Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction Fall 2022
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/20/2022
Playing home games at Madison Square Garden, the New York Golden Blades enjoyed just a single season in the WHA in 1973-74, and due to a terrible lease and low attendance, control of the club was taken over by the league mid-way through the season. As such, any Golden Blades jerseys are quite rare, and we offer a photo-matched specimen worn by Gary Kurt during the club’s lone season. Produced by noted maker Gerry Cosby, the complete set of Blades uniforms were sold to Verona Sports when the club left NY and went to New Jersey to become the Knights. The jerseys were then stripped of their Cosby labeling and replaced with Verona Sports tags, and were used by their hockey team for many years before they began to be purchased by collectors. Gerry Cosby labeling is affixed to the collar with a size 50 swatch. Styled with a lightning bolt-blade team crest fully administered in tackle twill, the durene V-neck sweater has been accented with “30” sewn to the sleeves and verso in dual-colour tackle twill. No nameplate is present, with “Kurt” arching over the upper reverse in single purple twill. Game wear includes a few marks to the sleeves, with two material-backed team repairs to the right breast, and some red discolouration over the left breast and left shoulder. Otherwise, the jersey displays beautifully and is in complete, original condition, with the material remaining supple and the colouration bright. An included numeric image has been matched to the placement of the numbers on the sleeves; the number 30 is placed higher on the left sleeve than on the right sleeve, additionally, a second included image has been matched to the two strands of purple threads at the base of the collar, and to a small white thread on the right edge of the team crest. Other particularities of the team crest are also showing on this image.
This exceedingly rare example escaped the fate of nearly every New York Golden Blades game worn jersey. When the franchise abruptly left New York and were rebranded the Jersey Knights, all of the team’s jerseys that remained in the locker room were sold to Verona Sports in New Jersey as the Knights decided to go for a new look and reached back into franchise history by repurposing the first year New York Raiders jerseys. The Golden Blades sweaters had their player names removed from the backs and the Cosby tags taken from the collars and replaced with a Verona Sports tag. The jerseys were then used locally over a number of years.
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