The Topps Company has a well-established history within the hockey trading card market. Topps produced it first hockey set in 1954 as a direct competitor to Parkhurst. In the early 1960s, Topps and Parkhurst battled for team rights to produce cards. But Parkhurst left the market in 1963-64 leaving only Topps to produce cards for the four U.S.-based teams in the six-team NHL.

In 1968, Topps joined forces with O-Pee-Chee to market hockey cards. That relationship continued on until 1993. Today, Topps is the exclusive licensee of the O-Pee-Chee name for sports trading cards.

For the current 2000-2001 season, Topps will be producing seven different card releases leveraging some of the most well known brand names in the category - Topps/O-Pee-Chee, Stadium Club, Topps Chrome, and Topps Heritage.