a fancy clancy memorial

i know.  hockey.  i am no longer much of a fan, even though i grew up in a hockey minded household and now live in the state of hockey.  i came back to the fold slightly a couple of years ago when the kings made their triumphant return to the stanley cup finals, and seeing luuuuuuuuc raise the cup for the kings (although he was in street clothes) felt like closure to me.  another season starts tonight, but i won't be watching.

i was compelled, however, to track down a card from the 1987-88 o-pee-chee set for my memorials collection, thanks to the colorful memorial patch that the toronto maple leafs wore for king clancy after his death.  here's greg terrion's card which shows the patch on his left sleeve

here's a closer look at the patch

clancy won two stanley cups with the ottawa senators in the 1920's before joining the leafs in 1930 and helping them to a cup of their own in 1933.  he spent the vast majority of his post-playing career with the leafs in a variety of capacities, and was still a member of the team's front office when he died in 1986.  in addition to the patch which was worn during the 1986-87 season, the nhl established the king clancy memorial trophy during the 1987-88 campaign.  that award recognizes "the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a significant humanitarian contribution to his community".  i recall the kings' dave taylor winning the award at one point, which was nice to see because that was at the height of the gretzky years in la, and taylor was certainly due more attention than he received.

thanks again to whomever it was that sent me this link to a uni-watch article about memorial patches.  i would not have known about this fantastic specimen (the third hockey related memorial patch in my collection) without you.