1979-80 O Pee-Chee

1979-80 O Pee-Chee

In many ways, 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Hockey represents a changing of the guard in the NHL. While it contains the 396 cards its predecessors had, it departed from the standard white-bordered design that appeared on recent sets.

The classic OPC set is best known for having the Wayne Gretzky rookie card, but is also the set that marked the final appearance of many of hockey's legends. Some of these players were active all the way back to the 1950s. Also, four new teams were added to the league after the collapse of the rival World Hockey Association (WHA).

In terms of the 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Hockey design, player photos are either posed or game-action shots surrounded by a blue border. A team logo appears in the bottom right, which is surrounded by a solid-colored banner that runs up the right side and opens up above the photo to include the team name. The player's name and position appear above the team name.