The Patrick Roy Rookie Card and Other Vintage Cards
Patrick Roy Rookie Cards
The 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee Patrick Roy #53 is the card most collectors consider the Patrick Roy rookie card. However, there were several other great cards made during that year and even one from the year before. Because of the number of sets made during this era, there should be something for every collector no matter the budget. In this article I’ll walk through all of the Patrick Roy rookie and key early vintage cards.
1986-87 O-Pee-Chee Patrick Roy #53
The 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee Patrick Roy card #53 is one of the most sought-after and valuable hockey cards made during the 1980s.
His rookie is significant because he is one of the best goalies in NFL history. Roy had great success in his career as a member of the Montreal Canadiens and the Colorado Avalanche.
In addition to being an incredible talent, he might also be the most enigmatic goalie in NHL history. Once, after a particularly bad game where Roy was put repeatedly put in bad situations, he quit the Canadiens team midgame which led to him becoming a member of the Colorado Avalanche via one of the most lopsided trades in NHL history. Another time he came out of position, skated to center ice, and preceded to deke Wayne Gretzky. Other quirks included talking to the net posts and always stepping over the red and blue lines on the ice to keep his skates from touching them.
Patrick Roy was the 51st overall pick in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. During his career, he won four Stanly Cups and played in 11 NHL All-Star games. He was an excellent regular-season player, but also excelled in the playoffs. He ended his career holding the record for most career playoff games and most career playoff wins as a goalie. His number #33 was retired by the Avalanche in 2003 and by the Canadiens in 2008. Any rookie card for a Hall of Fame player draws interest from collectors, but some additional factors make the Patrick Roy rookie even more valuable.
Other Factors:
- Greatest Goalie – Patrick Roy is considered by many hockey historians to be the greatest goalie in NHL history. During his career with Montreal and Denver, he won William M. Jennings Trophies for allowing the fewest goals five times and twice led the NHL in shutouts.
- Playoff Performance – Players are often judged by how they played when the stakes were the highest. Patrick Roy was the rock for the Canadiens and Avalanche during the 1986, 1993 and 2001 Stanley Cup runs. In each of those three runs, he won the Conn Smythe Trophies for being the playoff’s most valuable player. Roy retired as the record holder for most career playoff games and most playoff wins as a goalie.
- Revolutionized His Position – Patrick Roy revolutionized the position of goaltender in the NHL when he popularized the “butterfly” style. This technique allowed Roy to cover the lower part of the net by spreading out his leg pads. Goalies before would typically stand in the net. Since the butterfly style became commonplace the NHL has seen a significant decrease in goals scored.
1986-87 O-Pee-Chee Hockey Set Details
The 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee Hockey set was made up of 264 cards. This run of cards featured a in-action photo of the player on the front with a colored border and the team logo in the bottom right. The player’s name, position, and number appeared at the bottom of the card. Importantly the card’s color for the borders and texts were team colors, making them more eye-catching with the logo and jerseys. There are additionally two checklist cards in the set. Some key cards in the set were Wendel Clark, Russ Cortnall, Ray Ferraro, Craig MacTavish, and John Vanbiesbrouck (#9).
- Year: 1986-87
- Manufacturer: O-Pee-Chee
- Number of Cards: 264
- Card size: 2 ½” x 3 ½” (standard size)
- Subsets
- League Leaders (#257-264)
1986-87 O-Pee-Chee Patrick Roy Rookie Card #53 Details
- Card no: #289
- Name on Card: Patrick Roy
- Height: 6’0”
- Weight: 165
- Shoots: Left
- Born: 10-5-65, Quebec, Quebec, Canada
- Home: Quebec, Quebec
- Last Amateur Club: Granby Bisons (1984-85)
- Acquired: 3rd Round Choice (51st overall) 1984 Draft
Front of the card
Design: The 1986-87 Patrick Roy O-Pee-Chee #53 Rookie Card features an incredible in-action photo of Patrick Roy wearing his classic brown JOFA leg pads with a brown glove and black blocker. He also is using his Sher-Wood goalie stick. His helmet is plain white as the photo was taken his rookie season before he had a custom-painted one. The O-Pee-Chee logo is an oval above Roy’s right shoulder in the picture. The picture of Roy is almost entirely bordered with a red outline on the bottom and the right side of the card has a blue border as well. His name, position, and team are in white lettering. The Canadiens logo is in the bottom right corner of the card.
Shop for a 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee Patrick Roy Rookie card #53 on eBay (affiliate link)
Back of the card
Design: The back of the card has a more modern design. Roy’s name is across the top of the back of the card with the #53 underneath and just to the left of the “P” in Patrick. Below that is his height, weight, and shooting orientation. It then has his bio details such as hometown, last amateur team, and when he was drafted. Below that, inside a blue rectangle, are his stats and a paragraph describing his highlights in both English and French. The highlights cover his first NHL years and his time in Granby. The bottom of the card has the NHL, NHLPA, and O-Pee-Chee logos.
Awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the 1986 Stanley Cup Finals. Led AHL with 10 wins at Sherbrooke in 1985 Playoffs. Patrick saw 8856 minutes of action in 3 seasons at Granby.
