A hockey stick used by Wayne Gretzky during the 1988 Stanley Cup Finals has made headlines, selling for an impressive $336,000 at a Sotheby's auction. This price sets a new record for the highest amount ever paid for an NHL-used stick.
The historic stick, verified by MeiGray through photo-matching and authenticated by James Spence Authentication, features Gretzky's signature inscribed with the message: "To Rick, Best Wishes, Wayne Gretzky, May 26th, 1988." It originally belonged to Rick "The Stick" Elaschuk, a longtime Edmonton Oilers employee and the visiting team stick man since the team's World Hockey Association days.
The auction attracted considerable attention, with 22 bidders submitting 79 bids for this rare piece of sports memorabilia. The sale's announcement came just hours before the Oilers' Game 6 clash against the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Finals at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
Previously, the record for an NHL-used stick was also held by Gretzky. In 2022, Sotheby's sold the stick from his final career game for $138,600. Other significant items from Gretzky's 1988 Stanley Cup Finals have also fetched high prices. In June 2022, his final Oilers jersey sold for $1.452 million, setting a record for the most expensive hockey jersey ever sold, and his gloves from the same game went for $204,162.
The 1988 Stanley Cup Finals saw the Oilers sweep the Boston Bruins. Game 4, held on May 24, 1988, at the Boston Garden, was famously suspended due to a power outage and never completed. The series moved back to Edmonton, where the Oilers clinched their fourth title in five seasons. This championship marked Gretzky's last with the Oilers before his seismic trade to the Los Angeles Kings less than three months later.
In the 1988 Finals, Gretzky scored 13 points, including three goals and 10 assists, setting a series record that remains unbroken. His 10 assists in the Finals are also a standing record. Gretzky, a nine-time league MVP, is the only player in NHL history to have his number retired leaguewide.