way to the championship semi-final, and put up spirited battles against the two eventual championship contenders. With HOCKEY BLAST's quick game time, you can easily conduct your OWN post-season, and see if one of these other clubs can get the breaks they need to get past one (or both) of the "Big Two!"

As is typically the case, the '84-85 season was marked by player arrivals and departures. Pittsburgh's "Super Mario" made the biggest rookie splash, scoring 100 points and winning the Rookie of the Year award. On the other side of "Father Time," decorated veterans Goring and Park—the last two players active from the 1960s—each played his final game in '85, albeit for different teams (Boston and Detroit) than the ones they built their careers with.

Outside of the big numbers put up by "The Great One" and "Super Mario," the '84-85 season saw its share of other amazing individual performances, which you can bring to life on your game table with HOCKEY BLAST! Edmonton's Kurri was right behind his team-mate Gretzky in goals scored, and gaudy numbers were put up by New York's Bossy, Quebec's Goulet and Detroit's Ogrodnick, to name a few! The year's top defenders will show their stuff, too, though—defensemen like Boston's Bourque and Washington's Langway will earn all-star accolades from you for their goal-depriving game action, and goalies like the Buffalo's Barasso and the Calgary's Lemin will be just as tough to score against in HOCKEY BLAST as they were in real-life. In fact, every player on every team—not just the stars—will re-create his actual hockey skills in this realistic tabletop recreation of the 1984-85 pro hockey season.

With the 1984-85 Pro Season cards for HOCKEY BLAST, you can re-create your favorite team's season, from opening night all the way to the playoffs! You can experience the highs and lows of the real-life pro season, the ups, the downs, and everything in between! Many fans complete single-team full-season play-throughs in a matter of only a few months! Or, conduct your OWN custom-designed tabletop hockey project, anything from a full-blown tournament to one-off "Game of the Week" match-ups! Whatever time availability you have for the hobby, HOCKEY BLAST can fill it with exciting, realistic hockey action!

The 1984-85 Pro Season cards for HOCKEY BLAST give you complete say-so over all 21 pro teams, over 600 players individually rated. Plus you get "traded player" cards to complete rosters for the "playoff push" (along with a trade guide to help you make the official roster moves). You also get an Instant Results chart that generates game winners with a single dice roll, perfect for quick-playing the rest of the league schedule to create context for a single-team season replay. The printed card set comes micro-perfed for quick separation so you can get right to the game, and sells for $29 postage-paid. The PDF edition is offer for $19 delivered to your e-mail in-box so you can print, trim and play the same day! Both versions are presented in team colors.