Panini America Peeks New Hockey Arrivals for 2011-12 Elite, 2011-12 Contenders

With so much hobby attention being heaped recently on the long-awaited fist NBA product of the season (2011-12 NBA Hoops) and the second one hot on its heels (2011 Preferred will be live next Wednesday), we’ve admittedly been distracted from the flurry of autographic activity surrounding Panini America’s next two NHL products: 2011-12 Contenders and 2011-12 Elite.

So we took a trip back to the high-security haven known as the Panini America Acquisitions Room to see what we’d been missing. When we emerged an hour later, we had enough sweet images to choke the memory bandwidth of even the most generous smartphone.

For proof, look no farther than the following preview gallery, which includes first-time reveals of several on-card, wow-caliber gems hitting the ice in the coming weeks. From Elite’s legendary remakes of such hobby classics as Prime Numbers and Passing the Torch to Contenders’ completely updated look, here’s betting even the most discriminating hockey collector will find something to drool over in the next 30 images.

Stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance for additional details on the upcoming releases of 2011-12 Contenders Hockey and 2011-12 Elite Hockey.

Now, on to the show . . .