Session 2 Online Only is Now Open - Ends June 21st (Lots 44-95)

Lot #61:

Moginly Game Used Stick

A very early Buffalo Sabres stick from Alexander Mogilny as denoted by the NHL cellophane accent tape just above the blade. This black Sherwood Feather Balance 7000 shows great use with puck marks all over the back and front of the blade. The accent tape has a nice slash out of it which also tore, but, remains fully intact with a small piece missing. No cracks or breaks, just nice hack and slash marks up the shaft.  A Mogilny name stamp along with 89 is at the top in white background and taped on the blade and knob in proper Mogilny fashion. Grab this rare Sherwood from one of the greatest right wingers of his time. It's a perfect stick for a Mogilny fan. His 76 goals during the era this stick was used got him the nick name Alexander the Great. Alexander Mogilny, born February 18, 1969, is a Russian former professional  player and the current president of  of the . He was the first   draftee to defect from the  in order to play in North America. During his NHL career, Mogilny played for the , ,  and . He tied for the NHL lead in goals in the  with 76, and became a member of the  by winning the  in  with New Jersey. In 1986, Mogilny was made a full-time player of CSKA Moscow. He finished his first year with 15 goals and 16 points in 28 games. At only 17 years old, Mogilny and  were the youngest members on the team. Still, team officials anticipated that the duo, along with the looming arrival of , would succeed the top line of ,  and . Mogilny's first major appearance for the Soviet Union on the international stage was at the . He finished the tournament with 3 goals and 2 assists in 6 games. However, his team was ejected from the tournament during its last game as a result of the brawl between the Soviet Union players and Team Canada known as the "". The  (IIHF) suspended all the players involved in that game from competing in international events for 18 months. The penalty was eventually reduced to six months, which allowed Mogilny to compete in the . He finished the tournament with 9 goals and 18 points in 7 games en route to a silver medal finish and winning the Top Forward award. He also played with the senior team at the , where he won a gold medal as the team's youngest player. The next year, at the , he served as team captain and was a part of the commanding Bure-Fedorov-Mogilny line which led their team to a gold medal. Mogilny finished that tournament with 7 goals and 12 points in 7 games. He went on to win his first World Championships when the Soviet Union won the . Despite his success with the Soviet National team, and his growing importance on CSKA Moscow, Mogilny yearned for a life in the NHL and decided to join the , the NHL team that had drafted him 89th overall in the . He boarded a plane in  at the conclusion of the  and defected to North America. In the 1991–92 season, the Buffalo Sabres acquired future captain Pat Lafontaine from the New York Islanders. Lafontaine developed an instant chemistry playing with Mogilny and two players elevated their games to new heights by maximizing their speed and skill. The 1992–93 season was a banner year for Mogilny, as he scored an astonishing 76 goals and 127 points in 77 games. His 76 goals tied Finnish rookie Teemu Selänne for the NHL goal-scoring lead that year, which was the fifth-highest season goal total in NHL history and the first time that two players developed outside North America led the NHL in goals. Mogilny's 76 goals and 127 points set the highest season totals ever for a Russian NHL player, a record which held until Nikita Kucherov scored 128 points in the 2018-19 NHL season, and the highest goal totals in Buffalo Sabres franchise history.