1950-60's Kenesky made - right hand Goalie Trapper
This goalie catching glove was made by the famous goalie equipment maker, Kenesky, of Ontario, Canada who was famous for his tremendous quality goalie pads and gloves of the 1950's and 60's. Many of the great goalies of the original six era such as Detroit's Terry Sawchuk wore Kenesky goalie pads. Johnny Bower used a Kenesky goalie trapper for most of his career.
This particular Kenesky trapper is very unique as it is made for a right handed catching goalie and has a reddish tone to the leather. It still has the original Kenesky label sewn to the outer cuff on the outside. It also has an "Olympic Sport Goods Detroit" tag on the inner cuff on the outside. This style and size of Olympic tag was used in the 1960's.
This glove was acquired from a large collection of items originating from a former employee of the Detroit Olympia. The bag that it was found in was located up high in the rafters of a garage. It was labelled "Roger Crozier". While Crozier was a right handed catching goalie, I have only seen images of him wearing a Kenesky trapper during his time with the St. Catharines Tee Pees of the OHA. And in that case it appears the glove is black in tone and does not have the Kenesky tag on it.
Other right handed catching goalies in the Detroit Red Wing organization of this era include Roy Edwards who played for the St. Catharines Tee Pees from 1955-57 and Buddy Blom who played with the Hamilton Red Wings from 1960-62.
Our research continues on this piece to see if we can pinpoint who wore the glove. Regardless, this glove is a tremendous connection to the NHL Original Six era of the Detroit Olympia and a glimpse into the equipment worn by the brave men who guarded the nets.
I have included photos of the above mentioned St. Catharines teams as well as the Hamilton Red Wings. You can see the right handed catching goalies in the team photos.