The Collection Challenge

Growing up a Canadian kid in the 1990s I had two passions video games and hockey. If I wasn't blowing dust out of cartridges trying to get sonic the hedgehog to play, I was in front of the house with my hockey stick. Living out my fantasy as Yzerman or Gilmour in a game 7 over-time match. On the weekends I lived at the local arena. Saturday morning practices and Sunday morning games at the crack of dawn. So no surprise ice hockey video games where a big part of my childhood. I have written a blog post about my love affair with the genre here. So why am I talking about it again? What's with the blog title? Well it combines that love with another hobby of mine, collecting.

How many ice hockey games can I collect in 2026? Can I fill the large gaps in my current collection? That will be my quest this year. There will be a couple of rules to this challenge to keep things interesting.

1. All titles from all systems are in play. This includes 2K series as well as random one offs like Mutant League Hockey.

2. They must be physical copies of the game. Digital downloads or ROMs do not qualify.

3. Using eBay is forbidden. They must be purchased from game shops, thrift stores, flea markets etc.

4. My current catalogue counts toward the tally.

That is the challenge to myself and when this crazy cold weather goes away the first thing i am doing is going shopping.

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