In terms of desirability within the hobby, this card is to hockey card collectors what the T206 Honus Wagner is to baseball card collectors. It’s not as rare as the Wagner and doesn’t have the nice story to go with it, but Vezina was simply the biggest star of his day. His outstanding play served as a model for stand-up goalies in the future. Long after he retired, fans were introduced to his name and his contributions whenever the Vezina Trophy was awarded at the end of each NHL season to the best goalkeeper in the league. While sweating through training camp workouts prior to the 1925-26 season, Vezina was obviously not in good health. Despite a high fever, he was performing admirably in the Canadiens’ season opener versus the Pittsburgh Pirates, but when he was forced to retire from the game, Vezina was diagnosed with advanced tuberculosis. Sadly, his condition only worsened until he passed away on March 27, 1926. His family history was full of tragedy, as only two of his 24 children lived to adulthood. Vezina’s impact on the game was felt for many years. His combined NHA and NHL regular-season totals added up to 328 games played, 15 career shutouts and a goals-against average of 3.49. Prior to the start of the 1926-27 season, Canadiens owners Leo Dandurand, Leo Letourneau and Joseph Cattaranich immortalized Vezina’s name by establishing a trophy to be presented annually to the top net-minder in the NHL. Vezina was among the first 12 individuals elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame when it was founded in 1945. There are currently thirty-nine examples of Vezina’s rookie card graded by PSA. This card has been graded a PSA 2 GD, it has rounding to the corners and about 1/3 of the card has faded on the reverse. The card is crease and wrinkle free and will make a nice addition to any vintage hockey collection.