This home white mesh gamer by Alpha Sportswear was worn by Terry O’Reilly during the 1984-85 NHL season, his final year in the league. The Boston Bruins selected O’Reilly in the 1st round of the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft. He spent 14 years in the NHL, all of them with the Boston Bruins. O’Reilly ranks among the all-time fan favorites that ever skated on the Boston Gardens ice. He served as the Bruins Captain during his last 2 years in the league after the retirement of Wayne Cashman. O’Reilly partook in 2 NHL All Star games and was as tough a customer as the Bruins faithful had ever seen. In 891 career games, this power forward scored 204 goals and 606 points while amassing 2095 PIMS! In 108 playoff games, O’Reilly netted another 25 goals and 67 points while accumulating 335 PIMS! He took on all comers and his exploits could fill volumes of fight tapes! Following his retirement, O’Reilly took over as the Bruins head coach part way thru the 1986-87 season and remained in that role for 2 more years, leading his Bruins to the 1988 Stanley Cup Finals.

Alpha Sportswear was a San Fransisco, California based company who produced a lone set of Bruins home jerseys that were worn sparingly and sporadically at best during the 1984-85 NHL season. Proudly sewn to the left breast of this gamer is the Captain’s “C”. Sewn into the collar is the Alpha and size 54 tagging. The game wear on this sweater is solid and consists of stick and slash marks, board burns, loads of that recognizable board paint transfer from the boards at the old Boston Garden, plenty of washed out bloodstains, a faded wash instruction tag sewn to the inner hip seam and inner pilling. Shown above are video highlights of O’Reilly wearing this exact jersey during a game on home ice against the Edmonton Oilers in the 1984-85 season, during which time he scores one of the last goals of his career! Also of extreme signifigance is that only a couple of Bruins players are wearing Alpha jerseys during this game! Alphas are highly coveted among Bruins fans and type collectors alike, while easily ranking among the rarest of any NHL jersey from the post expansion era, with a scant few examples known to exist in the hobby. This video matched gem was worn by this Boston legend during his final NHL season. This exceedingly rare Captain’s jersey would become an instant cornerstone in any Bruins, type style or tough guy collection out there, choice!