Gretzky’s fans can get their hands on memorabilia
Former T.O. restaurant selling skate handles, barstools for Santa Fund
Wayne Gretzky’s may no longer be a fixture of Blue Jays Way but parts of the beloved former Toronto sports bar could be yours — for a good cause.
The restaurant’s iconic skateblade front-door handles and bar stools signed by The Great One are up for auction this holiday season, months after the bar closed in October following 27 years of business.
All the proceeds will go to the Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund, which provides underprivileged children 12 years old and younger with a gift to open during the winter holiday season.
Tom Bitove, a former part owner of Gretzky’s, said every patron of the restaurant has likely touched the skate blades
at some point.
“I must have had a million people over the years ask if they could buy them and we said no, so we took those and put them in the auction,” he said. “We figured it was for a good cause.”
The bar stools were taken out of service several years ago. Gretzky signed them at the time, with the intention of selling them to benefit charity some day. They were tucked away in storage until the restaurant closed in October.
“If the bar stools could talk, I’m sure they could tell some great stories,” said Bitove, brother to Jordan Bitove, one of the owners of Torstar and publisher of the Toronto Star.
Several nonbranded items from the restaurant — like griddles, kitchen equipment, table and chairs, were previously auctioned off — with people bidding from “all over the place” to get their piece of Gretzky.
The twirling hockey player that used to be housed on the restaurant’s roof went to a hardcore Gretzky fan, the No. 99 statues that stood out front went to a buyer in Saskatchewan and someone else took home the main sign featuring Gretzky’s signature.
Bitove hopes Gretzky’s dedicated following will now raise more money to help brighten children’s days, after a really difficult year.
“I’ve got a feeling it could be something special.”
Bidders can find the auctions at specauctions.com. They run until Dec 20 at 8 p.m. ET.