Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction Spring 2013
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/18/2013
The greatest goal scorer in NHL history, Wayne Gretzky made it seem like there was no goalie that could stop him. Appropriately, there was none present when he scored his 500th goal. The Great One was 25 when he became the youngest player to join the 500-goal club on November 22, 1986. Wayne scored his milestone goal, his 19th of the 1986-87 season and third of the game, into an empty net with 18 seconds left in Edmonton's 5-2 win over Vancouver. It was his 39th hat trick, extending his NHL record. Wayne's 500th goal came in his 575th game, making him the fastest to reach the milestone, breaking the record Mike Bossy set earlier that year by 72 games!
Oilers team photographer Bob Mummery captured all of Wayne's milestone moments during his time in Edmonton. His famous image of Wayne seated at his locker immediately after scoring his 500th NHL goal is featured in this magnificent framed display, appropriately matted in Oilers orange and blue. And above it, the actual puck from the photo! This official Oilers Inglasco game puck with the white paint "500" captures the historic event and has become the focal point of one of the most recognized images of Wayne's career. The markings on the puck clearly and conclusively match those on the puck in the photograph. Also included within the blue suede display are a reproduction of the game stats sheet, signed by Wayne and Jari Kurri (assisted on the goal), and a pair of plaques reading "In Commemoration of Wayne Gretzky's 500th NHL Goal" and "November 22nd, 1986, 575th Game, 39th Hat Trick". Wayne has also signed again on the white matte beside this amazing puck.
There are a number of factors that leads us to believe that this could be the actual puck that was used by Wayne Gretzky to score his 500th NHL goal. Mummery did produce and sell a number of Wayne Gretzky goal-puck framed displays which included mounted official game pucks that were used to score the actual goals. Also, Wayne has saved and displayed numerous milestone pucks from his career and they appear in numerous photo books and have been on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame, his restaurant in Toronto and the All Star Caf? chain, to date, the 500th goal puck has not been displayed or photographed, other than in the photo taken by Mummery immediately after game. As well, requests for confirmation that Wayne does not have his 500th goal puck have been made through Mike Brown of WGA and Wayne has said he does not have the milestone goal puck. Professionally mounted in a 22 1/2" x 25" frame, this historic Wayne Gretzky "500" goal puck display comes with a letter of authenticity. Detail from the letter of authenticity:
The possibility exists that this puck is the actual puck that was used to score Wayne Gretzky’s 500th NHL goal:
- almost all of the other known Mummery milestone photo shoot pucks are made on blank black pucks, not official game pucks from the period.
- almost all of the other known Mummery milestone photo shoot pucks are labeled with stickers to indicate the milestone, this one was quickly fashioned using whiteout or white paint.
- Mummery’s collection included equipment used by Gretzky, Coffey, Kurri and others that was used to score milestone goals, showing Mummery did have access to and did save memorabilia from Oilers milestone goals.
- Bob Mummery did produce and sell a number of Wayne Gretzky goal puck framed displays which included mounted official game pucks that were used to score the actual goals, including a known display of three goal pucks from a Wayne Gretzky hat trick effort.
- although Wayne has saved and displayed numerous milestone pucks from his career and they appear in numerous photo books and have been on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame, his restaurant in Toronto and the All Star Café chain, to date, the 500th goal puck has not been displayed or photographed, other than in the photo taken by Mummery immediately following the historic event.
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