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I recently received a catalog in the mail, advertising a special auction between Heritage Auctions and MeiGray. This auction features 11 game-worn hockey jerseys from players who are either Hall of Famers or near-locks to become Hall of Famers. MeiGray was the original seller of some of these jerseys (the ones that have a “MeiGray tag” on the inside), and they also photo-matched all of these prior to Heritage’s auction. So let’s look at them!
This is the oldest jersey in this auction, and it’s also the only non-NHL jersey listed here. The accompanying photo only identifies the season, so we don’t know which specific dates Mr. Hockey wore this jersey, but the photo conclusively shows the exact hole in the back lower right. As a game-used collector, I place paramount value in being able to see a piece’s authenticity with my own eyes, so this photo-match with minimal date information is better than nothing! Additional photos and info here.
The good news about this jersey? There’s plenty of good news. It’s a Gretzky, it’s available as of this writing, and it is “patched.” As I wrote in my inaugural “Remembering Patches” article, the term “patched” refers to special commemorative patches only worn for limited amounts of time. This jersey is “double-patched,” with the NHL’s 75th anniversary and the Kings’ 25th anniversary patches together.
The bad news? The auction refers to a “Getty Image #56752472.” I cannot seem to find that photo on my own! MeiGray did some photo-matching work, and if they did their work correctly, the jersey could be attributed to either January 23, 1992 or February 11, 1992. I just wish I could check all of their work! This Kings vs. Blues photo uses no fewer than 11 photo-match data points, among both digits of the left 99, both digits of the back 99, and the R and E in Gretzky. In my ideal world as a collector, I would rather photo-match to real work on the ice, instead of the seamstress’s work with the sewing machine, but enough threads in enough places are often good enough anyway.
Now for some saving graces. If I can’t find MeiGray’s source photo in St. Louis, I can at least photo-match this jersey to this otherwise undated photo in LA. Meanwhile, that same captain’s C looks exactly the same in this Kings vs. Oilers photo! Even though there’s no specific date in that Oilers photo, the patches identify the year, and Esa Tikkanen’s presence means the photo is from a game before he was traded to the Rangers. Additional photos and info here.
This is probably my favorite jersey in the auction! I’ve never heard about Janet’s heart on any jersey, but sure enough, it’s right there in the “hole” of the left-hand 9! MeiGray used that photo (vaguely attributed to January 1999) to show the heart, and the stripes come together just perfectly at his cervical spine for me to offer a second photo-match point in the same photo.
If we want to play Guess the Game from this photo, it was taken with Gretzky on the ice, #34 Peter Popovic in uniform, and goalie #35 Mike Richter in uniform but not playing. Richter played some, but not all of the minutes, of the January 6, 1999 game vs. the Devils, and he didn’t play January 10, 1999 vs. the Lightning either. MeiGray identified both of those games already, and I can’t narrow it down much further.
For other games that Gretzky may have worn this jersey, here it is in November 1998…earlier than anything else mentioned in the auction, and with the same disjunction of the stripes at the back of the neck, but seemingly before Janet’s scribble. And here it is again in December 1998, as I see with a horizontal mark on the dorsal aspect of the left sleeve. Bill Lindsay is #11 for the Florida Panthers in the background, which suggests use in Madison Square Garden on December 1, 1998 or January 21, 1999 — but given other dates of confirmed wear, probably both. Additional photos and info here.
The good news? It’s Mark Messier, it’s available at auction, and it’s patched for the Rangers’ 75th anniversary and Hockey Fights Cancer! Yes, once upon a time, only the captains wore HFC patches in the game…and then the teams moved to purple warmup jerseys, and now those warmup jerseys don’t even make it onto the ice anymore — they’re just produced in correct sizes, autographed, and auctioned.
The bad news? “One-game specials” can go either way in collectors’ opinions. Show me a jersey only worn in one game, and I’ll either show you a truly unique one-of-one, or else I’ll show you a jersey with not a lot of wear on it. To my eyes, it’s more like the latter…especially since the only good photo-match data is seamstress work as seen prior to the game. Oh well. But hey, it probably means it will be priced accordingly! Additional photos and info here.
As a collector, I have nothing but good things to say about this jersey!
