Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction September 2023
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/19/2023
Part of the consortium tasked with bringing back the Ottawa Senators in 1989, Frank Finnigan along with his son Frank Jr., made public appearances on behalf of the campaign. Finnigan was also part of the presentation team to the NHL expansion committee in December 1990. Successful, with the new club beginning play in the 1992–93 NHL season, Finnigan was slated to drop the first puck but passed away before the first game, and was honoured by the Senators with his #8 jersey retired. The last remaining player from the original team's 1927 Stanley Cup championship, "The Shawville Express" first joined the Sens for a pair of games in 1923-24, starring fulltime the following season, with his tenure lasting until 1934 which included a single season with Toronto when the Sens suspended operations in 1931-32.
Originating directly from Finnigan's personal collection, we have his Ottawa Senators wool sweater attributed to the 1926-27 Stanley Cup championship season! The style worn by the club from the mid-1920s to the late-1920s with the exception of 1927-28, in which they wore the "World Champs' 1926-27" patches on this style of jersey. Starting in 1929-30, the Senators started wearing their large "O" team crest on the front of their jerseys, which they also wore in 1930-31, 1932-33 and in 1933-34, their last NHL season. Classic red, black and white striped wool has no tagging present and measures-out to roughly a size 42, and features a modern style collar, as high-neck collars were becoming unfashionable at this point. A white felt square is sewn to the verso, with "8" in black felt appliqued. We should also note that Finnigan wore #8 throughout his time with the Sens, and the sweater shows no signs of alteration.
In remarkable condition, with the colouration rich and vibrant, there are no large areas of damage or obtrusive wear/marks. There is just the slightest amount of colour bleeding at the armpits, with each sleeve attached directly at the shoulder. There is a small pinhole-size spot of discolouration over the lower front along with a single repair and a small slit to the upper reverse, with no large moth holes or runs usually found with wools of the period. While the term "museum quality" regularly gets thrown around in the hobby, this antique sweater worn by an early superstar while representing one of the sport's most historic clubs during a Stanley Cup championship season is truly that, a paramount specimen not just worthy of one of the world's greatest collections, this prized wool would serve as a centerpiece. An LOA from Classic Auctions will accompany.
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