Frank Calder is truly one of the great visionaries of the NHL as he guided the league through its first 50 years of existence. e was the first league president when the NHL was created in 1917 following the collapse of the National Hockey Association. He was the first president of the newly formed NHL in 1917, following the folding of the National Hockey Association. He was pivotal at keeping the league alive during such taxing times as the two World wars and the Great Depression. The strain of trying to keep the league alive in the face of World War II, proved to be too much for Calder and he collapsed at a league meeting, and though a plan was devised to help relieve him of some of the grueling demands of being league president, he died one day after the motion was passed. This player’s contract for HOFer Art Coulter is boldly signed and dated by Frank Calder on October 15, 1936. While Coulter’s signature block has been neatly removed, the rest of the contract, including that bearing the coveted Calder signature, is beautifully intact. Copies of his autograph are nearly extinct which makes this a rare, perhaps even a one of a kind find.