Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction Spring 2021
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/30/2021
Having set the Montreal Canadiens' franchise record for single-season points with 136 the previous season – a record that still stands, Guy Lafleur then proceeded to score 60 goals along with Steve Shutt during the 1977-78 campaign, en route to his third-consecutive Art Ross Trophy win. The Habs would only lose 10 regular-season games in 1977-78, and crush all opposition in the postseason while The Flower wore the offered highly-desirable signed and video-matched Montreal Canadiens playoffs jersey.
Wilson labeling with “44” sizing is affixed to the V-neck collar, with a “78” year swatch situated near the inside lower right seam. Featuring the most famous team crest in the sport sewn to the chest in layered tackle twill, Guy’s famous “10” appears over the sleeves and verso in matching material, with “Lafleur” across the attached nameplate in single white twill. The jersey also sports an intact garter-style fight strap that exhibits no use. It should be noted that the nameplate is original to the garment, with this an especially desirable trait, as the majority of surviving specimens from the era have the nameplates removed. The “78” year swatch denotes the jersey originating from the Habs first set of 1978-79 sweaters, as it was customary for the Canadiens during the era to start wearing the following seasons jerseys in the previous season’s playoffs. We should further note that the Canadiens wore these red durene sweaters in a pair of road games vs Detroit on April 21st and April 23rd – with the jersey video-matched to the latter contest. Sporting light game-use as expected, the material throughout remains soft and supple, with the blue and red colouration bright. A few small areas of white paint transfer are visible – over the lower front and on each sleeve, with just a bit of fraying to the threading on the nameplate.
The provenance of the jersey is especially interesting and sounds scripted for Hollywood, as it was originally swiped directly from Guy’s equipment bag by souvenir-seeking Red Wings fans during the quarterfinal series in Detroit as the Habs were loading the team bus! The jersey was shown to Lafleur in 2005 and he confirmed the story while signing the reverse of the team crest in blue marker, adding “1978 Playoffs” (there is some minor bleeding to the signature and notation). For the aforementioned matches, video from the April 23rd contest has been matched to the misaligned top white striping band visible at the top of the left seam beneath the armpit, with this also visible at the center of the team crest, with the lower-positioned white band seen through the crest. Furthermore, the video also shows the perfect placement of the team crest and reverse numbers – with the small amount of white directly beneath the number visible. Additionally, the video shows the perfect placement of both the reverse numbers and nameplate in correlation to each other. Worn by one of the all-time greatest while representing the most storied franchise in NHL history, a signed LOA from Guy Lafleur will accompany along with a 4” x 6” photo of the legendary superstar posing with the treasured sweater and a trio of DVDs from the April 23rd match.
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