NHL game-used isn't quite as complicated -- and that's OK

You may have seen a few of these Fanatics mystery boxes pop up from time to time here on The Buzz. It's a new kick of mine to add a little variety to the Buzz Break lineup on the cheap but with a little more flash -- or at least some curiosity -- than the typical blaster box. (Don't worry, we'll still have plenty of those.)

As you can probably tell, this box looks a little different than the game-used MLB baseball mystery boxes that I've been busting here. This was a one-time deal to add a little something different to my personal stash -- also something even cheaper than the baseballs -- and something different to present here. And it highlighted not only differences between sports but also differences in how leagues can even handle authentication because of those simple differences.

If you didn't figure it out from the headline, it's a game-used hockey puck.

I landed this one for less than its posted $24.95 price tag (thanks to some rewards/coupons) from my typical spot for checking out Fanatics game-used stuff. And, ironically, had I searched for one team vs. another it would have cost me more. The image you see here? It's actually (ironically) the same puck from that listing for the Arizona Coyotes -- which is the team I opted for -- but a puck that had it come from the New Jersey Devils would have cost me more. Go figure -- but I guess the one face of the puck can carry a premium if the team colors are right. (All in the eye of the beholder and the fan base.)

This game-used puck was used in the Coyotes' 5-4 win over the Devils on March 11, 2017, and its face noted the anniversary of the team moving from Winnipeg in 1996. Get the details on that one here.

There's really not much tracking or authentication for how pucks get used -- game-used goals do exist and are far pricier and far rarer -- and that's OK. It's not MLB Authentication and that's fine. It's just one obvious sign to show how the sports are different -- at-bats, pitchers and the other possibilities are just different than a puck getting worked around the ice by Player A to Player B to Player C, shot by player D and stopped by the masked man in the net. (You really can't stop play to swap out pucks after that, right? Right.) The tape was added later -- something you'll see on the goal pucks, too -- but that's not how you'd see them on the ice. But that adds some behind-the-scenes flavor in my eyes.

These mystery boxes don't have a whole lot of mystery to them (you can pick based on game dates, so check the schedule) and that's about it since (I'm betting) they're not going to be goals since, again, those are much pricier. This puck does have some damage to it on the edges and some nice cutting marks -- or at least indenting -- across the face with the Coyotes logo, so that's interesting to see the war damage. I didn't expect to see that much.

Game-used pucks aren't the flashiest option out there to collect without any player info attached, but a beginner or someone who appreciates a little bit of everything might be able to use a little something straight from the ice in their collection.

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