This home white dureen gamer by Rawlings and Giesler-Jorgen Sporting Goods Co. was worn circa the 1971-73 NHL seasons by goaltender Jim McLeod or Wayne Stephenson during their rookie NHL seasons. McLeod’s playing career began in 1960 with the Seattle Totems. He would spend most of the next dozen or so years tending goal in the WHL and winning their Outstanding Goalie Award 4 different times. In 1971-72, Jimmy took the ice for the St. Louis Blues, the only NHL stint of his career. McLeod assumed the player number 1 that had previously been worn by Hall of Famer Glenn Hall. The following season he joined the upstart WHA and appeared in 54 games for the Chicago Cougars. McLeod began the 1973-74 season with the Golden Blades and finished it with the LA Sharks. His final season of professional hockey was in 1974-75, where he appeared in 16 games for the ill-fated Michigan Stags franchise.
Wayne Stephenson began his NHL career with the St. Louis Blues, playing in 2 games in 1971-72. He spent the following 2 years in St. Louis, playing in 45 and 40 games respectively during the 1972-73 and 1973-74 seasons where he also wore the player number 1. In 1974-75, Stephenson joined the Philadelphia Flyers and won the Stanley Cup backing up Hall of Famer Bernie Parent. When Parent was injured early in the 1975-76 season, Stephenson took over the starting reigns and played in 66 games. He then led the 2-time defending Stanley Cup Champs back to the Stanley Cup Finals where they fell at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens dynasty. Stephenson would spend 5 years in Philadelphia and then completed his career with the Washington Capitals.
Sewn into the hem of this gamer is the Rawlings, Geisler-Jorgen and wash tagging. The game wear on this size 48 sweater consists of stick and puck marks, sweat stains and inner pilling. The original fight strap remains sewn beneath the rear player number while the body had at one point been hemmed and subsequently let out with some minor team-sewn repair work in tow. Worthy of further mention are the height of each goalie, McLeod who stood 5’ 8” and Stephenson who stood 5’ 9”. This gamer is now more than four decades removed from the ice and represents the brief old-school era when the Blues wore no sleeve numbers.
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