1990 CCM NHL All-Star Home Authentic
#66 Mario Lemieux with Captain's "C" and 41st NHL All-Star Game Patch
Manufacturer: CCM
Size: 50
Purchased From: eBay
Lettered by: Unknown
The Story: This was one of the jerseys I had been in search of for years. I watched Mario Lemieux score four goals and win MVP honors in the 1990 All-Star Game in front of his home crowd in Pittsburgh and it was on that day, January 21, 1990, that I knew for certain that Pittsburgh had the privilege of being the home of the greatest hockey player in the world. Wayne Gretzky will always have the career scoring records, due in part to his longevity free of illness and injury and due in part to the fact that he started his NHL career on a strong team in Edmonton, but no one could do the things that Mario could. Gretzky couldn't, and in later years, neither could Malkin, Ovechkin, or even Crosby. This game was his American coming out party, as it was televised national on NBC. And he did it in the one place that made that day magical: Pittsburgh.
I had hunted for this jersey for a long time. Every time I found one, it wasn't quite right. It either had the patch of a different All-Star Game, or the lettering wasn't quite right, or something. This was The One. I had verified its authenticity by comparing the pictures on its eBay listing to those of Lemieux in that game. There was no denying that this was The One and, to this day, remains one of the Holy Grails in my collection.
Size: 50
Purchased From: eBay
Lettered by: Unknown
The Story: This was one of the jerseys I had been in search of for years. I watched Mario Lemieux score four goals and win MVP honors in the 1990 All-Star Game in front of his home crowd in Pittsburgh and it was on that day, January 21, 1990, that I knew for certain that Pittsburgh had the privilege of being the home of the greatest hockey player in the world. Wayne Gretzky will always have the career scoring records, due in part to his longevity free of illness and injury and due in part to the fact that he started his NHL career on a strong team in Edmonton, but no one could do the things that Mario could. Gretzky couldn't, and in later years, neither could Malkin, Ovechkin, or even Crosby. This game was his American coming out party, as it was televised national on NBC. And he did it in the one place that made that day magical: Pittsburgh.
I had hunted for this jersey for a long time. Every time I found one, it wasn't quite right. It either had the patch of a different All-Star Game, or the lettering wasn't quite right, or something. This was The One. I had verified its authenticity by comparing the pictures on its eBay listing to those of Lemieux in that game. There was no denying that this was The One and, to this day, remains one of the Holy Grails in my collection.