Allan Stanley 1961-62 Parkhurst #16

The 1961-62 Parkhurst number 16 hockey card features Allan Stanley, defenseman for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The card shows him wearing the 'A' for the Maple Leafs. Previously in his career, Stanley wore the 'C' for the New York Rangers.

1961-62 was the third of four years that Parkhurst used the identical image of Allan for the front of his card. In other words, if you look at his hockey cards from 1959-60, 1960-61 and 1962-63, Stanley is frozen in time, stuck in the same position skating across the ice.

The back of that 1961-62 Parkhurst card shows his stats from the previous season. In 1960-61, Stanley scored nine and assisted on 25 for 34 points over 68 regular season games. In the playoffs, he added three assists over five games. In 1961-62, his numbers were nearly identical while playing eight less games. Allan scored nine and assisted on 26.

Allan Stanley – NHL Career

After toiling in the minors from 1943-44 and through part of 1948-49, Stanley got his break with the New York Rangers. Between 1948-49 and 1968-69, Allan played 1,244 regular season games in the National Hockey League with the Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers. Over that time, he scored 100 and assisted on 333 for 433 points. While sitting a very modest 792 penalty minutes for a defenseman.

In his first full season in the NHL, 1949-50, Stanley helped the New York Rangers to a visit to the Stanley Cup finals. The Rangers finished fourth in the six team league during the regular season, three points below .500. Yet, New York reached the finals against the Detroit Red Wings.

 

The Rangers held a 3-2 lead in the series but ultimately fell in seven games to Detroit. It was a tight series with games four, five and seven being decided in overtime. The final game didn't have an outcome until the fifth period.

Allan went on to be captain of the Rangers for the 1951-52 and 1952-53 seasons. However, things turned sour and in 1953-54, he was sent down to the Vancouver Canucks of the WHL. He did help the Canucks to the finals before they were defeated by the Calgary Stampeders in six games, depsite outscoring their opponents 18-17.

In November, 1954, Stanley was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks with Rich Lamoureux and Nick Mickoski for Pete Conacher and Bill Gadsby. Two years later, he was bought by the Bruins from Chicago in October of 1956. His time in Boston was limited, as well, traded to the Maple Leafs in October, 1958 for Jim Morrison.

His career was resurrected with Toronto. Stanley was a Second Team All-Star blue liner in 1959-60, 1960-61 and 1965-66. He helped the Maple Leafs to Stanley Cup championships in 1961-62, 1962-63, 1963-64 and 1966-67.

In 1981, Allan Stanley was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, along with his Boston teammate John Bucyk and his Toronto teammate Frank Mahovlich. Stanley remains among the top 100 for most career games played in the National Hockey League.