Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction Fall 2021
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/26/2021
Tying the US in the final game of the round-robin tournament at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Team Canada – represented by the Edmonton Mercurys – had gone undefeated while the Americans lost a single match, which allowed the red and white to claim gold. From the Ralph Hansch collection, we have an extremely rare puck used at the 1952 Olympic Games. Sporting no maker’s marks or identifiers, and correct for the period with smooth sides, white but now darkened tape was added during the period over the top by Hansch with “Olympics 1952” handwritten, with a possible logo hidden beneath the tape (a photo from game action at the tournament which appears in a different lot from the collection shows a puck in use with no logo on the one side pictured). According to Hansch and his family, while tied, the Americans hit the goal post during the final minute of the deciding game of the tournament, and when the final buzzer sounded, Hansch picked up the puck as a souvenir. The puck was kept in a box for the rest of his life, and was a special memory and keepsake shared only with his family. An LOA from the family of Ralph Hansch will accompany this scarce Canadian and international hockey treasure.
Heavy game-use is exhibited, with numerous cuts and scratches along with a few edge gouges. We cannot stress enough how utterly rare Olympic material is from the era let alone a puck that saw action at the Games. This is an amazing opportunity for any advanced Olympic, international or Canadiana collector.
Added to the Olympic roster just months before the Games which took place in Oslo in February of 1952, Ralph Hansch backstopped the Edmonton Mercurys who represented Canada to the gold medal, and is noteworthy as the only netminder in Olympic history to wear the number “0” jersey. The Mercurys has previously gone undefeated representing Canada at the 1950 World Championships, and immediately after their epic tie with the US that allowed the maple leaf to capture gold at the 1952 Games, the Mercurys also won the inaugural Ahearne Cup tournament in Stockholm, Sweden. From the collection of Mr Ralph Hansch who passed away in 2008 at the age of 83, we have a number of important treasures and keepsakes from his time with the Mercurys in 1952 including an extremely rare puck used during the Olympic Games, his glove, skates and chest protector also used at the Games as well as his Olympic blazer and Mercurys jacket, and much more!
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