Barry Gibbs

Barry Gibbs is the reason this website exists.

When I was 5 years old, my father took me to the local landfill to drop off some tree branches and grass clippings. While he unloaded the debris, I was awestruck with this small piece of cardboard I found in the dirt.

It was a Barry Gibbs hockey card. O-Pee-Chee card number 304 of the 1979-80 hockey card set, pictured to the right.

Before that I don't recall having any hockey memories. But from that moment on I was enthralled by the game, and the players who made it great. I picked up the card and read the teasing of information about him on the back. I had to know more.

Realizing that this was card #304, I concluded there must have been at least 303 other cards out there. I was somehow able to gather a bunch of them, though not all. I got sick on the bubble gum trying too! But I was hooked on hockey - and learning about the players that captured my imagination on these small pieces of cardboard.

Ever since, I've been trying to learn as much as I can about hockey players, most of whom I've never seen play. I've read books and listened to interviews and tv shows. I digested anything I could. And it all started with that trip to the dump!.

This website is my way of sharing what I learn with the world. It is not just a hobby, but a passion - a labor of love.

By the way, Gibbs was a hard hitting, unheralded defenseman who played 800 games with Boston, Minnesota, Atlanta, St. Louis and Los Angeles, mostly in the 1970s.