The final Edmonton Oilers sweater ever worn in a game by Wayne Gretzky is now the most expensive hockey jersey in the history of the sport.
Gretzky’s jersey from the controversial Game 4 of the 1988 Stanley Cup Final was sold at auction at a record-breaking price of $2.806million.
Gretzky and the Oilers won their fourth straight Stanley Cup title in a sweep of the Boston Bruins that year. Within three months, Gretzky would be traded to the Los Angeles Kings.
The auction price shattered the previous record of $1.452m in June of 2022, which belonged to this exact same jersey.
While the 2022 sale included letters of authenticity from Photo-Match.com and MeiGray, the latter authentication was upgraded.
In the lot description of the item, MeiGrey ‘conclusively determined’ that Gretzky didn’t just wear the jersey in Game 4 – but Game 1 as well, alongside three other contests.
The jersey worn by Wayne Gretzky when he last won the Stanley Cup has broken a record
Gretzky’s sweater from the 1988 Stanley Cup Playoffs sold for over $2.8m at auction
It’d be the last title he won in his career and came three months before his trade to the Kings
Among those games included a March 1, 1988 game between the Oilers and Kings where Gretzky passed Gordie Howe for the all-time career assists mark at 1,050.
But it’s closely tied to Game 4 – where the Oilers completed a sweep of the Bruins after a controversial stoppage of the series that led to a change of venue.
Game 4 began on May 24 at the Boston Garden but did not end until May 26 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.
With the game tied at 3-3, the aging Garden – which would be replaced seven years later by the now-named TD Garden – suffered a power failure when a switchgear failed and the emergency generator did not start.
Both teams were sent to the locker rooms and, after a long delay, NHL president John Ziegler Jr declared the game was suspended.
The contest was then rescheduled, moved back to Edmonton, and was completely re-started as a brand new game at 0-0. The Oilers would go on to win 6-3.
Three months later, Oilers owner Peter Pocklington traded Gretzky to the Kings along wtih Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski in exchange for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, three first-round picks and $15million in cash.
Within two years, the Oilers won the Stanley Cup again – beating the Bruins after yet another power failure at Boston Garden. Meanwhile, Gretzky wouldn’t win another cup before retiring in 1999.
