Joe DiMaggio’s record 56-game hitting streak is thought of as the most unbreakable record in sports history. But records are meant to be broken. We saw that in grand display this year as Alex Ovechkin took the NHL’s goal-scoring record from the great one Wayne Gretzky himself with No. 895.
What would you consider the NHL’s other “unbreakable records”? Martin Brodeur’s 691 career wins? The New York Islanders’ dynasty’s most consecutive playoff series victories? How about Darryl Sittler’s record for most points in a single game? Sittler scored ten points in a 1976 Toronto Maple Leafs victory over the Boston Bruins for a performance that is forever in hockey history.
Now, a tangible piece of that historic night is hitting the auction block. The Maple Leafs jersey worn by Sittler is currently up for auction via the site Grey Flannel Auctions. They’re selling it on behalf of American collector Barry Meisel, who got the jersey unknowingly in a 2018 bulk purchase. The Hockey Hall of Fame resource center was able to authenticate the jersey as the one Sittler wore on that historic night.
The process of where it was in between that season and Meisel’s purchase remains a mystery. The Toronto Sun reached out to Sittler himself for comment. Sittler didn’t ask to keep the jersey because at the time they held no value like we see today. They were, quite literally, just a player’s sweaty uniform and not a collector’s item. Sittler also says he has no plans to bid on his former sweater either.
Speaking of jersey auctions, don’t expect to see the jersey Ovechkin was wearing when he scored 895 for sale. That jersey was returned to Ovechkin himself and might end up in a museum that he plans to build. Plenty of Ovechkin jerseys from milestones past were put up for sale in anticipation of him reaching and breaking Gretzky’s record.
The highest price ever paid for a hockey jersey at auction was $1.29 million for a 1979 Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers jersey. The only other jersey to surpass a $1 million price tag was $1.02 million for a 1970 Bobby Orr Boston Bruins jersey. In third place was a 1984 Paul Coffey Edmonton Oilers jersey that sold for the relative bargain of $71,700. All of these prices were as of 2023, according to Kukla’s Korner Hockey.
If any of our fans have deep pockets and want to bid for a piece of hockey history you can find the link here. As of Tuesday evening, the bid was over $61,000 with 19 days left to bid. Grey Flannel Auctions previously sold another one of Sittler’s jerseys, a Detroit Red Wings sweater from the 1984-1985 season, for just over $1,500.