At the end of next month, Heritage Auctions will hold its “Summer Platinum Nights” auction of sports memorabilia. The marquee event features plenty of high ticket items, with highlights including a pocket watch from the 1923 World Series given to Babe Ruth and a game worn Mickey Mantle jersey.
There are a few pieces of NHL memorabilia are up for bidding at this summers event. Plenty of unopened hockey trading card boxes are among the more than 30 hockey related lots. One of the highest ticket items is a 1911 Georges Vezina card from a pack of Imperial Tobacco. Vezina, who would become the name sake of the league’s Vezina trophy for goaltending, was in his rookie season after being signed by the Montreal Canadiens in 1910. He would play his entire career in Montreal retiring after the 1925-1926 season. The auction side calls it the "second finest example" of a Vezina rookie card and it is estimated to sell for more than $120,000.
A few Stanley Cup rings are also up for auction. The oldest is 1980 New York Islanders championship ring given to the team dentist. General manager Pierre LaCroix’s ring from the Colorado Avalanche’s 1996 championship is up for bidding as well. That one is predicted to sell for the most, with an estimate of over $20,000. A Vegas Golden Knights ring is the most recent up for bid. While not a ring, a championship pendant from the Chicago Blackhawks 2010 championship is also in the auction.
Of course there’s a small handful of game-used jerseys. The oldest is Eddie Giacomin’s New York Rangers jersey that was used from 1965-1967. Remember, back in the old days, jerseys could be used for more than one season so it wasn’t uncommon for a set to be used multiple years. A 1988-89 Luc Robitaille Los Angeles Kings jersey is also for sale, as well as being signed by Robitaille.
While we’re talking about signed jerseys the star of this auction belongs to the Great One. A Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers jersey used from 1979-1981 is game worn, authenticated by Meigray, and signed by Gretzky himself. The timeline of the jersey fits when the Oilers were entering the NHL after the merger of the WHA. It also features a commemorative patch for the city of Edmonton’s 75th anniversary in 1979. An interesting note from the auction description is that the “Gretzky” name plate is the only thing that has been replaced on the jersey and the only part “not original to Gretzky’s usage”. It is expected to sell for more than $250,000.
A 2023 article reports the most expensive hockey jersey ever sold was Gretzky’s from his last game with the Oilers. That sold for $1.452 million in 2022. Earlier this year we wrote an article about Darryl Sittler’s record-breaking jersey going up for auction. It eventually sold for over $143,000.
The Heritage Auction also featured a few other pieces of Gretzky game used memorabilia. A pair of game worn, signed, and photo matched Jofa gloves from the Edmonton Oilers 1987-88 season is expected to go for over $12,000. A game used stick from the first year of the Oilers historic run in 1983-84 is also available and signed by Gretzky. The auction description says the aforementioned stick was used on the last game of Gretzky’s 51 game point streak and was gifted to singer Fee Waybill through a mutual friend. The stick is expected to sell for over $15,000.
Other hockey related lots include a plethora of single trading cards, a signed Gretzky game program, as well as ticket stubs from notable Gretzky career achievements. Online proxy bidding is currently ongoing, with live bidding scheduled to take place the weekend of August 23rd through 24th. Select pieces will be traveling to Heritage Auctions locations for in person viewing prior to that.