The Jacques Laperriere Auction - Fall 2008
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/21/2008
With interest in hockey picking up in the United States the NHL decides to add a team in one of the most unlikely place, Tampa, FL. Led by NHL legend Phil Esposito the city of Tampa had been lobbying actively for an NHL team hosting an exhibition game at the Suncoast Dome in 1990 that drew a record crowd of 25,581 to see Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins take on Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings. During the preseason the Lightning would get wide attention as goalie Manon Rheaume became the first woman to play in an exhibition game as she stopped 7 of 9 shots in one period during a September 23rd exhibition game against the St. Louis Blues. The Lightning would get off to a rousing start in the regular season, then comeback to earth a bit finishing last in the Norris Division with a 23-54-7 record, bettering their expansion partners the Ottawa Senators. Seldom-seen staff ring presented to a front-office member of the 1992-93 Tampa Bay Lightning to commemorate and celebrate their inaugural season in the National Hockey League. This example, in size 12, has a substantial black stone at the tableau holding a single man-made gem with two more glittering stones below, separating the words “Tampa Bay Lightning” from “NHL”. The left shank features the enameled franchise logo with “Inaugural Season, 1992-93” above and the opposing shank holds the name “Wayda” and the number “19” above and below a crafted player image. Inside band is marked “YLTM” which stands for “Yellow Lustrium”, a stainless steel base-metal ring which is heavily gold plated. Made by Jostens, in excellent-plus condition.
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