Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction Spring 2013
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/18/2013
Wayne Gretzky's 500th-Goal skates? Right here! Truly spectacular offering from the most special of hockey careers is this pair of Daoust skates laced up by hockey' all-time most prolific scorer and passer during the 1986-87 season, one of the Great One's final record-breaking campaigns with the Edmonton Oilers. Wayne's Daoust 301 model skates with the classic blue Perfecta blades can be matched to numerous games from that season, including the Oilers' game in Edmonton on November 22, 1986 when he notched his 500th regular season goal. The milestone goal against Vancouver came in a 5-2 win, with the 25-year old phenom playing in only his 575th career game, thus shattering the previous quickest-to-500 mark. The skates have also been photo-matched to both games at Rendez-Vous '87. The Great One was voted MVP of the series played in Quebec City on February 11 and 13. Another notable from the '86-87 season was Gretz breaking Mike Bossy's career hat trick record on December 10. The earliest photo match that we have is from November 15 in Hartford and the latest dates to February 25 in New Jersey. Wayne switched to a new pair of Daoust in March. As for the provenance of the skates, it's fantastic. The Great One himself handed them over in exchange for a donation to the James Bell Foundation. A signed letter from Michael Barnett, dated October 13, 1987, will accompany the skates, along with a DVD from the 500th goal game and extensive authentication document.
Skates show great game use with, most notably, scrapes and slices in the nylon toes, wear to the black leather, reinforced stitching on the outer nylon sections and pilling on the tongues. The distinctive folds on the tongues of both skates and the misshaped tongue on the right skate are matched to a Gretzky photo from the Nov. 15 game in Hartford. Photo matches from the 500th-Goal game on Nov. 22 include two black marks on the white edge of the boot soleplate at the inside of the left skate, a tiny bit of the black lacquer "Tough Toe" on the white plastic of the sole plate, a noticeable buckle in the leather on the right skate, near the top of the "D" in Daoust, and the pronounced wear on the inside edge of the left toe. A photo of Wayne from a game against St. Louis, either on Jan. 9 or Feb. 8, shows distinctive pilling patterns on both tongues. Photos of Wayne's skates from the Rendezvous 87' opening ceremonies show the wear patterns to the Daoust 301 logos are different on each skate, with only a small amount of the "301" remaining on the right skate in contrast to the full logo on the left skate, and a small round dot shaped wear pattern matched to the flaked leather on the back of the left skate. A game photo shows the small black mark on the white sole plate of the right skate. The pronounced black mark through the white felt of the tongue of the left skate shows in a photo of Gretzky from the Feb. 25 game in New Jersey. The blue Perfecta blade holders would have been replaced at some point throughout the season. The ones on the skates now, which were probably put on mid-season, show wear though not the amount they would if worn from October through February. The blade holder screws, which were not present on the skates when they were originally obtained from Michael Barnett, were added years later, to keep the blades in place. These historic skates will become a museum-worthy highlight of your Wayne Gretzky shrine. Please take note that this lot may be subject to a silent reserve.
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