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As part of this year´s Hlinka Gretzky Cup, an Edmonton Oilers jersey signed by Wayne Gretzky will be auctioned off to help Moravian municipalities hit by a devastating tornado in late June. The auction starts today and will continue until August 20.
The president of Czech Hockey, Tomáš Král, appreciates the help and expressions of solidarity from abroad. "We are honoured that we have a jersey with the signature of Wayne Gretzky for the auction. I would like to thank everyone who participated in the project," he said.
Simultaneously with the start of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, the auction of Wayne Gretzky´s signed Edmonton Oilers jersey begins. Everyone can participate in the auction from August 2 to 20. The starting price is set at CZK 5,000 and the proceeds from the auction will help Moravian villages affected by the devastating tornado on June 24.
Specifically, the object of the auction is a blue Edmonton Oilers jersey with orange and white elements, which comes from a special edition of CCM Legends of Hockey. The winner of the auction will receive a certificate confirming that it was signed in the presence of a witness and the authenticity of the signature was verified in the prescribed five-stage procedure. As part of the certificate, the future owner of the jersey will be able to register it on the website for collectors of sports memorabilia.
Commenting on the origin of the auction and the acquisition of the jersey, Král explained: "Břeclav has been associated with the tournament since 2002. Therefore, when people from abroad learned about the recent devastating tornado, we received many expressions of solidarity."
Along with Hockey Canada, Czech Hockey agreed that they will help the region by auctioning a jersey autographed by the best hockey player of all time.
At the end of June 2021, the area of the Břeclav and Hodonín regions was hit by a devastating tornado, which damaged the villages of Hrušky, Moravská Nová Ves, Mikulčice and Lužice the most. All these villages are located near Břeclav, where the prestigious international tournament for hockey players under the age of 18 is traditionally held.
The Hlinka Gretzky Cup has been co-hosted by Břeclav almost every year since 2002. The only exceptions were the years 2007, 2008 (both played in Hodonín) and 2018 (the tournament was hosted by Edmonton and Red Deer). In 2020, the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
You can find the Wayne Gretzky jersey auction to help Moravian communities on the sportovniaukce.cz website. A direct link to the auction is here.