Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction June 2010
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/22/2010
The Edmonton Oilers' young superstar Wayne Gretzky broke several prestigious records in 1981-82, including the record of 50 goals in 50 games, set by the great Maurice Richard, by tallying 50 goals in only 39 games. Gretzky also toppled Phil Esposito's record of 76 goals in a season with 92, his own assists record of 109 which was set the prior season with 120, and he recorded 212 points to surpass his own point total record of 164. The Oilers set a record for most goals in a season with 417, in which Gretzky scored or assisted on over half! Wayne's game-worn Edmonton Oilers uniform from the 1981-82 season features the International Year of the Disabled Persons patch up on the right shoulder. The heavy blue mesh Sandow has the company's washed out double tags in the collar and "Sandow" screened onto the lower right hem. A heavy short-loop fight strap appears sewn into the tail and the "Gretzky" name bar is quite short, a characteristic of this particular set. The storied number "99" appears on each arm and again on the back and typical, slight puckering suggests wear and washing. Game wear is evident and includes seven black stick marks and a pair of small red paint transfer spots on the left arm with two more stick slashes over on the opposite sleeve. Another stick mark can be found on the lower left of the front and three more marks show up through the striping on the lower back. The amount of wear leads us to believe the shirt was worn for a couple of games and stories do exist of Wayne briefly wearing uniforms during the Sandow-period which were later filtered into the hobby through charity auctions and dealings involving the team's training staff. The jersey has been closely examined by one of the hobby's most noted Gretzky game-worn uniform collectors, Shawn Chaulk, who has compared it to thirteen examples of game-worn uniforms from the 1981-82 set including another photo-matched blue Gretzky gamer he owns. Sizing, cresting, numbering, stitching and wear are all consistent with these exemplars and Shawn's detailed multi-page letter of opinion outlining the findings of the comparison, with photo references, will accompany the lot. The jersey has been in the hobby since the mid-Eighties when it was obtained at an auction in Edmonton to benefit children with disabilities and has been in the collection of our consignor for approximately twenty years. Here is an excellent opportunity to obtain a uniform worn by Wayne Gretzky during one of his earliest and most successful seasons.
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