Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction Fall 2014
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/4/2014
Amazing late-1930s/early-1940s Trail Smoke Eaters game-worn wool jersey is attributed to Roy Bentley, a member of the famous Bentley hockey family, featuring HOF brothers Doug and Max. Originally acquired directly from the Bentley family about 15 years ago by a private collector in Saskatchewan, this spectacular hockey sweater dates from the style worn by the Smoke Eaters when they were Allan Cup champions in 1937-38 and on through 1941-42, when it was worn by player-coach Roy Bentley. The fact that Roy Bentley was the last player to wear the #16 with this style, with the black shoulder running down the arm to a point near the cuff, would point to the sweater having come from him personally. Research shows that other players who wore #16 in that era are Joe Benoit (1937-38) and Lucien Martel (1939-40 and 1940-41). No Trail player wore #16 during the 1938-39 World Championship. The jersey features a wondrous Smoke Eaters team crest sewn on the front along with beautifully preserved original Jantzen Sportswear size 36 tagging in the back of the neck. Awesome team crest features black, orange and white triple felt with black cable stitching for the smoke and smokestacks. Numbers on the black are sewn-on black felt. There are at least ten sewing repairs on the jersey, many done with white thread. There are some holes on the front and a portion of color fading on the back of the upper right sleeve that do not diminish the display of this historic wool sweater, which comes with a vintage pair of matching hockey socks. We count some half a dozen repairs on the upper front of this classic wool sweater, another repair lower on the front, a pair on the right rear tail and two more sewing fixes on the right sleeve.
The Smoke Eaters’ jerseys switched styles in the mid-1940s to a shorter black shoulder yoke.
By clicking this button, you will IMMEDIATELY bid the amount selected.
By clicking this button, you will submit this amount as your MAXIMUM (absentee) bid. The auction software will place bids on your behalf up to this amount only as it is bid against competitively by other bidder(s).