1940 New York Rangers Stanley Cup Ring - Player Issued, Clint "Snuffy" Smith #10
There are rare sports collectibles. There are historically significant sports collectibles. And then there is this — a player-issued 1940 New York Rangers Stanley Cup Championship ring in 14k gold, belonging to Hockey Hall of Famer Clint "Snuffy" Smith, #10. Smith was not only one of the finest players of his era — he was the last surviving member of the 1940 Rangers championship team when he passed away in 2009 at age 95. This ring is the final piece of hardware from the last man who lived through that championship. It does not get more significant than this.
The Curse of 1940 — and Smith's role in ending it
When the Rangers lifted the Stanley Cup on April 13, 1940, no one could have imagined it would be 54 years before they held it again. The "Curse of 1940" became one of the defining narratives of the NHL. During the 1939-40 season the mortgage on Madison Square Garden was paid off, and management celebrated by burning the mortgage papers in the Stanley Cup, legend goes the act upset the Hockey Gods leading to the half century Championship drought. When the Rangers made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994, Clint Smith watching from Vancouver at age 80, quietly played his own role in breaking the curse. As the series began with the Rangers facing his other former team, the Vancouver Canucks, Smith sent the Rangers' general manager his old No. 10 Rangers sweater as a good luck charm. It worked, and the Rangers hoisted the cup again after defeating the Canucks 4-3.
The 1939–40 Rangers were one of the great teams of their era. Head coach Frank Boucher called them the best team he had ever seen. Smith himself had led the team in scoring the prior season with 41 points and won his first Lady Byng Trophy — awarded for skill and sportsmanship — in 1939. Six players from the 1940 roster are now enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and Clint Smith's #10 is confirmed among the names engraved on the 1940 Stanley Cup.
Crafted in 14k gold at a time when championship rings were produced in far smaller quantities than today. It belonged to a Hall of Famer, the last survivor of his team, a man whose name is on the Stanley Cup itself and a player whose quiet dignity and remarkable longevity made him a living legend of the sport until the very end. This is not simply a collectible. It is an irreplaceable artifact of hockey history.
| Year | 1940 |
| Trophy | Stanley Cup — 3rd Rangers championship |
| Material | 14k Gold |
| Type | Player-issued |
| Original owner | Clint "Snuffy" Smith, #10 — Centre |
| Head coach | Frank Boucher (Hockey Hall of Fame) |
| Final result | Rangers def. Toronto Maple Leafs, 4–2 |
Clint Smith #10 — Career Highlights
- The last surviving member of the 1940 Rangers championship team — Smith passed away on May 19, 2009, at age 95, as the final living link to this championship
- Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991 — his name (#10) is confirmed engraved on the 1940 Stanley Cup alongside teammates Hextall, Colville, Patrick, and Coulter
- Two-time winner of the Lady Byng Trophy (1939, 1944) — awarded for skill combined with sportsmanlike conduct; accumulated just 24 penalty minutes in 483 NHL regular season games, including four consecutive seasons without a single penalty
- Led the Rangers in scoring in 1938–39 with 41 points and won the Lady Byng that same season — one of the most complete performances by any Rangers player in the pre-war era
- Set an NHL single-season assists record of 49 in 1943–44 with Chicago, playing on a line with Hall of Famers Bill Mosienko and Doug Bentley; the trio set an NHL record with 219 combined points that season
- Sent his old moth-eaten No. 10 Rangers sweater to the Rangers' front office as a good luck charm during the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals — the Rangers won, ending the 54-year Curse of 1940; Smith's jersey hung in the Rangers' locker room throughout the series
- Participated in the Rangers' 75th anniversary celebration at Madison Square Garden in 2001 — over 60 years after winning the Cup, still regarded as one of the great gentlemen of the game
- Ranked 35th in the history of the New York Rangers organization in the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats — the highest ranking of any player from the 1940 championship era