Classic Auctions Images - Part One

I love browsing through the Classic Auctions website. While there are a ton of things on that site up for auction that I would love to have in my hockey collection, it's still a great site just to browse for all of its incredible stuff. Today, HBIC takes a walk down memory lane in this article that will have you looking back at some of the incredible hockey memorabilia that Classic Auctions has on their website. Let's get this started!

• Let's start with an old photo of the Stanley Cup Champion Toronto Arenas. If you look closely beside the "1918" on the photo, you'll see a very young Jack Adams. Adams would become a legendary coach in the NHL, and he would have a trophy named for his coaching efforts.
• There was a young man who once played for the 1908 Chicoutimi Hockey Club. He was a goaltender, and certainly earned his merit playing in the NHL later in his life. That man also has a trophy named after him, and you can see a young Georges Vézina in the Chicoutimi Hockey Club photo.
• The Montreal Wanderers were a solid hockey club at the turn of the 20th century, and they won three consecutive championships from 1906-1908. Of course, they were led by a couple of hockey legends in Art Ross and Lester Patrick, another two men who had NHL trophies named after them.
• One of the teams that the Wanderers defeated, and a team that would eventually capture the Stanley Cup themselves, were the Kenora Thistles. How gorgeous are those sweaters? I absolutely love them! And, if you notice, the man in the front row on the right is none other than Art Ross!
• There's another great photo of an old team as the Montreal AAA hockey club was captured on film. Again, those are some excellent sweaters! Why is no one reproducing these sweaters or the Thistles' sweaters?
• If you like history, you'll love this Shamrock Amateur Athletic Association picture taken for the 1899-1900 Shamrock hockey team. Check out the image of the indoor rink at the bottom alongside the trophies that the Shamrock AAA team won at the turn of the century!
• We'll jump ahead nearly one century as we take a look at the 1991-92 Detroit Red Wings "Turn Back The Clock" jersey. I can't tell you how much I love this jersey, and it's another one on my list of jerseys that I've love to own. The Original Six teams wore these against each other all season long as the NHL celebrated its 75th anniversary.
• Speaking of the Red Wings, check out Paul MacLean's name from his 1988-89 jersey. Why is this significant? Well, the "ac" in "MacLean" is actually hovering in midair in his name, not sitting like they currently do. I'm not sure exactly when they made the change, but this won't be the last image like this.
• The Calgary Flames also experienced the floating letters in 1988 as Brad McCrimmon's jersey shows. Comparatively, the letters have returned to Earth as time has progressed as Curtis McElhinney's jersey shows.
• Maybe this was a 1980s thing because it shows up again with the New York Islanders on Hubie McDonough's jersey from 1989-90, but with an added space! However, like Calgary and Detroit, the letters moved down the jersey in more recent years and abolished the space.
• Let's stick with the Islanders as I came across another excellent Fisherman jersey! I own a white Islanders' Fisherman Kasparaitis jersey, so this would be the perfect bookend on my collection! I didn't buy it, though, despite my love of the Fisherman jersey.
• Of course, after the Fisherman met his demise, the Islanders developed the "wave" jersey. What caught my attention were the serifs on Lachance's #7 on the back. How ridiculous were those numbers to cut out? Maybe block lettering is easier for everyone.
• In examining a couple of AHL teams, I noticed that the Saint John Flames, a former affiliate of the Calgary Flames, wore the logo of their NHL affiliate. Has there ever been another minor-league team that has worn the logo of their NHL affiliate without having anything to do with the logo? For example, the Maple Leafs had a minor-league affiliate called the St. John's Maple Leafs, but they wore "St. John's" in place of "Toronto" on the logo. I can't think of any other AHL team that wore an NHL team's jersey for an entire season.
• Speaking of AHL teams with same names, there's a reason why minor-league teams look like minor-league teams. The AHL's Cleveland Barons have a great uniform and I really like their logo. But in comparison to the NHL's Cleveland Barons, there's a reason why the AHL Barons' logo wasn't adopted by the NHL Barons. It is definitely minor-league.
• In keeping with the minor-league looks, NHL legend Rod Langway decided to retired from the NHL at the end of the 1993-94 season, but he joined the IHL's San Francisco Spiders in 1994-95. Note the interesting font used for the numbers. I'm actually a pretty big fan of the Spiders' look.

That's all for today, kids. Part Two will return tomorrow with more historical and interesting looks at hockey. I do encourage you to navigate over to the Classic Auctions website to check out all of the interesting stuff they have.

Until tomorrow, keep your sticks on the ice!