Music: {allcanada} POCKLINGTON AGAIN AUCTIONS CUP RINGS

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

{allcanada} POCKLINGTON AGAIN AUCTIONS CUP RINGS

The Edmonton Journal reports that Peter Pocklington, former owner of the Edmonton Oilers, is once again putting his Stanley Cup rings up for online auction, meaning some deep-pocketed fans get another shot at buying the last remnants of the Oilers' glory days.

This is the second time Pocklington has tried to sell off his championship rings, this time under his wife's name.

The rings were commissioned for each of the five years of the Oilers' NHL dynasty, starting in 1984 and ending in 1990.

Infamous for trading Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988, the former car dealership and meatpacking magnate originally put the rings up for auction in 2008.

They were sold for a hefty $272,829 to one anonymous bidder in Alberta. After factoring in auction house fees, the price would have soared to more than $300,000.

The sale failed when the bidder had buyer's remorse, scrapping the deal because of concerns over whether the rings were the only set that Pocklington had made to commemorate winning the Stanley Cup.

Terry McConnell, a former reporter at the Journal, wrote a biography of Pocklington and has been in contact with him for nearly six years. He said he spoke to Pocklington about the rings roughly a year after the auction had ended.

"Peter Pocklington had rings made for everyone involved with the club, and one of the people he had rings made for was his own father."

"When his father died, his estate sold off those rings ... in 2001 or 2002," McConnell said. "And those were the rings ... that raised questions about the authenticity of the rings that were offered for sale in 2008."

McConnell said the rings were placed in trust in Pocklington's wife's name about 20 years ago, which is why they weren't listed among Pocklington's assets when he declared he was bankrupt.

McConnell, the co-author of I'd Trade Him Again: On Gretzky, Politics and the Pursuit of the Perfect Deal, said he doesn't believe there is anything mysterious about the fresh attempt to sell the rings. McConnell said he thinks Pocklington is just trying to fund his grandchildren's education.

Once one of the richest individuals in Canada, Pocklington declared bankruptcy in 2008. He was later convicted of perjury for lying under oath about his assets, and now is battling accusations of defrauding goldmine investors.