THE BILL MURDOCH SIGNED HOCKEY SWEATER COLLECTION - PART TWO
Bidding Begins Closing: Sunday, September 29th @ 7:00 p.m. (Staggered & Soft Close in Effect)
Preview: Friday, September 27th from 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
(Or, by appointment during regular business hours. Please call 519-376-8317)
Payment & Pickup: Monday, September 30th & Tuesday, October 1st from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Snider’s Sydenham Auction & Appraisal Services Inc. is pleased to present part two of the Bill Murdoch Signed Hockey Sweater Collection. Including approximately 450 signed NHL sweaters! The collection features both past & present NHL superstars, including a number of signed sweaters from Hockey Hall of Famers.
Preview: Friday, September 27th from 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
(Or, by appointment during regular business hours. Please call 519-376-8317)
Payment & Pickup: Monday, September 30th & Tuesday, October 1st from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Snider’s Sydenham Auction & Appraisal Services Inc. is pleased to present part two of the Bill Murdoch Signed Hockey Sweater Collection. Including approximately 450 signed NHL sweaters! The collection features both past & present NHL superstars, including a number of signed sweaters from Hockey Hall of Famers.
GEAR UP WITH YOUR FAVOURITE TEAM SWEATERS FOR THE 2024/25 NHL SEASON!
BIDDING OPENS SEPTEMBER 18th @ 4PM
THE BILL MURDOCH HOCKEY COLLECTION LEGACY
Being a politician was just one of the many goals Bill strived to achieve in his very full life. Bill attended hundreds of events as an MPP. It was one of these events that led him to acquire this very large signed hockey sweater collection.
It began at an NHL Alumni game at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre in Owen Sound, Ontario. One of Bill’s hockey heroes was playing, Frank Mahovlich. This became the first hockey sweater Bill purchased and had a player sign. In the next 18 years he would acquire over 900 signed hockey sweaters.
The process of getting the sweaters signed was the best part for Bill. Dozens of phone calls for each sweater to find a source to get them signed became his obsession. He engaged family, friends and people all over North America in this friendly pursuit. He had a way with people. The Montreal Canadians was Bill’s team. He acquired over 80 Montreal Canadians signed sweaters including Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, Guy Lafleur and Boom Boom Geoffrion.
Because he was a Hob’s fan it was painful, but he also acquired almost as many Toronto Maple Leaf’s sweaters, including all Leaf’s sweaters and signatures from the 1967 Stanley Cup Series. He enjoyed the fact that they haven’t won the cup since. He eventually acquired sweaters from every NHL team to date.
Bill loved to create special sweaters like the Hanson Brothers from the movie “Slapshot”, the 3 Howes when they played together on the Whalers, the French Connection signed by all 3 Buffalo Sabres, and an Edmonton Oilers sweater signed by Wane & Walter Gretzky.
Very close to his heart was the Ontario Hockey League’s Owen Sound Attack. All Attack players that were drafted to the NHL are included. Players such as Nick Suzuki, Dan Snyder, & Bobby Ryan. Hung with pride on the racks of Bill’s collection.
In 2022, after a two-year battle with cancer we lost Bill. True to himself, even in his hospice room, we hung the sweaters he requested, his beloved Hab’s heroes and Maple Leaf’s Johnny Bower, just to be fair.
The Murdoch family releases Bill’s collection to be acquire by the many hockey fans in our area and across this country where hockey is revered as a proud Canadian tradition.
Bill Murdoch curated and created an incredible collation. It is truly a huge part of his legacy. As his family, we are extremely proud of what he accomplished in his very full life. Now, we are present one of his finest accomplishments.
Sue Murdoch & the Murdoch Family
______________________________________________________________________________
I first met Bill Murdoch in the mid 1980s and through the years, invariably, during each encounter the topic of conversation would swing to his collection of hockey sweaters & jerseys. The names and the stories connected to each quest to add to the collection were as colourful as Bill himself. I'd heard a lot about the collection and also saw small exhibits at various community events, but truthfully, when I entered the " Chicken Coop " at the Murdoch Farm in the Summer of 2023 to view the entire collection, I was blown away. BLOWN AWAY !!
With time on my hands, I counted more than 900 sweaters in the collection, all meticulously labelled, almost all featuring the signature of the player on the jersey. There were signed sweaters from the greatest names in the history of hockey; Howe, Hull, Orr, Lafleur, Gretzky, Lemieux, Crosby, McDavid... There were signed sweaters from the most prominent names from our area; Lumley, Binkley, Lynch, MacDermid, Hepple, Neil... There were signed sweaters from the biggest names to play junior hockey in Owen Sound; Maltby, Storr, Walker, Mair, Snyder, Richardson, Ryan, Hishon, Suzuki... Most impressive to me were the sweaters that jolted the memory banks; names that I'd forgotten; names that I was discovering for the very first time that summer day.
