NHL legend Bobby Orr. FILE: REUTERS/Adam HungerAdam Hunger/Reuters
Bobby Orr's jersey from Canada's win over Czechoslovakia in the finals of the 1976 Canada Cup is going on the auction block.
The jersey is being sold by Classic Auctions, the Montreal-area company that also handled the sale of Paul Henderson's 1972 Summit Series jersey.
"We believe that this photo-matched, game-worn Bobby Orr Team Canada 1976 Canada Cup jersey, with unwavering provenance, most certainly represents the second-most significant Team Canada uniform find in the history of the game and the hobby," Classic Auctons says on its website.
The Henderson jersey went to Toronto-area real estate developer Mitch Goldhar in June 2010 for US$1,067,538 — roughly C$1.27 million at the time.
With two weeks left in the auction, the highest bid on the Orr jersey as of Tuesday afternoon was $28,536.
But Marc Juteau, president of Classic Auctions, believe there will be a flurry of bids driving up the price leading up to the Nov. 1 close.
"We're not necessarily comparing it value-wise. We never really expected the Henderson (jersey) to sell for that much money," said Juteau.
"It's going to be interesting to see what the Bobby Orr fetches, what people think it's worth."
Henderson gave his jersey to Team Canada's trainer Joe Sgro as a gift. Sgro later sold it and an unidentified private American collector auctioned it off.
Orr traded sweaters with Czech player Oldrich Machac after the deciding game of the Canada Cup. Machac kept it ever since, loaning it out to the Hockey Hall of Fame for a time.
He passed it on to Classic Auctions earlier this year for sale and passed away soon after.
Canada won the 1976 tournament, defeating Czechoslovakia 6-0 in Toronto and 5-4 in Montreal to win the best-of-three final.
Orr, who was tournament MVP, is apparently not too keen on seeing his jersey for sale.
He declined an interview request but business partner Rick Curran said in an email that Orr was "a little disappointed someone would auction off a meaningful gift like that."