Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction Winter 2017
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/8/2017
“The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important.” This quote from Martin Luther King, Jr., while not specifically geared toward sport, perfectly epitomizes the average athlete’s career. Those able to combine competing at the highest level along with staying power are rare, with iconic status ensured for those very few that do. Martin Brodeur perfectly meets these criteria, with the HOFer authoring an endless list of achievements and accolades throughout his legendary 21-season career which includes most wins, shutouts and games played, along with an unfathomable 5 William Jennings Trophies.
The 2004 World Cup would be the fifth time representing Canada for Brodeur, previously winning gold at the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. Brodeur and Team Canada would go undefeated in the tournament, with Martin allowing only a single goal-a-game in his 5 played. We are absolutely elated here at Classic Auctions to be able to offer Martin Brodeur’s Team Canada goalie mask that was worn in each of the 5 tournament games the Montreal native played including the quarter-finals and final, and miraculously, it’s been PHOTO-MATCHED TO EACH GAME INCLUDING THE FINAL! This is the first Brodeur mask we’ve handled, and only example we can recall seeing.
The work of mask maker extraordinaire Michel Lefebvre, a Hockey Canada emblem sits directly above the forehead, engulfed on each side by expertly executed thick red flames. “World Cup 2004” appears on the left side, repeated in French along the right. All padding and strapping is intact including the neck guard, with the initials of his children hand-painted along the back head piece near an affixed World Cup of Hockey decal. Two stickers from maker Lefebvre are situated along the inner back of each side, with the mask’s artist Marlene Ross signing along the bottom edge on the left hand side with “04”. The mask exhibits nice use, with chips and marks present including over the forehead section. Twenty numeric images will be included, and they’ve been matched to the small scrape on the left side of the forehead (Aug 31st contest against vs USA), to the chip along the opening on the bottom left (Sept 1st match against Slovakia), to the dark marks near the upper left back strap (Sept 4th match vs Russia), to the two small bubbles in the mask’s finish along the back right side as well as to airbrush details to the right of the chin (Sept 8th quarter-final game vs Slovakia) and lastly, to the surface loss along the back right corner as well as to the dark mark visible on the neck guard (Sept 14th final vs Finland). An LOA from the Brodeur family will accompany. Please note that this lot may be subject to a silent reserve.
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