This home red wool gamer by Olympic Sporting Goods was worn by Red Kelly circa the 1950’s while skating for the Detroit Red Wings. Kelly, a Hall of Fame legend, is considered among the finest of his generation and of all-time and was so recognized in the famed The Hockey News publication ranking the NHL’s all-time greats, ranking Red as the 22nd greatest player in NHL history! So gifted was Red, that the league decided that a Trophy should be created to celebrate the NHL’s best defenseman, and as such the Norris Trophy was born. Kelly won the very first James Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman in 1953-54. He was not only a great defender, but also a great scorer and he was the highest scoring defenseman of his or any era until Bobby Orr came along. He scored more goals than did the only offensive minded contemporaries he played against, Doug Harvey and Bill Gadsby, combined! Kelly broke into the NHL with Detroit in 1947-48 and spent parts of 13 seasons in the Motor City before joining the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1960. He completed his career with the 1967 Stanley Cup some 8 seasons later with the Leafs. Red arrived in Toronto after a major dispute with management. Kelly was out of game shape and offered to play Center to minimize any mistakes he might make. Despite his conditioning, he neutralized the great Jean Beliveau that evening and he remained a center for the rest of his career! After 20 illustrious seasons, Kelly had won 8 Stanley Cups, 4 in Detroit and 4 more in Toronto, was the recipient of the first-ever Norris Trophy, won 4 Lady Byng Trophies and was six times a 1st Team and two times a 2nd team NHL All Star!
Proudly sewn to the right breast of this gamer is the Captain’s “C”. Sewn into the collar is the Olympic and size tagging. This size 46 sweater features excellent game wear consisting of stick marks, board burns, heavy areas of exterior pilling on the sleeves from Red’s lengthy gloves, terrific inner pilling, more than a dozen classic team-sewn repairs by the hand of legendary longtime trainer Lefty Wilson and a reverse crest. Most amazing of all is the phenomenal overall condition of this wool jersey, lacking any moth holes whatsoever! On the back player number is a beautiful black sharpie signature in Kelly’s own hand. This sweater originally entered the hobby via auction nearly two decades ago and it sat in a lone private collection until finally surfacing in our Spring 2016 Auction. It is a pleasure to be able to bring this sweater to auction for a 2nd time! Offered is an incredible opportunity to obtain this beautifully autographed well-worn jersey that sports the prestigious letter of honor and was worn by this legendary Hockey Hall of Famer in his prime, choice!
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