As everyone probably knows by now, Paul Henderson's 1972 Team Canada jersey is for sale in the current Classic auction. The sale has received a ton of media coverage across Canada and I just stumbled across this article.
Jim, thanks for the link. Before I start, let me say that I am not Canadian (although my wife changed her citizenship from Canada to the U.S.). I have a lot of in-law's in Canada who still speak fondly of the game and series. For us Americans as well as Canadians who weren't around at that time, I can only surmise that the impact of the game was the U.S./Canada gold medal game + the Miracle at Lake Placid 1980 combined and times 10 as far as importance, ramifications and the entire country's reputation at stake. Yes, the jersey does belong in Canada for everyone to appreciate. As there is a precedent for using government (i.e. taxes) funds to re-acquire these national artifacts/treasures as stated in the article, then I have no problem with this. More money for the seller, more money for Classic Auctions with hopefully a trickle-down effect to bring more jerseys/memorabilia out of the woodworks.
and bid $200,000.....this is not an item the CDN gov't needs to spend any money on....we just blew our load spending $1 billion on the G20 conference.....
Why don't they just have these G7 & G20 conferences on a military base? anyways, not intending to get political...it's just so fresh after filing taxes.
The Canadian government previously spent a lot of money to buy several items from the Rocket Richard estate collection back in 2002, so it's a possibility that they could do it again.
Of course it's a very significant jersey, but chances are that a Canadian collector would buy it anyway and it would stay in Canada. There are so many historical pieces available and the museums budget are very limited, they have to be very disciplined. Hockey fans will say go for it, but others will complain and pretend that the governments money should be spent on other priorities...
Let's not forget that the Orr and Gretzky rookie jerseys (the 2 highest selling hockey jerseys so far) were purchased by Canadian collectors. It is our national sport and some serious guys are willing to spend a lot to keep it here.
Fred. I also think there are a couple of Canadian collectors that are going to take a serious run at the jersey.
Just heard on the radio about the canadian tire bid. Pretty cheesy marketing move if you ask me. Sending out a press release announcing that you are going to make a bid that won't even come close to landing the item.
i wouldn't discount a deep pocketed collector sniping it from the Government or CDN Tire though for investment purposes ~ as i suspect the Jersey could fetch upwards to 1 million plus ~ a few years from now ..........
Don't care who buys it as long as it's not a hockey card company. They'd chop it into a million pieces. You know, so we can ALL "own a piece of the game" (or whatever the lame slogan is).
If the Canadian government doesn't buy it I could see someone like Gretzky, Patrick Roy, Bobby Orr, etc buying it. I'm sure its home will eventually be in the HOF in Toronto.
I think that the Jersey is worth the $1,275,000.00, as that is what someone is willing to pay for the item.
In addition, it one of the single most important hockey events that took place - if not the most important hockey event in history.
It has been said that Henderson scored the most important goal in hockey history. For many people that watched that game they have a strong emotional bond to that particular series. Who knows maybe the winner was at that game??
Besides, it is not only the player that wears the jersey that determines a Jersey's price (ie. Gretzy, Orr, Morenz ect.) it is the history behind a particular jersey and what happened while that player was wearing it that determines the price.
A Gretzky rookie jersey or an Orr rookie jersey is just that - a jersey - plus it has the histroy of their rookie year behind it. The are very valuable jersey don't get me wrong but you have more of a history behind a jersey which would make it more valuable than the next.
Paul
This message has been edited by shiftintermedia on Jun 23, 2010 8:50 AM
The jersey is worth 6 or 7 times more than Gretzky rookie, Orr rookie or Howie Morenz because it represents Canada and not just a local team or one particular player.
The 1972 Summit Series was bigger than ANY Stanley Cup, what country lets their grade school children watch baseball or football or even soccer games in the classroom, no one but Canadians in hockey, the politics behind the game, the nations honour was at stake, never was Gretzky, Orr or Morenz anywhere close to this degree nationally...!
I do note that other related series items in the auction sold at record levels too.
At this price, I wonder what other treasures will now surface now from that series....
Having experienced all that excitement as a teen, a game used puck from the series was always on the higher part of my want list.
