Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction September 2024
The second official World Junior Hockey Championship tournament, the 1978 edition of the worldwide affair was hosted in Canada, mostly in the cities of Quebec City and Montreal and saw the Soviet Union with the gold medal while Wayne Gretzky would register seventeen (17) points in eight (8) games played. Offered here, we present this stone art piece that was issued to Finnish defenceman Reijo Ruotsalainen as a "Player of the Game" award at the 1978 World Junior Hockey Championship. A heavy stone piece with a removable metal goose, the award is done in an Inuit art style and sports an artist signature under one of the goose's wings. Measuring roughly 9" high and 13 1/2" wide at its longest points, a metal plaque that displays the "Junior World Cup of Hockey" logo and O'Keefe sponsorship logo as well as a "Player Of The Game Award" plaque which is affixed over the front of the piece, with the English only text likely indicating that it was presented after a match in Ontario, Hull or Montreal. With a hole drilled out of the top so that the metal goose can sit in it, the mount on the bottom of the goose is no longer present and prevents this. Remaining in good condition with some light age and handling/display wear along with some discolouration seen throughout that heaviest on the bottom, scratching is seen over the front display plaque. For the metal goose, numerous scratches and scuffs of varying degrees that are again heaviest on the bottom from rubbing up against the stone it sits on are seen while one of the wings has broken clean off as well and was reglued. A neat piece that weights a whopping 35lbs, it's also worth mentioning that three (3) rubber feet are attached to the bottom. Hailing from his personal collection, an LOA signed by Ruotsalainen will accompany the piece.
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