Cardboard Connection Radio had a segment last week on this card, and I thought it was a story worth sharing with those of you who didn't listen to the show.
In the 1974 NHL draft, the Buffalo Sabres' general manager was upset with the draft process and decided to make a fake pick in the 11th round. Punch Imlach, the Sabres GM at the time, picked up a Buffalo phone book, found a Japanese name, and announced that the Sabres were drafting Taro Tsujimoto, the center from the Tokyo Katanas (also a fictitious team...Sabres-Katanas...get it?). To this day, the fans at Buffalo still chant "We want Taro!" at the games.
That's a great story that stands on its own, but 36 years later Panini decides to make Tsujimoto's first rookie card. No, I'm not kidding. The 2010-11 Score Rookies & Traded set includes a short print of the legend himself. Panini even cleared the card with the NHL and the PA.
The Draft Pick That Wasn't
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