May 10, 2023

Drawn to the puck

As the playoffs heat up, explore the world’s largest collection of hockey artifacts and objects.

Cartoon c1930s. Image Courtesy of Willard Mullin and Hockey Hall of Fame.

As the city rides yet another wave of playoff fever, how fitting to discover that Toronto is home to the world's largest collection of hockey treasures.

A division of the Hockey Hall of Fame, housing roughly 75,000 artworks, objects and artifacts in addition to more than four million photographs, the D.K. (Doc) Seaman Hockey Resource Centre, is proof of what Foyer has long suspected - that whether or not “the best game you can name is the good ol’ hockey game,” the sport owes much of its enduring appeal to the many artists whose work has infused it with heart and pathos. To wit: In 1935, Toronto sculptor Frances Norma Loring created a two-meter-tall plaster statue of a goalkeeper resembling a bronzed deity. Sheldon Cohen received a BAFTA award and 15 other prizes in 1980 for his film adaptation of Roch Carrier’s short story, The Hockey Sweater, and fifty years after it was made, Ken Danby’s portrait of a hockey goalie, At the Crease, continues to inspire major exhibitions.

To celebrate this moment, we invited the Hockey Hall of Fame to share a selection of artworks and objects from their collection with us. Some amateur, some historic - all in love with the game.

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1960 Topps Hockey Card, Hugh Lehman card #38. Courtesy of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

An image of a 1985 All Star Game program with Snoopy on the cover

1985 All Star Game Program. Image courtesy of Hockey Hall of Fame.

A painting of reactions to Mud Bruneteau winning a game for the Red Wings hockey team

After a whopping 116 minutes of overtime, Mud Bruneteau won the game for the Red Wings in the sixth extra period. Image courtesy of Hockey Hall of Fame.