This item comes from the personal collection of longtime New England/Hartford/Carolina equipment man Skip Cunningham.

This home white air-knit gamer by CCM was worn by Ron Francis during his 500th NHL goal game. Francis began what would be a 23 year NHL career in 1981 with the Hartford Whalers. He would later play for the Pittsburgh Penguins before returning to the franchise where he began, albeit in a new location, the Carolina Hurricanes.

During his career Ron assaulted the NHL’s record books and retired as the 4th all-time leading scorer in NHL history behind only Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Gordie Howe. He is 2nd on the all-time assists list trailing only the Great One in that category. His career totals are 549 goals, 1249 assists for 1798 points. Francis won 3-Stanley Cups, the first two coming with the Pittsburgh Penguins and his last coming in the year that he wore this sweater, 2001-02 with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Ron played in 4 NHL All Star games and his hardware includes the Frank Selke Trophy for the leagues best defensive forward, 3 Lady Byng Trophies which is awarded to the player judged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability, the Alka Seltzer plus award and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy awarded to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution to his community.

Proudly sewn to the left breast of this gamer is the Captain’s “C”. Francis was the Team Captain for this franchise in both Hartford and Carolina. Noted in black sharpie on the fight strap, in Skip Cunningham’s hand, is “500 Goal Game”. On the back player number is a beautiful autograph done in black sharpie in Francis’ hand. The inner hem contains the official Carolina Hurricanes game worn jersey tagging.

The game use on this historic sweater consists of many stick marks, board burns, un-repaired burn holes, pilling and a couple of team-sewn repairs. Francis tallied his 500th goal in front of the hometown fans against Byron Dafoe and the Boston Bruins on January 2nd 2002, becoming the 5th player in NHL history to record 500 goals and 1000 assists. A true piece of NHL history with incredible provenance.