91-92 Brent Gretzky Belleville Bulls Jersey

November 15th, 2008

This is the game worn 1991-92 road Belleville Bulls jersey of center Brent Gretzky.

Gretzky, the younger brother of Wayne Gretzky, was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third round, 49th overall, in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft.

Though he didn’t achieve the NHL success of his older brother, skating in just 13 NHL games, he had a very successful minor league career before retiring after the 2005-06 season.

This jersey is a size 52 Maska ultrafil manufactured by CCM. It shows light wear, with some nice board burns on the shoulders and some stick marks around the hem and cuffs.

All of the logos, numbers, and the assistant captain’s “A” are sewn on. The ultrafil nameplate is all sewn as well. Along the hem, the CHL logo and CCM brand are embroidered.

Inside, along the side seam is the large Maska tag often found in jerseys from the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. It’s possible that this is actually a 1990-91 jersey.

I acquired this jersey on January 16, 2006 from Curtis Hall.

This jersey doesn’t really fit into my collection, as Brent Gretzky never played for a team based out of Hartford (he did play one season out of Danbury, CT), but who wouldn’t want a game worn Gretzky in the collection?

Posted in Belleville Bulls, Ontario Hockey League | 4 Comments »

03-04 Marc Staal Sudbury Wolves Jersey

February 24th, 2008

This is the game worn 2003-04 road Sudbury Wolves jersey of defenseman Marc Staal.

The jersey is a Maska Ultrafil knit jersey manufactured by CCM. It’s a size 54 and shows no customizations. There are stick marks all over the front hem and the sleeves are littered with board burns, small un-repaired holes, and slices.

There is one large unrepaired 3+ inch horizontal slice just below the “W” on the front crest. In fact, there aren’t any repairs on this jersey, though it could definitely use some work.

The front crest is all sewn. On the chest are the OHL’s league patch on the right side and the CCM patch on the left size. The back has the CCM patch again sewn to the back of the neck and the CHL logo is embroidered to the lower left side hem. The fightstrap is stained blue.

Marc Staal wore this jersey for his first season in the OHL in 2003-04 when he scored just one goal, along with 13 assists, over 61 games. Hardly league leading numbers, but his defensive ability lead him to be drafted in the first round, 12th overall, by the New York Rangers in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

I originally purchased this jersey from long time Sudbury Wolves employee Curtis Hall in January of 2006, a few months before Staal would take the ice for my hometown Hartford Wolf Pack during the 2006 Calder Cup playoffs.

As memory serves, Staal was terrible his first 12 games at the professional level and essentially cost the Wolf Pack a playoff series, but another year in Sudbury for the 2006-07 season was just what he needed as he’s holding his own on Broadway these days…

Posted in Ontario Hockey League, Sudbury Wolves | 1 Comment »