This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 6/6/2022.
Gordie Howe began his NHL career in 1946 with the Detroit Red Wings, the franchise he would represent for the next 25 seasons. When discussing the greatest players in the history of the sport, Gordie is included in the top 5 of every list. In fact, the two players who often give him a run for his money, Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr, each consider Howe as the greatest to ever play the game. Howe’s incredible career statistics don’t even do him justice, as he played for decades at the highest level in a very low scoring environment. Gordie played in 1767 NHL games and scored a remarkable 801 goals. He added another 1049 assists for 1850 points. Howe’s mantle is filled with hardware that includes 6 Art Ross Trophies as the NHL’s leading scorer, 6 Hart Memorial Trophies as the NHL’s MVP and 4 Stanley Cups. Gordie was voted 21 times a 1st or 2nd team NHL All-Star. This amazing piece of hockey history has a storied past. Gordie discussed this historic find himself confirming the authenticity. One letter of provenance very worthy of mention is a copy from former longtime Detroit Red Wings trainer Lefty Wilson, dated September 1994, that states that Gordie wore this jersey during the 1960’s and that Lefty was in fact personally responsible for the repair work found on this sweater. This road white durene gamer by General Athletic and Olympic Sporting Goods was worn by Gordie Howe during the 1960’s. This example is easily the finest Howe durene we have ever had the pleasure of handling. Sewn into the collar are the Olympic Sporting Goods and size “48” tagging. The jersey is sans the General Athletics tag inside the rear left tail with anchor stitching still present. The game wear consists of stick marks, board burns, board paint transfer, stitch pops, inner pilling and some incredible repair work. There are more than a dozen team-sewn repairs found scattered across the body and sleeves. The most notable repair is a large patch job on the belly where the material was removed from the inner hem by Lefty Wilson and used to help sew up the damage. Howe signed in beautiful black sharpie on the inside of the crest which in our opinion rates a 9. A truly wonderful Hall of Fame worthy example, complete with incredible history, provenance and documentation. This jersey is properly tagged, was presented to us as game-used and in our opinion shows outstanding use. Accompanied by a copy of a Lefty Wilson LOA, MeiGray LOA and a Full JSA LOA.