How much did Wayne Gretzky’s final Edmonton Oilers jersey sell for?
NHL great Wayne Gretzky’s final Oilers jersey has smashed the record for an item of hockey memorabilia sold at auction.
Wayne Gretzky is once again part of hockey history. The last jersey the NHL’s all-time leading scorer wore with the Edmonton Oilers in 1988 was sold for $1.452million on Sunday to set a record for the highest ever paid for a hockey jersey.
Gretzky wore the jersey on May 26, 1988, when the Oilers completed a sweep of the Boston Bruins to win their fourth Stanley Cup championship in five seasons.
That matchup occurred two days after Game 4 was called off with the score tied 3-3 in the second period due to the electricity going out at the Boston Garden.
The game was restarted and Gretzky had a goal and two assists in Edmonton’s 6-3 victory. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP for the second time in his career.
Gretzky jersey sale eclipses Summit Series Henderson
Less than three months later, Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings, ending a nine-season run with the Oilers that saw “The Great One” win the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s regular-season MVP eight years in a row from 1980-87.
Sunday’s sale broke the mark of $1.275m that was paid for the 1972 Summit Series jersey worn by Paul Henderson when he scored the winning goal in the final minute of Canada’s eighth and final game against the Soviet Union.
Henderson’s goal clinched the series for Canada with a 4-3-1 record, and in 2017 was named the greatest moment in the nation’s sports history by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.