Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction November 2023
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/28/2023
Perhaps the most famous player to ever wear the famed bleu, blanc et rouge sweater of the Montreal Canadiens and definitely on the franchises "Mount Rushmore" of legends, Maurice Richard would play his entire career with Montreal, becoming the most ferocious goal scorer the game had ever seen at that point, taking over the National Hockey League record on held by Nels Stewart on November 8th, 1952 against the Chicago Black Hawks with the 325th goal of his career. Adding an additional 219 goals before hanging up his skates at the conclusion of the 1959-60 season, Richard would retire with a total of eight (8) Stanley Cup championships under his belt and be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961. The first non-politician to be honoured by the province of Quebec with a state funeral after his death in 2000, offered here is this bronze plaque framed display that showcases the puck used by Maurice to score the 531st goal of his career.
Weighting in at a hefty 44 pounds and measuring out to full dimensions of 29 1/2" x 20 1/2", the bronze plaque, measuring 23 3/4" x 15" in its own regard, features the puck used to score the goal mounted in the center of the piece and flanked on either side by the famed "CH" logo of Les Canadiens. With the octagon shape of the rubberized logo that would be found on the rubber biscuit's face able to be distinguished under the "531" designation that has been added over the top of the puck, above it reads "Temoignage d'estime et d'admiraton des eleves anciens et actuels de l'orphelinat St. Arsene a" (Testimony of esteem and admiration from former and current students of the St. Arsene orphanage) while underneath displays "Monsieur Hockey - Maurice "Rocket" Richard - 15 Jan. 1960". Remaining in overall good condition and exhibiting no broken pieces or cracks with the puck itself showing signs of game use around the edges via cuts and nicks to the rubber while the surface shows some surface wear and oxidization housed in a three (3) tier wooden frame with each tier displaying one of Montreal's franchise colours. With the frame also in good shape but showing some paint loss from age and overall general wear and signs of age to the wood itself including some minor material loss, a good portion of the wear observed hails from being exposed to the elements.
Scored on November 15th 1960 vs the Boston Bruins in Boston at the legendary Boston Garden, the January 15th 1960 date on the bronze plaque refers to the date the bronze plaque was presented to Richard and not the date that the goal was scored, with this information backed up based on an article with accompanying image from the January 16th, 1960 issue of "La Presse" showing the ceremony in which the piece was presented. Additionally, Richard hadn't played since November 26th 1960, a game vs the Detroit Red Wings, in which he suffered a fracture of his left cheek bone, and returned to the Canadiens lineup a day before being presented the plaque for a contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Montreal Forum on January 14th, 1960.
With each goal scored by Maurice after his November 8th, 1952 marker adding to his all-time NHL leading goal total, the scoring king retired in 1960 at the age of 39 with multiple records to his name. At the time, he was still the all-time goal-scoring leader with 544 goals, a record that stood until Gordie Howe broke it in the 1963–64 season and his record for most career playoff goals — 82 — wasn’t broken until Mike Bossy reached 83 in the 1985–86 post-season. Richard was the first NHL player to score 50 goals in a season and the first to score 400 and 500 goals. Although he is now 32nd on the all-time goal scoring list, his legacy as a goal-scorer will never be forgotten thanks to the award bearing his name, which goes to the player who scores the most goals each season.
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