Time to turn back the clock for a worthy cause.
T&T Hockey Shop Source for Sports on Carden Street is raising money for Hospice Wellington by selling white replica Guelph Platers jerseys from the team’s 1986 Memorial Cup run.
“The Holody family just has such a rich hockey history in Guelph, and I think people just love what Joe Holody and Rob did for the city, and in hockey in general,” said store co-owner Todd Gumbley.
This won’t be the first time this has been done.
After getting permission from the Holody family, a retro Guelph Holody Platers jersey from the 1970s was offered to customers and sold in 2021, during the peak of the pandemic.
Demand was so high, the store offered the jerseys again for a limited time in 2022.
Overall, the jersey sales raised about $500 for Hospice Wellington, the charity of choice for the Holody family.
“The feedback back then was amazing, but we had so many people saying ‘oh, we’d love if you could do the Memorial Cup jersey from the ‘86 team,’” Gumbley said.
After being granted permission again from Rob Holody – the general manager of the 1986 team – Gumbley went to his supplier a couple weeks ago and he was able to get the Memorial Cup jerseys for sale online.
Orders have already been placed from as far as Nova Scotia and England.
On top of orders, memories have been flooding in from customers, from knocking off Belleville to win the OHL title, to winning the Memorial Cup over Hull in Portland, Oregon, and the players who made it happen.
“I was in high school, and I was an avid fan, just going to those games and the excitement of that in Guelph,” Gumbley said.
“I was working in the shop part-time then with my dad, and I remember it was a Saturday afternoon game. Somehow, we got a TV in the store, and we had the rabbit ears on it and we were watching the game from the store here. Just fantastic memories.”
Lonnie Loach and Gary Roberts have been the most requested names from customers so far.
But you are able to customize your jersey with your own name and number when you order.
“Cooper manufactured the jersey, so we’ve been able to talk our supplier into even putting the Cooper logo on the shirt, so it’s going to have the Cooper logo on the shirt and everything,” Gumbley said.
“It’s going to be as close to authentic as it can possibly get.”
He said one of Rob’s cousins had a jersey, so they were able to get measurements to ensure it is as close to what was worn nearly 40 years ago.
It takes about six weeks to make, so customers wanting a jersey are asked to place an order online by Oct. 20 in order to get them in for Christmas.
“Our dad unfortunately passed away a few years ago, and he spent some time at the hospice here and it was just fantastic,” Gumbley said.
“We’re really happy to donate the money to that. It’s just a good story.”
