As a young hockey fan growing up in Canada in the 70's, you were usually either a Leafs fan or a Canadiens fan. Kids would argue about who was better, Darryl Sittler or Guy Lafleur. I was a Bruins/Bobby Orr fan, and Montreal was my favourite team not to like, so I couldn't go for anything Habs. I always chose Sittler. In 1976, I was nine, and totally immersed in hockey. I became hooked on hockey during the 1972 Summit Series, and I could not wait for the upcoming Canada Cup tournament. This was also the winter that Darryl Sittler became a legend to every young Canadian hockey kid, whether you were a Leafs fan or a Habs fan. In February he set an unbelievable scoring record of 10 points in a single game. Then in April he scored 5 goals in a single playoff game. But it was in September when he truly became a household name and a true Canadian Icon. The 1976 Canada Cup tournament was the world's first best-on-best multi-nation event that included professional players. Sittler scored the Canada Cup Championship game winning goal in overtime for Canada that beat Czechoslovakia, that set off a wild celebration in the Montreal Forum and all across the country. When we played street or pond hockey we would claim what NHL star we wanted to play like, and from then on, every kid wanted to be Darryl Sittler, including myself, and probably most adults too. Darryl Sittler was The Captain of the Maple Leafs and of The Cathedral of Hockey's Maple Leaf Gardens. His rookie card is iconic to collectors, as well it should be, and I remember when he became an icon. It was a joy to paint and to remember the days when he was the Canadian Hockey King, and to remember being nine again, with my buddies, playing pond hockey with frost bite on my toes, scoring the neighbourhood Championship game winning goal in overtime, and raising my arms up over my head with joy, just like Darryl Sittler did.