original, vintage game action photo

from the estate collection of Jim Vipond, the former sports editor of the Globe and Mail newspaper.

I believe this to be a shot of the after hit mele from Game 1 of the 1950 Stanley Cup Finals, when Ted Teeder Kennedymof the Leafs hit Gordie Howe of the Red Wings.

photo measures 8 by 10 inches, white bordered and on glossy stock. Has some creases etc.

The Gordie Howe incident

At the beginning of the 1949–50, Conn Smythe liked the Leafs' chances for continued success, saying, "We'll be hard to keep away from a fourth Stanley Cup,"[139] but as the season progressed many hockey people felt Detroit would end the Leafs' Stanley Cup streak.[140] By the end of the season, Toronto had finished in third and Kennedy finished second on the Leafs in points.[141]

The 1950 playoffs were overshadowed by an on-ice mishap in the opening game between Toronto and Detroit, in which the Red Wings' young star player, Gordie Howe, was seriously injured. Late in the game with Toronto leading 4–0,[142] Kennedy stole the puck from Detroit defenseman Jack Stewart and was carrying it down the left wing about six feet from the boards into the Detroit end of the rink.[143][144] Stewart was pursuing him from behind[145] and Howe was coming in fast from the side to try to cut him off. Kennedy saw Howe coming at the last moment,[146] and was able to dodge Howe's check while passing the puck to Sid Smith,[147] but Howe could not stop and crashed head-first into the boards, with Stewart falling on top of him.[147][148][149][150] Howe sustained a concussion, facial fractures, and a lacerated right eyeball, and doctors had to perform emergency procedures on him at the hospital to save his life. Detroit coach Tommy Ivan and general manager Jack Adams accused Kennedy of deliberately butt-ending Howe.[151] Kennedy had not been assessed a penalty on the play. After the game Kennedy said, "I don't know how he got it. I avoided his check along the boards and didn't feel anything hit me, although he may have struck my stick."[142]

NHL President Clarence Campbell cleared Kennedy of wrongdoing and rebuked Detroit coach Tommy Ivan for accusing Kennedy of a deliberate attempt to injure the Red Wings' Gordie Howe.

NHL President Clarence Campbell was at the game and was seated near where the incident occurred.[152] After receiving a report from the game's officials, Campbell called a news conference and said the injury was not Kennedy's fault.[149][153][154][155] Campbell also publicly rebuked Ivan for his accusation, saying, "That is a pretty serious business and a very vicious charge."[144] It was also argued that since Kennedy was a right-handed shot, the butt-end of his stick was towards the boards and away from Howe. Sportswriter Ted Reeve of the Toronto Telegram quipped, "How would a right-handed stickhandler going down the left boards give anyone a butt end? Unless he wanted to lift the snappers out of someone in the rail seats."[156] Howe was lost from the playoffs, but the incident influenced the momentum of the series. Detroit won the second game of the series 3–1, a violent and fight-filled affair which included a stick-swinging incident between the Leafs' Jimmy Thomson and Detroit's Leo Reise and a fight between Kennedy and Ted Lindsay.[157] After the game, Campbell threatened the players with fines if the violent play continued, and both teams continued to play hockey for the remainder of the series.[154] However, Detroit was now determined to "win the series for Gordie"[158] and defeated the Leafs in seven strongly-contested games to eliminate them from the playoffs, going on to win the Stanley Cup.[11][152]

In recovery from his hospital bed, Howe said, "Ted is too good a player to deliberately injure another player."[158][159] Then, years later, while still believing that he had been hit by Kennedy's stick, Howe reiterated that there was no intent to injure on Kennedy's part and considered his injuries self-inflicted.[160][161][162] However, the incident still continues at times to be described as a deliberate act by Kennedy. In 2001, The Sporting News ran an article on the 30 toughest players in the NHL. In referring to Howe's injury, the incident was described "he was knocked heavily into the boards by Toronto's Teeder Kennedy".[163]