Own the World’s Oldest Hockey Stick
The oldest hockey stick in the world is up for sale. The stick, which is thought to be the oldest in existence, is being sold privately by its owner, Mark Presley.
Nicknamed the "Moffatt Stick," after the family that owned it for several generations, it was purchased by Presley in 2008 from a barbershop owner who had displayed it for many years in North Sydney, Nova Scotia. Presley has done extensive research on the stick's history and has even identified Pottle Lake as the skating place where it was primarily used.
As reported in the Montreal Gazette, multiple hockey sticks have claimed to be "oldest" and each time one emerges, a large price tag normally follows. In 2006, a stick nicknamed the "Rutherford Stick," which was estimated to have been from the 1850s, sold for $1.9 million. The Moffatt Stick was determined to be even older by samples compared against the trees that the stick was made from. Estimates from research done by dendrochronologist Colin P. LaRoque of Mount Allison University put the stick's creation around 1838.
While some feel that a historic item should be on display at a museum for all to enjoy, Presley said that the possible income from such a big sale was too much for him to pass up. However, he does hope that the winning bidder is a museum so that public can see it.
Interested collectors can send questions and make offers by emailing Presley.
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James Milks
I would like to clarify that the Society for International Hockey Research (SIHR) did not estimate that the stick dates from 1838, but that it was dendochronologist Colin P. LaRoque of Mount Allison University who dated the stick. Both he and Mr. Presley made a presentation about the stick and the dating process at the 2010 Annual General Meeting in Brandon, Manitoba.
Ryan Cracknell
James Milks (ID 26890) » Thanks, James! I made the correction in the article.