2021 President’s Choice Trading Cards: The Vezina Collection – Trophy Winners Georges Vezina & Olaf Kolzig Dual Memorabilia card /5.Here’s a look at my very first Georges Vezina memorabilia card! A true piece of goaltending/hockey history.This dual memorabilia card which features a piece of Vezina’s goalie pad was released inside The Vezina Collection, a box product created by President’s Choice Trading Cards in 2021. The Trophy Winners subset (numbered /5) displayed Georges Vezina alongside previous winners of his Vezina trophy. My copy depicts Washington Capitals legend Olaf Kolzig, who won the Vezina trophy in 1999-00.The game-used Vezina pads used for this product were acquired by Dr. Brian Price and were originally on display inside the Hockey Hall of Fame many years before the acquisition.Rumour has it that the pads used for his memorabilia cards were from the only set of pads he ever wore in his NHL career. Who knows if there is any truth to that, but either way, I am stoked to have this in my goalie collection.
These pads may have been one of the final physical pieces of Vezina’s time in the NHL, as he would pay a final visit to his team in December of 1925, shortly before his death in March of 1926 (Link):
Returning to Montreal for training camp for the 1925–26 season, Vézina was noticeably ill, though he said nothing about it. By the time of the Canadiens’ first game on November 28 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he had lost 35 pounds in a span of six weeks, and had a fever of 102 Fahrenheit. Regardless, he took to the ice, and completed the first period without allowing a goal. Vézina began vomiting blood in the intermission before returning for the start of the second period. He then collapsed in his goal area, and left the game, with former U.S. Olympic team goaltender Alphonse Lacroix taking his place. Pittsburgh won the game, 1–0.
The day after the game, Vézina was diagnosed with tuberculosis and advised to return home. He made a last trip into the Canadiens’ dressing room on December 3 to say a final goodbye to his teammates. Dandurand would later describe Vézina as sitting in his corner of the dressing room with “tears rolling down his cheeks. He was looking at his old pads and skates that Eddie Dufour [the Canadiens trainer] had arranged in Georges’ corner. Then, he asked one little favour—the sweater he had worn in the last world series.” Vézina returned to his hometown of Chicoutimi with his wife Marie, where he died in the early hours on Saturday, March 27, 1926, at l’Hôtel-Dieu hospital.
Though he played only one period for the Canadiens during the entire season, the team honoured his entire $6,000 salary, a testament to how important Vézina had been to the team. The Canadiens finished in last place in 1925–26.
Joseph Georges Gonzague Vézina (1887-1926)
If you want to hear more info about the pads or how this product came to be, you can check out
Episode 25 of the Center Ice Card Cast when we spoke to Dr. Price in a exclusive interview to talk about The Vezina Collection product. We also spoke one-one-one with Brian on Episode 14, too.
Happy Collecting,
– Aaron / creasecollector
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