On October 21, the 2017 edition of the Northeast Hockey Collectors Expo took place in Peabody, Massachusetts. Collectors from New England were joined by collectors from Chicago, Colorado, California, Virginia, Idaho and elsewhere.
Collectors started arriving Thursday for a group dinner followed by an evening of jersey trading and catching up with old friends at the host’s house.
Friday starts with a group breakfast at a local restaurant with the host bringing enough real Vermont Maple Syrup to keep everyone happy and wired. In typical fashion, afternoon plans to visit the town of Marblehead are slowly scrapped as everyone spends the afternoon socializing as we lose track of the time. A trip to the Boston University – UConn hockey match is a Friday night highlight followed by the start of setting up the Expo room and additional jersey trades.
Saturday morning begins with the setting up of the Expo tables and a breakfast of local donuts and coffee. NCAA jerseys dominate the Expo but there are also a large number of NHL and minor league jerseys on display and available for trade. There are impressive displays of vintage jerseys and older hockey sticks. A highlight of the Expo is an equipment sale from many of the New England based Universities.
A collection of expo photos is available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/opurt/sets/72157689828649346/.
Most years, a large group hang around after the Expo for a group dinner. This year, there were multiple hockey games in the immediate area and groups headed out for the Bruins verses Sabres match, night two of Boston University verses and UConn and up to Durham for the Colorado College verses University of New Hampshire match.
Sunday morning arrives early as the out of town attendees race to the airport to catch their flights home while looking forward to the 2018 edition of the Expo.