The 2009 Montreal Centennial Auction
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A spectacular international hockey treasure is offered here with this fascinating old wool sweater from the Whitby Dunlops' world championship run of 1958. After winning the Allan Cup as top senior team in Canada in 1957, the Dunlops, or "Dunnies" as they became known, were picked to represent Canada at the Worlds in Oslo, Norway. After the bitterness of Canada not winning gold at the 1956 Olympics and a boycott of the '57 World Championships because of the Soviet Union's invasion of Hungary that year, the Dunlops won over Canadian hockey fans while bringing the world title back to Canada in what is remembered as one of the top achievements in Canadian hockey history. This yellow and black Whitby sweater was worn in the tournament by forward George Samolenko, one of Wren Blair's first recruits for the Dunlops after Samolenko had returned from Scotland following the '54-55 season during which he set the British Hockey League on fire with 65 goals and 122 points in 62 games! Samolenko had previously played junior in Oshawa and also won the Allan Cup with Whitby in 1959 and Olympic silver in Squaw Valley in 1960. During the 1957 Allan Cup playdowns Samolenko led Whitby with 38 points and was a member of the team's top line at the '58 Worlds. George's number 14 jersey features the team crest, black maple leaves, "Canada" across the back and the numbers all sewn-on in black felt. Tie-neck style sweater (six eyelets) exhibits nice use but has been kept with pride for over 50 years and is in excellent condition. We count 15 team repairs; three at the (double-weight) right elbow, one on the left sleeve, three in the thick shoulder yolk and eight on the back, while not very detracting small holes on the front total close to two dozen. Some corrosion to the eyelets, moderate cracking of team name's letters, the thick black cuffs and the wavy stitching through the numbers on the back are also all noteworthy. Nice "long" sweater measures out to approximately size 44. It was Harry Sinden who captained the Dunnies to their ultimate win over a pesky Russian squad, while former Toronto Maple Leaf Sid Smith acted as playing coach. The team had taken an ocean liner to Norway since manager Blair was terrified of flying. A 14-game exhibition tour of Europe preceded the World Championships. Incredibly significant piece of Canadian hockey history, this shocking old wool is museum-worthy and will render its new owner extremely proud. A true Canadian treasure that will come with a letter of authenticity.
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