Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction September 2023
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/19/2023
On January 1st 2016, in front of a crowd of 67,246 enthusiastic fans at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA, and an audience of millions of viewer’s worldwide, two long-time “Original Six” arch-rivals faced each other in the eighth annual Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, with the Montreal Canadiens defeating the Boston Bruins 5-1.
From the 2016 Winter Classic, we have goal-scorer Paul Byron’s game-worn Montreal Canadiens jersey, and it’s been photo-matched. With size 54 tagging affixed to the collar, the important MeiGray patch numbered M06916 sits on the inside bottom hem. 120 seconds into the second period, Byron scored his first goal of the game as the Canadiens outskated and outperformed the Bruins. With 24 shifts and a second goal added, Byron was definitely the best Canadiens' player. With no visible marks present from game-wear, the jersey is photo-matched to his second period goal celebration to the loose thread at the left side of the "H" in the team's crest.
The jersey recalls multiple elements related to the Canadiens rich history. The chest stripe is a shade of blue inspired by the first-ever Canadiens jersey worn after their founding in 1909. The central crest features a “CH” with colors inverted from what has been the norm for 90 years. The “C” is white and the “H” is red, as they were in 1923-24, the season the team won its first Stanley Cup championship as part of the NHL. An image of a globe on the sleeve borrows from the “World Champions” design worn by Montreal the following season to celebrate its championship, a season where the franchise also began its longstanding rivalry with the newly-founded Bruins, then playing in their inaugural campaign. The jersey also features a distinctive red collar reminiscent of those originally worn in 1945-46, a season that culminated in the Canadiens, led by the “Punch Line” of Maurice Richard, Hector “Toe” Blake, and Elmer Lach, defeating Boston to earn their sixth Stanley Cup Championship. Affixed to the right shoulder is the "2016 Classique Hivernale" patch.
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