Darryl Sittler's 10-point game Maple Leafs sweater from 1976 up for auction

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Ten points in one game might never be equalled by an NHLer, but anyone with deep pockets can own or wear the sweater of the one man who did it.

Los Angeles-based Grey Flannel Auctions has Darryl Sittler’s milestone jersey up for public sale it was announced Tuesday.

Next Feb. 7 will mark 50 years since Sittler had six goals and four assists against goalie Dave Reece and the Boston Bruins in an 11-4 win at Maple Leaf Gardens.

The whereabouts of the sweater was a decades-old mystery, even to Sittler, until American sports sweater collector Barry Meisel obtained it unexpectedly in a bulk purchase in 2018.

Taking it to the Hockey Hall of Fame resource centre in Toronto, matching the slightly crooked stem of the Harold Ballard-era Leafs logo and certain stains and loose shoulder threads from action photos of Sittler in the game, it was authenticated.

Sittler told the Sun in 2018 he didn’t ask to keep the white-base, blue-trim No. 27 jersey with the captain’s ‘C’ that year, as such items weren’t as desirable like today’s memorabilia market.

He said it was plausible Ballard had gifted or sold it to a friend and congratulated Meisel on his detective work, adding he wouldn’t bid, with the price expected to get well into six figures.

From a starting price of $10,000 US on Tuesday morning, the sweater was up to $50,549 by early afternoon with bidding on the company’s web site open until June 2.

Grey Flannel is selling the jersey for Meisel on consignment.

Sittler told the Sun on Tuesday he hadn’t known it was now up for auction.

lhornby@postmedia.com

X: @sunhornby