Canadians can be a little territorial about their passion for hockey, but thanks to decades of league expansion and the rise of fan interest in community teams, it’s clear that Americans are also enamoured of our national winter sport. This Canada-U.S. joint issue pays tribute to that shared history born on frozen ponds and hometown rinks.

To mark the team’s centennial, Canada Post has unveiled several stamps, including a salute to the team’s centennial crest, plus a philatelic first and a roster of collectibles for stamp collectors and members of the Leafs Nation.

This sixth joint issue with the United States Postal Service (USPS) was designed by Roy White, with photography by KC Armstrong and professional retouching by Brad Pickard.

In the clever design of the joined pair of stamps, the ice surface becomes a figurative portal through time. On one stamp we see a young man, in modern equipment, playing pond hockey on a winter’s day. The second stamp is a mirror image of the first, but the player is from the 1930s or 1940s.

The issue includes the two Canadian domestic-rate stamps, as well as a souvenir sheet featuring gummed versions of the pair and a souvenir sheet Official First Day Cover (OFDC) cancelled in Windsor, Ontario. Also available is a joint OFDC bearing the tête-bêche Canadian designs and the two stamps denominated at USPS’s Forever rate, cancelled in Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan.