1980-81 Nick Ricci Game Worn Sunday Gold Home Sweater
*first ever use of the sunday gold sweater
Born June 3, 1959 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Ricci was a multiple trophy winner in the OMJHL before being drafted 94th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1979. The season following his draft, Ricci appeared in four games, showcasing some of his talents as he recorded a 2-2 record. He spent the majority of the year with the Grand Rapids Owls of the IHL, however. The following season, Ricci managed to get into a further nine games with the Penguins, recording four wins in the process. In 1981-82, he appeared in three games and posted some of the weakest numbers of his career, and further declined the following season. In 1985, he finally retired from hockey. According to hockeygoalies.org, he went on to work for his family's hotel business afterwards and he currently operates his own goaltending school. In his very short NHL career, Ricci appeared in 19 games, while recording a 7-12-0 record to go along with a 4.36 GAA, and a 0.857% save average. A short career for a goalie that very few have heard of.
The jersey shown to you today is an extremely difficult to find Sunday Gold home variation jersey used by the Penguins to alternate with the white home sweaters. With the Sandow tagging and the style, it seems to be of the 81-82 design, however, with the embroidered dual color name bar, it is very clearly a 1980-81 sweater. The wear on this sweater is minimal as could be expected from a goaltender who only appeared in nine games in that season. A notable area is the nameplate of the sweater. For one it is extremely long, and secondly, the "C"s are uniquely crooked, creating an easy photomatch to the sweater in this photo. To top it off, it was used in his start in goal the first ever time that these sweaters were used in a game on January 7, 1981!
Acquired from David Martel of Global Vintage
Dates of game use: January 7, 1981 v Islanders (7-3W, 12-15)
January 10, 1981 v Blackhawks (5-3L, 22-27)
***January 24, 1981 v Calgary (4-3W, 24-27)***
Photomatched: YES
***POSSIBLY, THOUGH UNCONFIRMED, TO BE UPDATED WHEN RESEARCH REVEALS MORE***
The jersey shown to you today is an extremely difficult to find Sunday Gold home variation jersey used by the Penguins to alternate with the white home sweaters. With the Sandow tagging and the style, it seems to be of the 81-82 design, however, with the embroidered dual color name bar, it is very clearly a 1980-81 sweater. The wear on this sweater is minimal as could be expected from a goaltender who only appeared in nine games in that season. A notable area is the nameplate of the sweater. For one it is extremely long, and secondly, the "C"s are uniquely crooked, creating an easy photomatch to the sweater in this photo. To top it off, it was used in his start in goal the first ever time that these sweaters were used in a game on January 7, 1981!
Acquired from David Martel of Global Vintage
Dates of game use: January 7, 1981 v Islanders (7-3W, 12-15)
January 10, 1981 v Blackhawks (5-3L, 22-27)
***January 24, 1981 v Calgary (4-3W, 24-27)***
Photomatched: YES
***POSSIBLY, THOUGH UNCONFIRMED, TO BE UPDATED WHEN RESEARCH REVEALS MORE***
