Historical Hartford Whalers Ray Allison game-worn jersey 1rst Whalers Draft Pick

Description

Historical Hartford Whalers Ray Allison game-worn jersey 1rst Whalers Draft Pick.
This jersey was given to a gentleman from CT, who was a lifelong New England Whalers/ Hartford Whalers fan, by Ray Allison himself. The gentleman owned a local business, that Ray and many of the NE/Hartford whalers, would frequent. I was told that this,the place of business, is where it was given to him.
In 1979, The WHA merged with the NHL, after having financial issues. The New England Whalers then became The Hartford Whalers. That same year, The whalers made Ray Allison their first ever draft pick at #18.
Ray was a tremendous offensive talent when he played for The Brandon Wheat kings of the WHL. In fact, he was rated an all-time WHL great, coming in at number 28 overall. After he was drafted, Ray struggled with the whalers and was traded a year later to the Philadelphia flyers in a ten player deal. He played for the Flyers until the 1982-83 season at which point he sustained an injury, and never regained a regular spot again. He played a few more years in the AHL and Swiss leagues before he retired in 1990.
The jersey is roughly 41 years old and was made by Stall And Dean, a manufacturer of sports equipment from Brockton Mass.
It is a size 50, has Allison and the number 8 stitched onto the back. “Pucky” the whale and the number 8 are stitched onto each arm. There is a fight strap attached inside the jersey as well.
I was told that the jersey was left alone from the day it was given to this gentleman. He never wore it or washed it, but stored it away for decades. Out of respect for his family, I will not divulge more than that about this gentleman, as he has passed on. I will only say that he was a rabid and dedicated fan, from what his daughter relayed to me.
I say the above, because the jersey has quite a few stains, marks and a few lose threads. I cannot say for sure what the stains are, however I suspect it is blood. Whether the blood is Ray’s is debatable. There are black marks which could be stick or puck related.
The jersey has no tears or rips and is in overall solid condition.
This is a rare piece of Hartford Whalers history, and I dare say, a very important one. Ray was supposed to be their franchise guy, and he was drafted as the 18th draft pick for that reason. The Hartford Whalers had just been born, and he was a their first draft pick ever, the first thing they did as an organization. The fact that he was only there for a short period of time, makes this jersey even more rare, and honestly, it should belong in a Whalers/Hurricanes museum somewhere.
I do not doubt the authenticity of this piece for one second, as I have many other pieces of memorabilia from this gentleman’s collection. The jersey itself has all the tell tale signs of it being 100 percent authentic.
Thank you for reading and looking.