Ovechkin has always been a collector, with more than 300 sticks of teammates, opponents, and friends throughout his career. Ever since he planned his personal museum in Moscow, he’s become even more of a hoarder collector. I don’t think I’ve even seen an Ovechkin goal-scored puck from 2021 or later in the collection hobby (yep, he started keeping those too), and in the buildup to Ovi’s 895th goal and beyond, MeiGray has flooded the market with Ovi jerseys, each worn for a handful of games at most.
With later-era game used Ovechkin items being relatively scarce, I love the visible wear on this jersey, and I especially love that some visible wear (not just threads) makes for a definitive photo-match to his 300th career NHL regular season goal. Additional photos and info here.
The good news? Compared to the Mark Messier one-game special, this is from the Winter Classic, with a completely different look and the appropriate patch.
The bad news? Less than a one-game special, this is a one-period-only jersey.
The rebuttal of that bad news? It’s conclusively photo-matched to a moment of on-ice action, which is better than the Messier, even if it’s on threads instead of wear too.
More bad news if you’re a Yinzer? It’s a Blue Jersey of Doom. Additional photos and info here.
Another “gr8” Ovi jersey…this one is in the beautiful throwback style. MeiGray photo-matched this jersey to his 400th career NHL regular season goal via this photo. Unfortunately, I can’t see that piece of wear anywhere on the jersey. I bet I could see it in hand, but not in the catalog, and not in the online listing. I can, however, photo-match to the right shoulder, as congratulated by Mike Green for the same goal! For what it’s worth, I can also photo-match this same jersey to this photo and this other photo from the same game. The mark on the right shoulder is still there, and we can see some peculiar threads and the exact same mesh hole pattern in the left 8. Additional photos and info here.
This Jagr jersey was worn as he scored his 700th career NHL regular season goal! To my eye, I see the milestone photo-match most clearly on the back 6, and the top right part of the “lower hole” in the left 8. The date of that goal was March 1, 2014.
MeiGray was the original seller of this jersey, as it is “MeiGray tagged.” For these “MeiGray tagged” jerseys, Excel spreadsheets fully document their original inventory for each year. According to the 2013-14 population report, this jersey was destined to be Jagr’s “away set 3” jersey, but when he scored the 700th goal in the first game of use, the jersey got prematurely retired.
There is some other evidence of wear (especially a mark on the lower front), but unfortunately I can’t photo-match that. Ultimately, if you have to have a one-game wonder, you could do worse than Jagr’s 700th goal! Additional photos and info here.
This is a one-game special designed for the Oilers’ inaugural game in their new arena, which also makes it Connor McDavid’s first ever regular season jersey as the team’s captain. On top of that, the jersey is conclusively photo-matched to his celebrating his first ever NHL penalty shot goal. If the Mark Messier jersey is on the lower end of the spectrum of one-game special jerseys, this one is on the opposite end! Special patch, special night, special moments, all in one beautiful orange package. Additional photos and info here.
The Toronto Maple Leafs wore this “St. Pats” style throwback jersey twice in the shortened COVID 2020-21 NHL season–this one, on March 14, 2021 against the Ottawa Senators, and a different copy on March 19, 2021 against the Calgary Flames. (You can see the diagonal lines in the back 3 hitting in different places.) MeiGray photo-matched this jersey based on a mark near the left 4 in Getty 1231735547, and I can also see a white thread near the front right hip in Getty 1231735751. As a Habs fan, if I ever had to own a Leafs jersey, I’d probably take this one…Rocket Richard Trophy winning season for an American-born man, before the Buds blew a 3-1 lead in the playoffs! Additional photos and info here.
We end on the most recent jersey. This is an Ovechkin jersey from earlier this year. Compared to the two other Ovi jerseys in this auction, the wear here is significantly lighter. Luckily, some wear is present on the left arm, and it appears to photo-match to postgame celebrations, right after Ovi lit the lamp with a late empty-netter. That being said, just to make sure that the photo-match is definitive, MeiGray honed in on the Caps’ 50th anniversary patch and the captain’s C. Additional photos and info here.
If you want to see the entire printed catalog, look below:
Meanwhile, if you want to follow the bidding activity, check out the auction pages at the “Additional photos and info” links. Good luck bidding, or enjoy watching other people spend their own money! But move fast — the auction ends this Saturday, April 19.
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