World’s oldest hockey stick has local connection

The world s oldest stick is being auctioned at the Molson Canadian Hockey House in Vancouver during the Olympics.

When Nancy Bailey-Brazeau received an invitation to an event in Toronto from Sotheby's International Realty, she was happy to be included—even before she knew she was going to see the world's oldest hockey stick.

It's not a particularly attractive stick, she says, and she's seen it before, but it has a history that means a lot to her—one she has heard often during family gatherings, and one that has a family connection.

The Toronto event featured an auction by vipthrills.com, and being auctioned was the hockey stick that was carved by her great-grandfather some time in the mid 1850s—thought to be between 1852 and 1856.
Vipthrills.com bills itself as "the go-to auction destination to find thrilling experiences and one-of-a-kind memorabilia."

The event held at the top of Toronto at an elegant 48th floor penthouse on King Street West offered an opportunity to experience life at its finest, featuring a 360-degree view of the Toronto skyline, says Bailey-Brazeau.

Sotheby's International Realty sponsored the event, and her invitation came with no knowledge of her connection to one of the main attractions.

The hockey stick is owned by Bailey-Brazeau's cousin on her mother's side, Gordon Sharpe, and has been appraised at $4.25 million.

Her great-grandfather, who lived in Coburg, whittled the stick, and carved his name on it. Its history has been authenticated, and it has most recently been stored at the Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame.

"I've heard about this stick all my life, and I had seen it once before. It was hanging in Wayne Gretzky's bar in Toronto. It's not very beautiful."

Her cousin told her some months ago that he was looking for a way to use the valuable piece of family history to do some good.

Since then it has been determined that some of the money that is received for the stick will go to the Haitian disaster and the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

Bailey-Brazeau says her family on both sides have deep hockey connections—with NHL players related to both her mother and father.

"Hockey was a big part of our lives growing up."

At the auction event, she says, "for the first time in my life I felt like a celebrity, all over this ugly hockey stick."

The auction has been timed to co-incide with the Olympics, and will end Feb. 28.

It also offers the once in a lifetime experience to be the first in Canada to drive the Audi R8 Spyder, attend a Leaf's hockey game in a private box with hockey legends Johnny Bower and Bobby Hull or shoot the breeze with "Mr. hockey" himself, Gordie Howe, at a Detroit Red Wings game.

For more information go to www.Vipthrills.com.

Penny Coles (2010, February 18). World’s oldest hockey stick has local connection. Niagara Advance. Retrieved from http://www.niagaraadvance.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2455583