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CANADIENS v MAPLE LEAFS • THE GREAT HOCKEY RIVALRY • WEEK 4 • Every Saturday throughout the 2011-12 hockey season, we will highlight two vintage stars from hockey’s greatest on-ice rivalry: the Montréal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Saturday series will run 40 weeks from the start of October through to the end of June. The series will highlight stars from the 15 Montréal-Toronto playoff series: 1918, 1925, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1951, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1978 and 1979. For each vintage duo, we will feature five cool items listed in the 2012 Vintage Collector’s Almanac & Price Guide. Be sure to pick up your copy of the 2012 Vintage Collector’s Almanac & Price Guide at magazine stores (in Canada) or popular hockey collector stores.

1925 PLAYOFFS: MONTRÉAL WINS THE NHL CHAMPIONSHIP

Hamilton was supposed to meet the winner of the Toronto-Montréal playoff series in the 1925 NHL Championship, but a strike by the Hamilton players kept the team out of the playoffs. As such, the Toronto-Montréal series was the NHL Championship, with the winner advancing to the Stanley Cup final to meet the Western League winner from Victoria. Montréal won the two-game NHL final 5-2 on aggregate, but then lost the Stanley Cup final in four games to the Victoria Cougars.

MONTRÉAL CANADIENS: HOWIE MORENZ

Called the “Babe Ruth of Hockey”, Howie Morenz broke the National Hockey League’s single-season scoring record in 1927-28, less than half a year after Babe Ruth established a new home run record in Major League Baseball (1927). While Morenz’s record would be broken just two years later (Ruth’s record lasted 34 years), he more than established himself as the game’s most exciting player. He led the Canadiens in goal scoring for seven-straight seasons (1925-26 to 1931-32) and won three Hart Trophies as the league’s most valuable player (1927-28, 1930-31, 1931-32). His career ended after he suffered a broken leg during the 1936-37 season, an injury from which he would never recover. He died in the hospital while recovering from that injury, albeit as a result of a heart attack. Eight years later, Morenz would be honoured posthumously as part of the inaugural class of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
2012 VINTAGE COLLECTOR’S ALMANAC & PRICE GUIDE
PAGE 26 – 1923-24 Paterson’s Hockey League Bar #15 Howie Morenz $3,000
PAGE 30 – 1936-67 Bee Hive photo (Canadiens) Howie Morenz $700
PAGE 40 – 1960-61 Topps #59 Howie Morenz $60
PAGE 78 – 1983 Hockey Hall of Fame #H12 Howie Morenz $12
PAGE 117 – 1927-28 La Patrie Photo Howie Morenz $300-$500

TORONTO ST. PATRICKS: BABE DYE

Cecil “Babe” Dye was Toronto’s answer to Montréal’s Howie Morenz, albeit ahead of Morenz by a few years. Dye was already an established superstar in 1923-24 when Morenz entered the NHL. In 1924-25 when Morenz broke out for 27 goals (in 30 games), Dye was the best in the league with 38 goals (in 29 games). It marked Dye’s third NHL goal-scoring title in five seasons, a feat that Morenz would not match. Dye’s career, however, unfortunately took a turn for the worse after he broke his leg before the 1927-28 season. While he continued to play for a few more seasons, he was never the same. Finally in 1970, eight years after his death (he had been hospitalized following a heart attack), he posthumously became an honoured member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
2012 VINTAGE COLLECTOR’S ALMANAC & PRICE GUIDE
PAGE 21 – Babe Dye cut autograph $300
PAGE 26 – 1923-24 Paterson’s Hockey League Bar #23 Babe Dye $240
PAGE 27 – 1924-25 Champ’s Cigarettes Hockey Players Babe Dye $350
PAGE 35 – circa 1950 Hockey Mini Babe Dye $22
PAGE 78 – 1983 Hockey Hall of Fame #C4 Babe Dye $3.00

THE RIVALRY: INDEX v INDEX

There are 183 items listed on the Howie Morenz Collector’s Index. The earliest hockey card is the 1923-24 Paterson’s Hockey League Bar #15 (the Morenz rookie card). In 2010-11, Morenz was featured in In The Game Enshrined and Ultimate Memorabilia.

Meanwhile, there are amazingly only 14 items listed on the Babe Dye Collector’s Index. The earliest hockey card is the 1923-24 Paterson’s Hockey League Bar #23 (the Dye rookie card). This past season, Dye was featured in the 2010-11 In The Game Enshrined set.

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