Ylva Lindstrom Sent us Photos, Autographs and Memories of The Maple Leafs Game Against Leksand IF!

We were very fortunate to receive an email from a fan at one of the Lethbridge Maple Leaf games in 1951! 

We would like to thank Ylva Lindstrom (maiden name Hakansson) who was just 12 (pictured below) when the Maple Leafs came to town to play her team Leksand IF. Mrs. Lindstrom provided the pictures below and the following email telling us her story!  She also collected the autographs of the Lethbridge Maple Leaf players and provided us with a scan of them, below!

Hi Trevor,

Hi,   in 1951, as a young girl, 12 years of age, I watched a home game for my team Leksand IF. I took the opportunity to take the autographs of all the players in both teams. When I looked at them today I found the reference to your team Lethbridge Maple Leafs and googled it. Thank you for keeping the blogg since it gave me the background information for the reason of my autographs.

I do not have any memory from the game itself. What I recall is though that it was a big event for the small town of Leksand. I got the autographs during on of the breaks of the game while the player's were resting in the locker room.

I went to the game together with my father Nils Hakansson who was very interested in ice hockey. I was also a great fan. My father was a doctor and if anyone got injured at the game he was probably the one that attended to it.

About the attached pictures:

001: contains a picture of myself (june 1951) and two photos by professional photografer Olle Sellner. I must have bougth those pictures after the game. It shows the poster for the games (besides Leksand on Feb 27th at 8 pm, a second game must have been played in nearby city of Mora Feb 25th at 5 pm.). The tickets was on sale from Monday Feb. 19th. On the poster it also says that your opponent was Dalarna. It is the name of the county where Leksand is situated. There is also a picture of the outdoor arena 'Siljanvallen' in Leksand.

On picture 002 there is a nice dedication to myself from your captain Stan Obodiac.

On picture 005 there is a signature by your teams swedish guide Ebbe Sandberg.

A link to the history of Leksands IF

http://www.leksandsif.se/60.php

The team of Leksand in 1951:

http://www.leksandsif.se/244.php

Best regards

Ylva Lindstrom (maiden name Hakansson)