Canadian Ice Hockey Stamps - The Series of The Century, 1972

The Series of The Century, 1972

With 34 seconds left in Game 8 of the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and Russia, Paul Henderson scored the goal that gave Canada the 6-5 lead. The detail of the goal includes Phil Esposito intercepting the puck and firing a shot toward the net. By this time Henderson had picked himself up off the ice, picked up Esposito's rebound fired the puck at Tretiak. The Soviet goalkeeper got a toe on the shot but lost his balance as he made the save. Henderson pounced on the rebound and dribbled the puck under a prone Tretiak just as Liapkin reached him.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 1972 Canada-Soviet hockey series and the momentous day in the history of Canada's favourite pastime, Canada Post released "The Series of the Century" commemorative stamp issue. Designed by Charles Vinh of Montreal, the set of two domestic-rate stamps depicts Team Canada's thrilling victory exquisite illustrations, adaptations of photographs taken by Montreal's Denis Brodeur. The first stamp, features the immediate aftermath of the all-important goal. Sports hero Paul Henderson raises his arms in jubilation against the backdrop of the Russian team net. The second stamp captures the team in a congratulatory huddle after the game.

Canada Post also released a pane of 10 stamps with both designs. On top of this, Canada Post issued a pane of 10 stamps with an overprint of two hockey sticks, a puck, and Paul Henderson's signature. The overprinted panes were only available as part of a Canada Post special collector's gift box that contained a Paul Henderson signed hockey puck, poster, sweatshirt with "The Goal" on the front, and the overprinted pane of 10 stamps. The number of gift sets issued is not known, but the issue price for the gift box was $39.95 at Post Offices. The overprinted pane is now valued in the Unitrade Canadian Stamp Catalogue at $100.00, while the boxed set is valued at $125.00. The normal pane of the ten stamps is valued at just over $10.00 Canadian.