I was fake-cleaning the garage the other day – in other words, shuffling through old boxes looking for cool stuff – when I came across a postcard from Jiri Peterka.
Jiri, who lived in the Czech Republic, was a steady trading partner of mine back in the early-90s. We had a great thing going. I’d send him NHL cards of every Czech player I could find, from Jaromir Jagr to Radek Hamr. And in return, he’d send me a potpourri of amazing, oddball stuff. Old postcard sets of the Czechoslovakian and Soviet national teams. Souvenirs from World Championships. Russian team pin sets. I think he even sent me a menu from Jagr’s bar.