Being a child of the 1960s, I was fascinated by an Oakland Seals jersey with the original Seals logo. The signature on the sweater was Brian Perry. I asked Bill's brother, John, "who's Brian Perry ?". John Murdoch explained that Brian Perry had played for the Owen Sound Greys in the early 1960s and went on to play in the NHL & WHA over the following decade. I thought I knew EVERY player with an Owen Sound-pro hockey connection, but apparently not. That's what makes Bill Murdoch's massive collection of autographed hockey sweaters so fabulous, the range of player names, hockey eras and the terrific stories & memories that are attached to each and every jersey
Enjoy the Bill Murdoch Collection
Fred Wallace
Being a politician was just one of the many goals Bill strived to achieve in his very full life. Bill attended hundreds of events as an MPP. It was one of these events that led him to acquire this very large signed hockey sweater collection.
It began at an NHL Alumni game at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre in Owen Sound, Ontario. One of Bill’s hockey heroes was playing, Frank Mahovlich. This became the first hockey sweater Bill purchased and had a player sign. In the next 18 years he would acquire over 900 signed hockey sweaters.
The process of getting the sweaters signed was the best part for Bill. Dozens of phone calls for each sweater to find a source to get them signed became his obsession. He engaged family, friends and people all over North America in this friendly pursuit. He had a way with people. The Montreal Canadians was Bill’s team. He acquired over 80 Montreal Canadians signed sweaters including Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, Guy Lafleur and Boom Boom Geoffrion.
Because he was a Hob’s fan it was painful, but he also acquired almost as many Toronto Maple Leaf’s sweaters, including all Leaf’s sweaters and signatures from the 1967 Stanley Cup Series. He enjoyed the fact that they haven’t won the cup since. He eventually acquired sweaters from every NHL team to date.
Bill loved to create special sweaters like the Hanson Brothers from the movie “Slapshot”, the 3 Howes when they played together on the Whalers, the French Connection signed by all 3 Buffalo Sabres, and an Edmonton Oilers sweater signed by Wane & Walter Gretzky.
Very close to his heart was the Ontario Hockey League’s Owen Sound Attack. All Attack players that were drafted to the NHL are included. Players such as Nick Suzuki, Dan Snyder, & Bobby Ryan. Hung with pride on the racks of Bill’s collection.
In 2022, after a two-year battle with cancer we lost Bill. True to himself, even in his hospice room, we hung the sweaters he requested, his beloved Hab’s heroes and Maple Leaf’s Johnny Bower, just to be fair.
The Murdoch family releases Bill’s collection to be acquire by the many hockey fans in our area and across this country where hockey is revered as a proud Canadian tradition.
Bill Murdoch curated and created an incredible collation. It is truly a huge part of his legacy. As his family, we are extremely proud of what he accomplished in his very full life. Now, we are present one of his finest accomplishments.
Sue Murdoch & the Murdoch Family
______________________________________________________________________________
I first met Bill Murdoch in the mid 1980s and through the years, invariably, during each encounter the topic of conversation would swing to his collection of hockey sweaters & jerseys. The names and the stories connected to each quest to add to the collection were as colourful as Bill himself. I'd heard a lot about the collection and also saw small exhibits at various community events, but truthfully, when I entered the " Chicken Coop " at the Murdoch Farm in the Summer of 2023 to view the entire collection, I was blown away. BLOWN AWAY !!
With time on my hands, I counted more than 900 sweaters in the collection, all meticulously labelled, almost all featuring the signature of the player on the jersey. There were signed sweaters from the greatest names in the history of hockey; Howe, Hull, Orr, Lafleur, Gretzky, Lemieux, Crosby, McDavid... There were signed sweaters from the most prominent names from our area; Lumley, Binkley, Lynch, MacDermid, Hepple, Neil... There were signed sweaters from the biggest names to play junior hockey in Owen Sound; Maltby, Storr, Walker, Mair, Snyder, Richardson, Ryan, Hishon, Suzuki... Most impressive to me were the sweaters that jolted the memory banks; names that I'd forgotten; names that I was discovering for the very first time that summer day.
Being a child of the 1960s, I was fascinated by an Oakland Seals jersey with the original Seals logo. The signature on the sweater was Brian Perry. I asked Bill's brother, John, "who's Brian Perry ?". John Murdoch explained that Brian Perry had played for the Owen Sound Greys in the early 1960s and went on to play in the NHL & WHA over the following decade. I thought I knew EVERY player with an Owen Sound-pro hockey connection, but apparently not. That's what makes Bill Murdoch's massive collection of autographed hockey sweaters so fabulous, the range of player names, hockey eras and the terrific stories & memories that are attached to each and every jersey
Enjoy the Bill Murdoch Collection
Fred Wallace