Keith Tkachuk wore this gorgeous Black Set 2 game worn jersey during the Phoenix Coyotes inaugural season.
The American born star served as the first captain in Coyotes franchise history and led the team to four of it’s nine playoff appearances in consecutive seasons from 1996-1997 to 1999-2000. He also led the league in goal-scoring, which is remarkable given how goal deficient the Coyotes have been for much of their existence post-Tkachuk.
The Arizona franchise has struggled to reclaim the consistent playoff contention that the likes of Tkachuk, Roenick, Khabibulin and company provided in those early seasons in the desert.
Tkachuk’s jerseys from the Phoenix and Winnipeg portions of his career are hard to find. When this one popped up on the market, it had been only the second one I had seen available for sale in the past two plus years. Needless to say, nabbing a captain who was missing from the collection while also getting an inaugural season jersey was a no-brainer.
The black kachina is a massive size 58G and has moderate wear.
There are board burns and marks in both sleeves. The body of the jersey has quite a few marks and visible wear. The patterned hem has puck marks on either side of the crest, and the marks on the left side have also been photomatched. The crest itself shows signs of a significant amount of wash wear and has marks all over it.
The back of the jersey has more marks and a snag or run on the bottom right below the #7.
The most notable mark on the jersey is found on the Phoenix Coyotes “moon” patch that graces the right shoulder. A puck mark next to the “S" on the patch has led to numerous photomatches, including the ones shown here. The inside of the jersey shows rust in the fight strap, and a set tag proclaiming this an “Official 1997-2 Game Worn Jersey”.
Tkachuk shown wearing this jersey in a 1997 Donruss Studio oversized trading card. It is unclear when the photo was taken, but it clearly shows the same puck mark on the Phoenix Coyotes “moon” logo as the jersey Keith Tkachuk wore on the road at the end of the 1996-1997 season.
He finished the 1996-1997 season with 52 goals and 34 assists for 86 points. It was the highest goal total of his career, and the second highest point total he’d reach.
Since trading Keith Tkachuk, the Coyotes organization has failed to find another offensive player who could provide his level of offensive ability. There have been players who’ve had good seasons, but nothing close to the 52 goals “Big Walt” put up.
His inaugural gamer is easily one of the top five in my collection. It was a lucky find, indeed.