1988 USA Hockey No.1

This is one of six different USA Hockey pins issued for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

2010 Sea-to-Sky Hockey Series

Above are the hockey player pins from the Vancouver 2010 Sea-to-Sky pin series (there is also a referee pin in this series, which is not pictured here).

2010 Silhouettes (Green & Goalie)

Having blogged about the blue 2010 Silhouette series pin yesterday, I figured I should close the loop and provide pictures and information about the other two pins from the series today.

2010 Vancouver Silhouette (Blue)

This pin is from the "Silhouette" series of sports pins produced for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada. It is one of three hockey pins from the series.

2006 IPC Norway News

This IPC Norway News hockey pin was made for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. It only took me until December 2008 to get one of my own. In my years of Olympic pin collecting I have learned that there are two types of pins that, generally speaking, are more difficult than others to obtain. The first most difficult category are the NOC or Olympic team pins that the athletes themselves are given to trade at the Games. In second place, at least as far as I am concerned, are media pins (and for me, media hockey pins). There is definitely a sub-set of Olympic pin collectors out there that focus on media pins produced for the Olympic Games. Because I collect any Olympic pin that in some way, to me, relates to hockey, my collection tends to stray across categorical boundaries into the traditional NOC, media, sponsor, government agency, generic and unofficial categories.

1992 Soviet Union Participating Nations Set

You can usually find dozens of Soviet Union hockey pins on eBay at any given time. Generally, Soviet Union commemorative Olympic hockey pins date from 1956 until 1994. Frankly, I think that sometimes these pins are overlooked by collectors because there are not cloisonnes. The above pictured set is a particularly nice collection of pins commemorating those nations that participated in the 1992 Olympic hockey tournament in Albertville, France. This is also an interesting set because 1992 was the first year that the "Soviet Union" did not participate in the Olympic games--they appeared at Albertville for the first time as the "Unified Team". Therefore, technically, this may not be considered a "Soviet Union" set of pins.

Olympic Pin Friends (Big Ed)

As I have been writing blog entries over the past few weeks, and considering which pin(s) to highlight on a daily basis, I've had many pleasant flashbacks to prior occasions when I have met different people or had certain experiences in relation to pin trading. One such person, and one of my all time favorites, is Big Ed. If you have been involved in pin trading/collecting for any reasonable period of time, you probably know Big Ed. I first met him in Salt Lake City during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games (photo above is of Big Ed behind the counter at his pin trading both in the downtown Crossroads Mall in Salt Lake City). Big Ed is from Atlanta, and his personality is one of classic Southern hospitality. I have always found him to be a fair pin trader and a classy guy. Thus, I was really excited to again cross paths with Big Ed while at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. We were able to share a few prior pin trading memories and converse about the 2010 Olympic pins that we were both seeking. During our conversation, and since that time, I was reminded of the life-long friendships that can be made because of a bunch of little metal pins.

2006 Chinese Taipei . . . Hockey?

This pin is truly a mystery. The first time I saw the pin was during the 2006 Torino, Italy Winter Olympics. Produced for Chinese Taipei, the pin depicts the classic red and blue five-arched shape in the center surrounding three pictograms--a figure skater, a hockey player and, maybe, a skeleton sledding athlete. The Chinese men's hockey team has never competed in the Olympic Winter Games, while the Chinese women's hockey team has competed in 1998 (Nagano, finishing 4th), 2002 (Salt Lake City, finishing 7th) and 2010 (Vancouver, finishing 7th). Thus, China did not even have a hockey team representative in the 2006 Winter Games. Oh well, because the pin is so curious I keep it in my Olympic hockey collection anyway.

2002 & 2010 Latvian Olympic Hockey

Latvia first claimed its independence from Russia and became a country on November 18, 1918, following World War I. This small Baltic country is one of the oldest competitors in the Olympic hockey tournament, having made its first appearance in 1936. Latvia was again occupied by the Soviets from 1944 until 1991, when Latvia again declared its independence. Since that time, Latvia has participated in the Olympic hockey tournament three times in 2002, 2006 and 2010.
Thus, judging from its recent participation, it would appear that the Latvians will be a routine competitor in the Olympic hockey tournament. In 2002, the Latvian Olympic hockey team brought two different dated NOC pins to the Salt Lake City Olympic Games, each depicting a goaltender silhouette and bearing the 2002 Olympic snowflake symbol.

In 2010, during the Vancouver Olympic Games, I was fortunate enough to see the Latvians compete against both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Though Latvia lost both of these games, I had a great time sitting in a sea of Latvian fans and cheering for the Baltic nation (and wearing my Latvian hockey shirt--my wife once spent time in Latvia while on an church mission and I have become a Latvian Olympic hockey supporter based on her love of the country).

The 2010 Latvian Olympic hockey team had one of my all-time favorite Olympic hockey pins. Set against the background of the Latvian flag, the dated pin depicts the Vancouver Inukshuk symbol with a hockey stick and the Olympic Rings.

The Latvian hockey team was also included in the 2010 Olympic hockey participating nations set, which I have previously written about on this blog (see April 22, 2011, Participating Nations Goaltender Mask Set).

2002 Canadian Paralympic Sledge Hockey

I obtained this pin in a trade during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. I cannot say for certain that the pin is an NOC produced item because it lacks any date and does not depict the Olympic rings. This maple leaf shaped pin is, nonetheless, a beautiful Canadian paralympic sledge hockey souvenir.