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Wayne Gretzky’s Final Edmonton Oilers Jersey Sets a New Record: Most Ever Paid for a Hockey Jersey

Published

3 years ago

5 minute read

The sports memorabilia market is heating up at the moment, and the record-breaking amount paid for the last jersey iconic hockey hero Wayne Gretzky wore for the Edmonton Oilers is clear evidence of this.

Even if you don’t have huge sums available to snap up meaningful items once owned by your favorite players, it’s entertaining to see just how much wealthy fans are willing to hand over. Let’s discuss what makes this particular jersey so special, and what else people who are passionate about hockey can do to show their support.

A game-changing auction lot

When the hammer fell on the recent sale of Gretzky’s jersey, a jaw-dropping winning bid of $1.452 million had been made to secure this totemic piece of otherwise standard hockey gear.

This easily toppled the $1.2 million paid for another jersey, this time worn by Paul Henderson, to set a new high watermark for hockey-based auction lots.

This type of sale is always interesting, in the sense that it’s not just the historic value of the lot that’s at play, but also its investment potential. The buyer will no doubt hope that Gretzky’s legendary status will grow with time, along with the value of the jersey.

How to watch the Edmonton Oilers play at home

If you want to catch the amazing Edmonton Oilers in the flesh, you can find a ticket for their next game via the web, and plan your game day visit in advance as well.

There’s something unbeatable about attending a hockey game in person, and the atmosphere is simply not something you can recreate when watching coverage from your own home.

Why this jersey in particular?

There are quite a few genuine Gretzky-worn jerseys out there, so what makes this one so special, and so valuable?

Well, as mentioned, it comes from the last game he played prior to leaving the Oilers in favor of a move to the LA Kings. It also has the honor of being from a Stanley Cup playoff game which actually had to be replayed due to a power cut part way through the first attempt.

Gretzky’s stellar performance was crucial to his team’s victory, and the post-game celebrations included him having champagne poured liberally over his head, which led to stains that can be seen on the jersey that was sold.

Other auction highlights

Any association with Gretzky helps sports memorabilia to sell, and the jersey wasn’t the only item worn by him which went under the hammer.

A little over $204,000 was paid for gloves he briefly used for protection during the aforementioned playoff game, demonstrating that even seemingly anonymous objects can fetch a pretty penny if they’ve got the right pedigree.

Of course even the $1.452 million that the jersey commanded is not even close to being the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia ever sold, when you include items from every sport, and not just hockey.

The Guinness Book of World Records reports that the current frontrunner sold in May of 2022 for a sum of £7.142 million, equivalent to $8.823 million. In this case it was another game shirt, this time one worn by soccer stalwart Diego Maradona during the quarter finals of the World Cup all the way back in 1986.

The particular game in which the shirt got its outing was one between Argentina and England, in which Maradona’s notorious goal put his team on the track to eventually win the whole tournament.

This record will no doubt be broken eventually, although it’s hard to imagine ever being able to justify such an investment.

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Also Interesting / 3 years ago

Wayne Gretzky’s Final Edmonton Oilers Jersey Sets a New Record: Most Ever Paid for a Hockey Jersey

Also Interesting

The bizarre story of Taro Tsujimoto

Published on March 28, 2025

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The National Hockey League (NHL) has seen its fair share of strange moments, but few compare to the bizarre and hilarious tale of Taro Tsujimoto, a player who never existed. His “selection” in the 1974 NHL Draft remains one of the most legendary pranks in hockey history. If you want to wager on actual players, making the 1xBet app download is definitely a great idea.

In the 1970s, the NHL Draft was a much less glamorous event than today. It was a tedious process conducted over the phone, with teams calling in their picks. The 3 biggest highlights of what happened during that year’s draft were:

  • the draft dragged on for hours;
  • there were multiple rounds and teams selecting unknown prospects from obscure leagues;
  • frustrated with the monotony, Buffalo Sabres general manager Punch Imlach decided to have a little fun.

As the 11th round approached, Imlach instructed his team’s representative to draft Taro Tsujimoto, a supposed forward from the Tokyo Katanas of the Japan Ice Hockey League. The name sounded authentic enough. The league officials, unfamiliar with Japanese hockey, accepted the pick without question. By downloading the 1xBet app you will also be able to wager on great NHL teams too.

A small problem

There was a small problem with all of this, as 2 things didn’t exist: Tsujimoto and the Tokyo Katanas. Imlach had completely fabricated the player as a joke, taking advantage of the NHL’s lack of verification. When it comes to NHL wagers, there is no better platform than the 1xBet Canada site.

