85-86 Sylvain Turgeon Hartford Whalers Jersey

March 4th, 2008 | Posted in Hartford Whalers, National Hockey League |

This is the game worn 1985-86 road Hartford Whalers jersey of left wing Sylvain Turgeon.

Sylvain Turgeon was drafted second overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft behind Brian Lawton. While Lawton would turn out to be a bust for the Minnesota North Stars, Turgeon would have immediate success at the NHL level leading the Whalers with 40 goals in his rookie season as an 18 year old.

Based on the CCM “born-on” date behind the size tag that reads “86 04″, this jersey was either worn towards the end of the 1985-86 season and/or the beginning of the 1986-87 season.

The Whalers only lasted two rounds (9 games) into the 1986 playoffs and based on the heavy wear this jersey shows, it’s reasonable to believe that it could also be from the 1986-87 season.

The jersey is a CCM mesh that I originally acquired from another collector in October of 1997.

The size tag, which is falling off reads TG/XL. It also has Turgeon’s 16 written on it in black sharpie as do all of the Hartford Whalers jerseys in my collection.

Name, numbers, and crest are all sewn. There is no nameplate, the letters are individually sewn on directly. The rear CCM hem pattern is blue-blue-green, with white lettering, and is embroidered.

Inside, the fightstrap has pulled free from the twill base and the snap has also been pulled through. Turgeon was hardly a brawler, but the fightstrap clearly shows that it was a different game in the 1980’s.

The exterior of the jersey shows a ton of wear. Board burns, repairs, and stick marks litter the sleeves and front of the jersey. The white sections on the sleeves show some yellowing. The stitching at the front of the neckline has popped.

There are some easily identifiable black marks across the front crest as well as the numbers on the right and left sleeves, but to date, I haven’t found a photo match though I’ve no doubt one will turn up sooner or later. As luck would have it, most of the time the photos on hockey cards were not taken in Hartford, so the Whale are almost always in their road greens in pictures.

This is one of my favorites in my collection. Partially because it’s from a fan favorite of my favorite team, but mostly because of all of the wear it shows and because of the small size. It was a different era in the NHL. Equipment that fit, more goal scoring, and a lot more rough stuff…