Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction June 2018
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/19/2018
Despite numerous Wayne Gretzky sticks in the hobby, each is highly coveted, with those rare “transitional” models along with special examples used during milestone events most desirable. The first of its kind we’ve had the pleasure of handling, we have a stick used by Gretzky that features an early ORANGE “gripper” accoutrement. Originating from Oilers’ Public Relations Director Bill Tuele, the stick was given to Ralph Carter who was acting as guest PR Director for the Oilers, with Tuele asking Wayne to sign and dedicate the stick to Ralph, with “To Ralph, Health and Happiness Wayne Gretzky” over the lower shaft. Additionally, our research team spoke to Dave Langford (Skully) who worked for the Oilers in the 80's. His last year was 86-87 and said that he remembers Gretzky trying out very early grippers. A familiar Titan model, “W. Gretzky” appears stamped-on, with a date code of “6 FEV 1987” visible along the underside. The gripper is roughly 4 ½” in length - with both the stick and gripper exhibiting equivalent thorough wear - with the edges noticeably paler from handling. The gripper was originally cut directly on the stick, with the tool mark visible along one side. Wayne started to use grippers regularly in 1987-88, making this example most likely one of the first he tried/tested in practice(s) and/or games!
The gripper has a couple minor cuts/slits, with a few marks/annotations present. “99” appears handwritten and quite faded over the upper shaft, with a code of “1-002” over the underside of the shaft at the heel section. As mentioned, the stick exhibits thorough use but remains completely solid, with considerable wear to the shaft including loss to the graphics and a few dings to the surface along the underside. The taped section of blade also shows great use, with heavy wear to the underside. There is also a small amount of red paint transfer just above the heel section. We should also note that along with acting as a guest PR Director at the time this stick was received, Ralph Carter also worked with the Jets (1982-87) along with the Oilers (1987-89). He also worked in tandem with Tuele at the 1985 All Star Game in Calgary and again with the Oilers at the 1985 Stanley Cup Final.
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