1975 O-Pee-Chee #283 Borje Salming PSA 8.5 NM-MT+ Toronto Maple Leafs HOF Card

1975 O-Pee-Chee #283 Borje Salming, Toronto Maple Leafs. Graded PSA 8.5 NM-MT+. Certification number 18498318. PSA 8.5 is a half grade, one step above an 8 and one step below a 9. The card is from the 1975-76 O-Pee-Chee hockey set. The photos show the exact card and holder you will receive, so please review them closely for condition and centering.

The back lists him on defense, born April 17, 1951 in Kiruna, Sweden, home Mississauga, Ontario, 6'1" and 185 pounds, signed following European play, three years pro. It notes he was selected as the most valuable player in Sweden for 1972-73 and starred for the Swedish National Team before signing with Toronto. His NHL totals through 1974-75 are listed as 136 games, 17 goals, 59 assists, 76 points and 82 penalty minutes.

Anders Borje Salming played for Kiruna AIF and Brynas IF in Sweden before Toronto scout Gerry McNamara, in Sweden to watch Inge Hammarstrom, spotted him in the same game. Salming signed with the Maple Leafs as a free agent in 1973 at age 22 and went undrafted into the NHL.

He put up 39 points as a rookie and became one of the defining defensemen of his era, reaching a career high of 78 points in 1976-77. He was named to six consecutive NHL All-Star Teams, played in the All-Star Game in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1982, and was a Norris Trophy finalist multiple times. He is credited as one of the first European players to establish himself in the NHL and with opening the door for the Swedish and Nordic players who followed. During the 1976 Canada Cup, Maple Leaf Gardens gave him one of the longest recorded standing ovations in the sport when Sweden took the ice.

Salming spent 16 seasons in Toronto and finished his NHL career with Detroit in 1989-90. He retired with 150 goals, 637 assists and 787 points in 1,148 games and holds the Maple Leafs franchise record for assists. In 1996 he became the first Swedish-trained player inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and he was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players. Toronto honoured his number 21 in 2006 and retired it in 2016. Salming died November 24, 2022 at age 71.

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