A Fan Scores A Piece Of Hockey History With A Rare Jersey

Recently, a longtime hockey fan picked up a legendary and rare find as he was able to purchase a Captain's jersey from the beloved Detroit Vipers 1997 Turner Cup Championship series.

The jersey that he acquired was worn by Stan Drulia throughout the 1996-97 International Hockey League regular season, Turner Cup Playoffs, and Turner Cup Final while captaining the Detroit Vipers. He was also able to purchase his gloves.

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Which game or games he wore the jersey in is currently unknown, however, at the time, Away teams were wearing the predominantly colored jerseys, so it's safe to assume that the jersey he bought could be the one Drulia was wearing when he scored a goal at the 1:50 mark fo the video below but the Vipers' season that year was historic, as the post from Flickr elaborates:

The Vipers went to the first of back-to-back Turner Cup finals that year, beating the Long Beach Ice Dogs in six games to secure their first Turner Cup title. Detroit became the first city to win two hockey titles in the same year, as the Red Wings won the 1997 Stanley Cup.

Although they tried their best, they could not repeat:

The Vipers returned to a championship defense the following season, ultimately losing to the Chicago Wolves in seven games. Despite losing, Drulia won the Bud Poile trophy for 1998 playoff MVP.

The Vipers were named after the Dodge Viper due to a corporate partnership with the Chrysler Corporation. They lasted seven seasons, beginning operations in 1994-95 at The Palace and collapsing at the end of the 2000-01 season along with the IHL itself.