With Halloween coming and going and it for whatever reason being permanently associated with spooky things (also candy), it got each of us at PowerPlayGoal.com thinking about some of our biggest hockey related fears, the very things that make us cringe, send shivers down our spines, curl up in the corner of a room… you get the idea.
Here’s what each of our writers had to say:
Kevin (kevkev)
When you think of Europe and hockey, you may conjure up images of some of the NHL’s finest players- Big names such as Selanne, Lidstrom or Ovechkin. However, some of us think past the players and more to how the sport is funded.
Colossal adverts cover helmets, hockey pants and even socks. Logos on the jerseys have been removed or shifted to the shoulders to make way for adverts promoting a wide range of products from travel to Tibetan tea. Player names are squeezed in, everything is sponsored and players simply look like billboards. Should this ever happen to teams in the NHL…
Glen (BigMan)
My biggest hockey fear is every team using wordmark jerseys. We’ve seen a huge increase in the number of them already since the lockout, and more seem to be on the horizon. The best part about hockey jerseys has always been that they’ve had the logo front and centre. Hockey is the only one of the big 4 to do that, and it’s unique for that. Slowly but surely, wordmarks have been creeping into the NHL. It started with just Anaheim’s third jersey in 2003, and then in 2006, the Ducks introduced a wordmark on their home and road jerseys. The Dallas Stars used the advent of the EDGE uniform system in 2007 to introduce a wordmark on their home jersey. The next season, the Stars, Thrashers, Senators, and Lightning all added wordmarked third jerseys, and the count was up to seven. The Sabres and Wild have since added wordmarked alternates as well, with the highest total peaking at 9. Thankfully, the Senators and Thrashers have since retired theirs, and Tampa is in the process of doing so. However, the Islanders are preparing to release one of their own, so my fear may eventually come true.
Steven (wildwing64):
As daft as it sounds, one of my biggest fears when it comes to my hockey jersey collection is Velcro. Or just about anything with a similarly rough texture like the edges of your friend’s custom jersey numbers (I’m looking at you, Kev). Velcro is designed to stick to a softer material and it’s great for coats and what have you, but with NHL jerseys being made of the “Air Knit” material they are susceptible to damage from the Velcro hooks, and again almost any similarly rough texture that you may come across. It’s quite bizarre considering the rough nature of the sport of hockey, but hilariously the jock tags on the replica Edge jerseys will also end up doing Velcro-like damage to the left sleeve of the jersey.
We’re aware that this was a day late, but we hope you enjoyed this article and had a Happy Halloween.
