Jean Beliveau Foundation Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/11/2008
An extraordinary find that will have serious Gordie Howe collectors gasping is this glossy team photo of the 1945-46 Omaha Knights, members of the United States Hockey League and Gordie's lone minor league team. Just 17 years old, the teenager who would be dubbed “Mr. Hockey” decades later, Howe scored his first 22 professional goals in a Knights uniform and ended the season with 48 points in 51 games. In a classic pose of the era, the Knights are straddling the boards in this 8” by 10” treasure, with Gordie sixth from the left. His “Gordon Howe” autograph below is a bold beauty with just a slight smudge at the top of the “G”. Goaltender Lefty Wilson of mask-making fame (third from the left) is another notable who inked a nice fountain pen signature beneath his image, while coach Tommy Ivan is standing at the head of the group at the far right. The remainder of the team and who all signed below their respective “legs” are (from left to right) Frank Melong, goalie Harvey Jessiman, Barry Sullivan, Al Dewsbury, Jake Forbes, Gord Petrie, Fred Gibbon, Rod Morrison, Jimmy Skinner (of Red Wings fame), Ross Wilson, Ed Reigle, Rod Morrison, Connie Poitras, George Homenuke and team scoring leader “Winkie” Smith. True team-signed piece is in solid EX condition with no unsightly flaws and pasted to a scrapbook page, the reverse featuring an 8” by 10” glossy of Connie Poitros in his '44-45 Indiapolis uniform. Likely one-of-a-kind rarity featuring the one and only Gordie Howe!
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