Every year, the case for getting the extra players with the regular Strat-O-Matic Hockey card set seems to get stronger.

 

            The massive 207-card set of extras for 2008-09 is the equivalent of 11.5 regularly carded teams. That’s only nine cards fewer than this year’s pair of six-team classic seasons (1960-61 and 1971-72) combined.

 

            What makes the hockey extras different from the extra players in all of Strat-O-Matic’s other games is how essential they are to filling a roster. The 16 skaters in the regular set are two short of the 18 teams are allowed to dress for each game. And the National Hockey League’s late trading deadline permits stars to change teams in the last month. That means good teams suddenly have solid, 70-game players no longer in their top 16.

 

            This year, for instance:

      81-game Buffalo center Dominic Moore is one of 101 players in the extra set who played at least 40 games. Some 55 played at least 50 and seven, including Moore, played at least 70

 

      21-goal-scoring wing Chuck Kobasew of Boston leads 16 extra players who scored double-figure goals.

 

      Moore (13 goals, 32 assists for 45 points) and St. Louis forward Andy McDonald (15 goals, 29 assists for 44 points in 46 games) lead 51 extra players who had double-figure assists.

 

      Among the nine extra goalies are Buffalo’s Michael Tellqvist (2.75 GAA, 91.2 save percentage) and Toronto’s Curtis Joseph, each with 21 games played.

 

            Obviously, this set is essential for anyone wanting to conduct a season replay for any team. That’s especially true for Columbus, Dallas, Montreal and Tampa Bay – each with nine extra skaters (Columbus and Tampa each have an extra goalie, too). The Montreal extras played a combined 386 games. Columbus extras suited up 357 times and Dallas’ 365.

 

            Every team has at least five extra players.