Paul Andrea has been featured before, played 5 NHL seasons and another 2 in WHA, managed to get a 1970-71 Sabres rookie card and that was it. Here's his 1969-70 CTNW.
Doug Barrie played his first 8 NHL games in Pittsburgh in 1968-69 and also made NHL stops in Buffalo and Los Angeles. Spent 5 seasons in the WHA as well, his 1971-72 rookie card was issued as a Sabre.
Bob Dillabough wore the blue and white Pens uniform for 61 games, scoring seven goals and 12 assists. After beginning the 1968-69 season in Pittsburgh he was shipped off to the Oakland Seals. That would be his final NHL destination, although he did remain in pro hockey for another four years. His 1969-70 OPC card features him in a Seals uniform.
Jean-Guy Lagace was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in November 1968 and played 17 games in the 1968-69 year, his first in the NHL. Four years and 3 NHL games later he returned to Pittsburgh for parts of 3 more seasons before being dealt to the Kansas City Scouts. His 1974-75 OPC rookie card was issued as a Scout.
Dick Mattiussi played 200 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Oakland/California Seals in the 60s and 70s. The Penguins acquired him as they mobilized for their inaugural NHL season and he saw action in 44 games over 2 seasons before being sent to Oakland. His 1969-70 OPC rookie card was issued as a Seal.
Noel Price was taken by the expansion Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1967 Draft after brief NHL stops in Toronto, New York, Detroit and Montreal. He played two full seasons with the Pens before spending the 1970-71 season with the Los Angeles Kings followed by a 4 year stint with the Atlanta Flames. He didn't make the 1969-70 hockey card sets.
Garry Swain also made his NHL debut as a Penguin in 1968-69, his career would be longer in games but shorter in seasons than Snell's. His 9 games in the year would be his only NHL stop 9 year pro career but he did add 3 WHA seasons with Hartford earning his a 1976-77 WHA rookie card.
Gene Ubriacco was a veteran of nine minor league seasons when the new franchise in Pittsburgh made him a regular during for the 1967-68 season. In 65 games he fired home 18 goals, good for third on the team, and 33 points. Despite his success, 49 games into his second year with the club, he was on the move, traded to the Oakland Seals in a six-player trade. His 1969-70 rookie card was issued as a Seal.
Now I'll shift to a smaller group of St. Louis Blues, a team that seems to be the least photographed of any expansion team.
Craig Cameron won the Allan Cup with Edmonton in 1966, but that didn't stand him in good stead when he tried out for the NHL. He played just one game with Detroit the following year and then was traded to St. Louis at the start of 1967-68. His time in St. Louis was divided into two. First, he played 1967-69 with the team. Then, he was traded to Pittsburgh, claimed by Los Angeles, claimed by Buffalo, and traded to the Blues in the space of a year in which he played entirely in the minors! After a second stint of a year he was claimed by Minnesota and then by the Islanders; where he spent 3 seasons, before going back to Minnesota for his last 2 NHL seasons. His 1972-73 OPC and Topps rookie cards show him as an Islander.
Norm Dennis played 12 games for the Blues over 4seasons, starting in 1968-69. He was chiefly used on the CHL's Kansas City Blues. Dennis' best year in KC was 1970-71 when he scored 68 points and was named to the league's first all-star team. After toiling in the CHL, WHL, and AHL, the talented pivot played three years of senior hockey with the Trail Smoke Eaters before retiring in 1978. He would never get a hockey card.
Terry Gray played a utility role on four different NHL clubs in the 60s and 70s. He scored eight goals and was a useful checker as an NHL rookie with the Boston Bruins in 1961-62. Gray joined the Montreal Canadiens prior to the 1963-64 but played only four games for his new club. He was an AHL regular for four seasons before he was given a new lease on life as an Expansion Draft selection of the LA Kings. He scored 12 goals for the first year club then joined the St. Louis Blues in a trade. Over the next three years he received the occasional recall to the NHL. He would get cards issued as a Bruin and a King.
Ron Schock was first called up to the NHL for 5 games with the Boston Bruins during the 1963-64 season. He spent the next two and a half seasons with the Bruins before being claimed by the St. Louis Blues in the NHL's Expansion Draft in 1967. In 1969 he was traded to the Penguins where he spent 8 seasons. Schock was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for the 1977-78 campaign, his last in the NHL. He went on to play in the AHL for two more seasons until hanging up his skates for good. His 1969-70 Card shows him as a Penguin.
Dean Prentice has been characterized as the most underrated forward of his era. He spent his first 11 NHL seasons on Broadway scoring 20 or more goals on 4 occasions with a high of 32 in 1959-60. That was followed by 4 seasons in both Boston and Detroit before being claimed by the Penguins in the 1969 Intra League Draft. After 2 years as a Pen he moved to Minnesota for the last 3 years of his NHL career retiring with 10 seasons of 20+ goals. He played the 1968-69 season as a Red Wing but his 1969-70 card was issued as a Penguin.
You can purchase these cards, or any of my Missing Link creations, for $10 each postpaid, or $7.95 each for 3 or more. Email me at: [email protected], volume discounts available on larger orders.