For weeks, the league listed Tsujimoto as an official draft pick, and even some newspapers reported on Buffalo’s mysterious new Japanese prospect. Eventually, the Sabres admitted the hoax, and the NHL was forced to retroactively erase the selection from its records.

Despite being a fictional player, Taro Tsujimoto took on a life of his own. Buffalo Sabres fans embraced the prank, and over the years, his name has become a cult legend in hockey culture. Some fans even wore jerseys with “Tsujimoto” on the back. The joke persisted so much that when EA Sports released NHL video games, players could occasionally find Tsujimoto in the game’s draft pool as a hidden Easter egg.

More than just a prank, the story of Taro Tsujimoto highlights 2 things: the quirks of old-school sports management and the creativity of one of hockey’s most colorful executives. Today, with the draft process being highly scrutinized and broadcast live, such a prank would be impossible. But Tsujimoto’s legacy lives on as one of hockey’s greatest inside jokes. What is not a joke are the great rewards that a platform like the Canadian 1xBet site can give you.

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60% of Canadians gamble each month – why the industry is going from strength to strength

Published on March 26, 2025

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When it comes to regulating gambling, Canada has a somewhat relaxed approach. The Canadian Gaming Association oversees the industry, but it’s up to individual provinces to enact and enforce any laws relating to online casino gaming, sports betting, traditional casino gaming, and other forms of gambling.

Canada’s online casino gaming laws are not totally clear, but individual provinces are starting to put this right. Ontario was the first and did so when it launched its own regulated igaming market in April 2022. Now some other provinces have followed suit, creating a safer igaming environment for players in those provinces. Below is a look at gambling in Canada compared to other parts of the world, at gaming laws in Alberta compared to other provinces, and at the future of the Canadian, US, and UK gambling industries.

Canada: a forever love of gambling

Gambling in some form or other has always been popular in Canada. Way back in the 1990s, research found six in ten Canadians (60%) gambled every month. Additionally, four in ten (43%) spent between 1 and 20 Canadian dollars on gambling. Fast forward to today and the Canadian gambling market is worth 14.2 billion US dollars as of January 2024, according to data on the website of consumer and market data company Statista.

It seems Canada enjoys wagering just as much as two other countries that love a gamble: the US and the UK. Data on the Statista website shows that 49% of US adults took part in gambling activities in 2023. Fifty-six percent said their attitude towards gambling had relaxed, compared to the 50% of 2019.

The UK returned similar stats for the same year. Forty-eight percent of adults reported engaging in gambling activity. Online casinos generated the most gross gambling yield in 2023, but it was the nation’s National Lottery that people played the most.

 

Alberta: following Ontario’s lead

The regulatory developments in Ontario have triggered movement in Alberta. In May 2024, Bill 16, the Red Tape Reduction Amendment Act, made it through the process and later received Royal Assent to become law. The act removes the monopoly of gaming by a single government entity and will allow private operators, licensed by Alberta’s provincial regulator, to provide online gaming services in Alberta, meaning players will have a choice of more than one Alberta online casino to play at.

The regulation transforms Alberta into one of the more liberal provinces when it comes to online gambling, others being Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia.

Several provinces, such as Novia Scotia and Northwest Territories, have no provincially regulated online gaming sites. Some also restrict betting on horse racing and/or other types of sports betting, obliging citizens to use international betting sites for freedom from caps and betting on as many events as they wish.

What lies ahead for the Canadian, US, and UK gambling industries?

Canada’s appetite for gambling is clear, and the industry’s online sector is beginning to thrive. Ontario has enjoyed vast success by creating its own regulated market, one which, in just its first year, saw Canadians place billions in wagers and the industry itself generate more than a billion in total gaming revenue.

Canada can expect to see other provinces follow Ontario’s lead and allow private operators to provide services in the province under license. The purpose of the regulation is player protection. Any province that develops a regulated market will focus on this, so there will also be regulations around the advertising of gambling services.

The US

Gambling online is the future for the US, too, although states are slow to legalize it. As of September 2024, 38 states had legalized sports betting, following the US Supreme Court’s ruling that states could regulate sports gambling directly.

Despite allowing sports betting, some states only permit in-person betting, and only a few states allow online casino gaming. Operators believe online casino gaming is the future of gambling.

The UK

In the UK, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) will get bigger and bigger. Companies have realized AI can enhance players’ experience and are embracing it more and more. For instance, sports betting websites can use it to crunch data and provide iGamers with stats and other data to make better betting decisions. They’re also understanding they can use AI to prioritize content players are likely to be interested in and to personalize their offerings and services to players’ preferences.

Canada enjoys gambling as much as America and the UK. Although laws around igaming are more of a grey area in Canada, some provinces are clearing the issue up by creating regulated markets and experiencing great success. As time goes by, more are sure to follow.

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