Chicago Man Wins Upper Deck’s ‘Where’s Sidney?’ Promotion

Yes, even hockey card collecting geeks can get chicks. Here's a little story on the couple who actually went through all the work to win the "Where's Sidney?" contest.

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As married men get older, sometimes their hobbies – whether it be golf, car restoration or weekly poker nights with the boys – take them away from valuable time spent with their wives.

But Matt Chin’s hobby of collecting sports trading cards has actually brought him closer to his avid hockey-fan wife Lisa, who has spent much of her free time over the last two years cataloguing the Chicago man’s 300,000-card collection.

What better way to repay the favor, thank her for sharing in his obsession? While it doesn’t come in a little blue box, it does come with a penalty box – along with something big, shiny and engraved: a trip for two to the 2005-06 NHL Finals and the chance to see the league’s top team etch their names onto the Stanley Cup.

Chin was the grand prize winner of Upper Deck’s “Where’s Sidney” sweepstakes, a promotion that had fans search for various-sized Sidney Crosby icons embedded in different locations, including 2005/06 Upper Deck NHL products and Web advertising. His name was randomly drawn among all fans that redeemed even a single icon.

In addition to Chin’s grand prize win, five collectors found and submitted the location of all 26 Sidney icons. They will receive a framed Crosby collection of all four of Crosby’s non-numbered, non-autographed rookie cards, an insert card – all surrounding a photo of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ rookie.

Chin started collecting sports trading cards in 1982, but really got into it in 1990, thanks in part he says to the entrance of Upper Deck to the industry, which had started to manufacturer and distribute cards the year before. “The reason I still collect is because of Upper Deck,” said Chin. “The innovations they come up with to keep things fresh draws me in every year.”

Before he met his wife, Chin collected any and all sports, from the major four to boxing, soccer, NASCAR and even horse racing. After he married Lisa, Chin says it’s been all hockey, thanks in large part to her devotion to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. The two have been Wolves season ticket holders since 1995.

Both are hoping the San Jose Sharks make the finals. Chin has family in the Bay Area; and, both he and his wife once met Sharks’ forward Nils Ekman at the 2002/03 AHL All-Star Game when Ekman was with the Hartford Wolf Pack.

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A wife who catalogues his card collection? Now, that's a rare find.