Back in the winter of 1933, going into 1934, there is this young twelve year old living on a farm an hour outside of Montreal, Quebec. The kid is a huge Montreal Canadiens fan and is an even huger Howie Morenz fan.
Like most kids in Quebec at the time, he wants to grow up to be a great hockey player, just like ‘The Stratford Streak’. Our guy is thrilled that hockey cards are making a return in abundance after nearly a decade’s absense. There are suddenly hockey cards everywhere that season and Howie Morenz finds himself on the front of five different cards.
Our little budding hockey star manages to collect all five:
- O-Pee-Chee V304A #23
- V357 World Wide Gum Ice Kings #36
- V357-2 World Wide Gum Ice Kings Premiums #4
- V129 #41
- v252 Canadian Gum #38
He cherishes his Howie Morenz hockey cards. However, when spring and summer come and he’s busy doing work around the family farm, he doesn’t have as much time to devote to his collection. His mother, not really understanding the significance of this little picture cards that came with cigarettes and bubble gum, threatens to throw them in the garbage while doing much needed cleaning around the house.
Our little man sees only one way to protect his treasure. He puts the cards in an envelope, pulls a vent from the wall in his bedroom and, reaching as far as he can, puts the envelope deep into the walls of the farm house.
Seven years later, Morenz has long been deceased and our Morenz fan is nineteen and off to fight in the Second World War. Unfortunately, he meets his doom in Europe and never returns home to farm house in Quebec. The farm house still stands today but the secret location of his 1933-34 Howie Morenz hockey card collection dies with him.
Is this possible? Absolutely. Hidden treasures still pop up in the oddest places everyday. What would this little bounty be worth today? According to Beckett Hockey:
- O-Pee-Chee V304A #23 – $2,500
- V357 World Wide Gum Ice Kings #36 – $2,000
- V357-2 World Wide Gum Ice Kings Premiums #4 – $2,000
- V129 #41 – $3,000
- v252 Canadian Gum #38 – $2,000
However, surely these cards in mint condition at a high profile auction would go for much, much more.
Why so valuable? Who was Howie Morenz?
Howie Morenz played in the National Hockey League from the 1923-24 season until 1936-37. He played with the Canadiens until the end of
that 1933-34 season and then again for the 1936-37, his last following his untimely death. In between, Morenz played for the Chicago Black Hawks and has a 19 game stint with the New York Rangers.
Morenz was twice the NHL’s top point getter. In 1927-28, he scored 33 goals and totalled 51 points over 43 games. In 1930-31, 51 points again won him the scoring title while playing just 39 games for the Canadiens. The year before, Howie scored 40 goals in 44 games and still finished second to Ralph Weiland of the Boston Bruins, who scored 43. In today’s 82 game schedule, Morenz was on pace for a 75 goal season.
Howie was also awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP on three occasions. He won the Hart for 1927-28, 1930-31 and 1931-32, all as a member of the Montreal Canadiens.
Morenz was postumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945.
A bit of hockey trivia that every true hockey fan should know: Although his popular nickname was ‘The Stratford Streak’, Morenz was actually born in nearby Mitchell, Ontario. There is still a sign in Mitchell commemorating this today.