The long and cold Canadian winters of our youth meant one thing….hockey. Constants in most of our lives were 6 am practices, playing on the pond and watching our NHL heroes skate on TV. During this special time, we were introduced to our hockey card hobbies. Whether it was Howe, Orr, Gretzky or Sakic….O Pee Chee, Upper Deck, Score or Parkhurst everyone remembers the sets and players where they developed their passion for collecting hockey cards.

The rebirth of the NHL in 2005/2006 also brings about a renaissance in hockey card collecting. With the one-two punch of Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin and an army of sets featuring cards we couldn't even dream of as kids, this year is the most exciting year for collectors in over a decade….if not ever. This series of articles will breakdown many of 05/06's most talked about hockey card sets.

2005/2006 Upper Deck Artifacts brought the NHL back with a bang. As the first High End set of the season released by Upper Deck (making its debut back in October 05), Upper Deck Artifacts will impress Memorabilia collectors. One rare autograph and three memorabilia cards can be found in every 10 pack box. Top memorabilia sets include Treasured Swatches and Patches, Frozen Artifacts and Remarkable Artifacts Jersey Tags.

As with other 05/06 Upper Deck Hockey releases, collectors can look forward to finding Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin and 40 plus other rookies. However, Artifacts rookies #200-242 are redemptions (#'d to 750). The rookie redemption cards do not list the rookie's name because they were printed before the start of the 2005-06 season. Crosby and Ovechkin's rookie cards both book for over $250

Other subsets outside of the 100 card base set feature legends/All Stars (#'d to 899). Wayne Gretzky (in an Oilers' uniform) is featured as the highlight star on the box. 05/06 Artifacts is a nice set to welcome back the NHL.

Basic Info: 100 card base set plus 100 card subset featuring legends/Allstars (#'d to 899) and Rookie Redemptions (#'d to 750)
Parallels: Blue (#'d to 100), Red (#'d to 50), Green (#'d 25), Gold Spectrum (1/1), Regular Player Gold Autograph (1/1), Legends/All Stars Gold Autograph (1/1)
Autographs: 100 Auto-Facts (#'d to 100), 100 Auto-Facts Silver (#'d to 50), 100 Auto-Facts Pewter (#'d to 10), 100 Auto-Facts Blue (1/1)
Memorabilia: Treasured Swatches, Treasured Patches, Frozen Artifacts, Enshrined Frozen Artifacts, Enshrined Treasured Swatches, Enshrined Treasured Patches, Remarkable Artifacts Jersey Tags
-every 10 card pack box has 2 memorabilia cards numbered 275 or lower, one mem card numbered 65 or lower, one autography numbered 100 or less
-every box yields 2 regular card parallels and 4 legends/all stars subset cards, along with rookie redemption