1986-87 O-Pee-Chee Patrick Roy Rookie card #53
Patrick Roy 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee (#53) Rookie Card Value
The 1986-87 Patrick Roy rookie card is one of the most valuable hockey cards of the 1980s. The chart below was pulled from the popular card grading site PSA on 11/08/2021. It shows prices for the Patrick Roy rookie card in various conditions.
Keep in mind that prices fluctuate. While PSA is a great way to find out the value of a card, we recommend going to eBay to see what cards are currently selling for on the world’s most popular auction site. Click here to view current auctions for the 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee Patrick Roy Rookie card #53.
Other Relevant Patrick Roy Cards
Aside from the 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee card mentioned above, Roy has several other cards that can be considered rookies. This includes the U.S. version of his O-Pee-Chee rookie, stickers, oddball issues, and more.
1986-87 Topps Patrick Roy #53
The 1986-87 Topps Patrick Roy #53 is the U.S. version of the O-Pee-Chee rookie card featured above. It’s nearly identical on the front with the only difference being the Topps logo instead of the O-Pee-Chee logo. The back is also similar, but it’s printed on a darker cardstock and doesn’t include any of the French text. The Topps version is valuable in high-grade condition, but not as valuable as the O-Pee-Chee version.
Shop for a 1986-87 Topps Patrick Roy on eBay (affiliate link)
1985-86 Montreal Canadiens Postcards
This is the first actual Patrick Roy card. It’s from a team set of 30 Montreal Canadiens postcards. The photo on the front is a cool picture of a young Roy posing in his hockey gear minus the helmet. There is a facsimile autograph in the lower right corner of the postcard. These are called postcards, but the back of it doesn’t allow room for an address and message like a usable postcard would. These are rare, but are very cool collectibles if you can find one.
Shop for a 1985-86 Montreal Canadiens Patrick Roy on eBay (affiliate link)
1986-87 O-Pee-Chee Sticker Patrick Roy #19
It was very common for Topps and O-Pee-Chee to issue sticker sets in the 1980s. Each set was accompanied by a sticker album (purchased separately) that had a spot for each sticker. Even though a lot of the stickers were used, these sets were mass-produced and it’s not hard to find them with the backing. This is Patrick Roy’s “regular” sticker from the set, but there are also two special foil stickers in the set that I’ll cover next.
Shop for a 1986-87 Topps Patrick Roy Sticker on eBay (affiliate link)
1986-87 O-Pee-Chee Foil MVP Sticker Patrick Roy #5
This foil Patrick Roy sticker from the 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee sticker set honors Roy for winning the Conn Smythe trophy in the 1985-86 season. The Conn Smythe trophy is awarded to the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup finals, an honor Roy earned three times throughout his career.
Shop for a 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee Sticker Patrick Roy on eBay (affiliate link)
1986-87 O-Pee-Chee Foil All-Star Sticker Jari Kurri #118 / Patrick Roy #132
Another foil Patrick Roy sticker from the 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee sticker set is the #132 All-Star sticker. The All-Star stickers in this set are smaller and come in pairs. The left side of this has the Jari Kurri #118 sticker. Kurri, like Roy, has been inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame. Each sticker peels off of the backing separately and they do not go next to each other in the album.
Shop for the 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee Sticker Patrick Roy on eBay(affiliate link)
1986-87 Kraft Drawings Patrick Roy
This card is from a 1986-87 81-card set of players from the NHL’s Canadian teams. The front of the card has charcoal illustrations by Carlton McDiarmid and Jerry Hersh. There are two versions of this card, a white-back version with black ink that came inside the Kraft boxes and a textured back version with blue ink that had to be cut from the box.
Shop for the 1986-87 Kraft Drawings Patrick Roy on eBay (affiliate link)
Patrick Roy’s Legacy
Roy is one of the most decorated goalies in NHL history and has been credited with popularizing the “butterfly” goalie technique. Throughout his 17-year NHL career, he was a fixture in All-Star games and the post-season. He was regularly at or near the top of the league in saves, shutouts, and other goalie statistics. By the time his career was complete he was a four-time Stanley Cup champion, 11-time All-Star, and had racked up numerous trophies. Roy was also known to be a character who exhibited superstitious tendencies and unpredictable behavior. Roy’s career didn’t end when he retired from playing. He went on to coach the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and QMJHL’s Quebec Ramparts. Here are just some of Patrick Roy’s accomplishments:
- 1985 Calder Cup
- 4 time Stanley Cup Champion (1986, 1993, 1996, 2001)
- 11 time NHL All-Star
- 2 time NHL Wins leader (1989-90, 1996-97)
- 3 time NHL Shutouts leader (1991-92, 1993-94, 2001-02)
- 4 time NHL Save Percentage leader (1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1991-93)
- 3 time NHL Goals Against Average leader (1988-89, 1991-92, 2001-02)
- 3 Conn Smythe Trophies
- 5 William M. Jennings Trophies
- 3 Vezina Trophies
- #33 retired by Colorado Avalanche in 2003
- #33 retired by Montreal Canadiens in 2008
- 2006 NHL Hall of Fame induction
Get Your Patrick Roy Rookie
Do you want to own a 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee Patrick Roy rookie (#53)? If so, we recommend starting your search on eBay – the world’s #1 card trading place. Even if you’re not planning to buy one just yet, it’s fun to look at all the great cards currently for sale.
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All About Patrick Roy Rookies Infographic
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