Alex Ovechkin’s game-worn jersey from January 16th, 2006 is up for auction. The jersey is  the one he donned when he scored “The Goal“ against the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale, Arizona. There have been 18 bids so far, with the current high bid at $33,000. The auction closes at 10:00 ET this Saturday.

“You could really feel the announcement of the superstar,” Capitals teammate Brooks Laich said. “That moment, it was against Wayne Gretzky’s team, who was the best player the game had ever seen, and all of a sudden, a young guy that was really, really good, makes a play that really announces his superstardom like, ‘I’m here and I’m the next generation of the league.’ You could feel it in the building as clear as day.”

At the time, Ovechkin called it the best goal he ever scored — and he still believes that.

“Obviously lucky, but I’ll take it,” Ovechkin said. “For that moment, it was unbelievable time. My dream was come true: I play in the NHL, I did that kind of special goal and Gretzky was there, as well.”

The “Great One” witnessing Ovechkin’s goal in his first season as Coyotes coach is part of its lore.

As he’s skating to the bench, Gretzky was coaching and right on the bench said, ‘Good goal,”‘ former Capitals coach Glen Hanlon said. “Even their players commented on it.”After the game, a 6-1 Washington victory, Gretzky said the goal was “pretty sweet.” High praise from the NHL’s all-time goals leader who scored 894 of them.”He’s a phenomenal player, and he’s been a tremendous influence in the game,” Gretzky said. “It’s great to see because he is that good.”

Golden Auctions Item Description:
This Reebok size 58 white air-knit jersey has the Capitals’ mid 2000’s logo sewn on the front. A diagonal striping pattern of blue, gold and black adorns the bottom, with the same pattern on the sleeve ends. Ovechkin’s number “8” is sewn on the back and the sleeves in black, white and gold tackle twill. “OVECHKIN” is sewn on in black, white and gold tackle twill on a matching white air-knit nameplate that is sewn on above the number on the back. The shoulders have the Capitals’ secondary logo patch and the Reebok patch is sewn on above Ovechkin’s name. The NHL logo patch is sewn on the bottom back right tail and this jersey is equipped with a white nylon fight strap that is sewn on the inside back.

The inside of the jersey has the Capitals’ team patch sewn on from “Cutting Edge Sports” of Woburn, MA that has printed “Has created and manufactured the numbering and lettering for the Washington Capitals Set #2 2005-2006 Equipment Manager Doug Shearer”. The jersey displays moderate game use with some team repairs and stains. This jersey comes with a LOA from The MeiGray Group, who have photo matched this jersey to the March 4th, 2006 game against the Atlanta Thrashers at Phillips Arena and have also provided an additional LOA addendum that states this jersey was worn during the game in which he scored his famous goal against the Coyotes. MeiGray photo matched this jersey to the Associated Press (AP Images) number “328143790817”.

Auction site is here.

Additional images:

Letters Of Authenticity