The NHL’s Stadium Series has proven to be a smash hit and collectors are getting a chance to own a little piece of the league’s outdoor showcases.
This season’s games were the 40th and 41st in the series. The league’s first ever back-to-back matchups in a single venue last month drew over 150,000 fans to MetLife Stadium over two nights.
The unique games played in football and baseball stadiums during the middle of winter have become some of the NHL’s most popular schedule additions in years. The two games averaged between 1.1 and 1.6 million viewers on ESPN.
MeiGray holds memorabilia deals with the two teams that played in the first of those two games on Sat., Feb. 17. Items from the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers are crossing the auction block this month, with several different auctions currently underway.
Interest in the Stadium Series is strong enough that even items that weren’t worn during the game itself are being sold, such as jerseys worn in the official photo shoot and warmups.
Some of the top items currently offered are the helmets and sticks used by the Flyers during the 6-3 loss to the Devils.
The stick used by Owen Tippett for both of his goals is among the available items.
MeiGray staff members not only watch them get put into use, but they tag and register it all in a database and even work to photomatch as many items as possible. It’s all to make sure there’s a strong, permanent record for collectors.
Nineteen game-used Flyers sticks and 19 game-used helmets are currently being offered in the auction.
Sticks can be especially challenging because they’re often taped and retaped during the game and receive significant and changing wear as the game goes on. Quality photos, such as those available through Getty Images, are key.
“Two goals with one stick. That’s hard to photomatch,” said MeiGray’s NHL Program Director Geoff Spaid during a recent edition of the company’s Tales from the Warehouse podcast. “Especially when you have some guys like Tippett, who for the first goal his blade tape looked one way and then on the second goal, the blade tape looked different and then the blade tape is completely different. Then, I have to go and match it based on things like scuffs and scratches and just different characteristics–even serial numbers. Sometimes the photos are so good you can read the serial number or the handle tape and be able to conclusively photo match and say that stick is the stick used in both goals.”
Among the other auctions currently underway are the Devils’ practice and photo shoot jerseys.
Nashville Predators locker room nameplates from the 2022 Stadium series are also up for grabs.
Auctions close at various times over the next couple of weeks at MeiGrayAuctions.com.
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