This historic event occurred Dec. 8, 1987, in the Flyers' 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins at The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pa. With 1 minute and 12 seconds left in the game, Boston having pulled its goalie (Rejean Lemelin) for an extra skater and trailing, 4-2, Hextall fired the puck down the ice and into the empty net. Until that game, the only other NHL goalie credited with a goal was Bill Smith of the New York Islanders who was the last Islander to touch the puck before the Colorado Rockies shot it into their empty net on Nov. 28, 1979, at Denver.

As a sportswriter at the time, I covered the game in which Hextall scored his goal. When copies of the official scoresheet were made available to the press, I collected five copies, each measuring 14 inches high by 8 1/2 inches wide. After I had interviewed him, I had Hextall sign the scoresheets. From what I recall of that game nearly 37 years ago, I saw no one else ask Hextall to autograph any of them. So it is likely that the one offered here is the only one in existence opened for purchase. The sheets were kept in a trunk since shortly after that game and are in mint condition, as are the autographs.

For fans of the NHL, and of Ron Hextall and the Philadelphia Flyers in particular, this is a piece of memorabilia unlike any other.