Hey Hockeybuzzards!!
Welcome to the first edition of what will be a Wednesday staple here at Hockeybuzz: The Hump-Day Jersey Review. What I hope to do is give you all a peek at some unique jerseys you may not have seen before, or the history of a particular franchise’s garb, from all over the hockey universe while also dressing it up with a little bit of the lore that is associated with this most salient of fandom branding! We’ll look at the dull to the classy to the just plain bizarre within the hockey world in this quick hit of hockey collectible info for your mid-week.
To kick off the series, I want to take a look at one of my favs: The Calgary Hitmen. I will admit that in part, my love for this particular jersey does go back to my fandom of the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be, Bret “The Hitman” Hart. The man is a wrestling and Canadian icon, and his association with the team and their resultant logo branding kick started the fan base for this organization before a skate ever hit the ice on a WHL season.
So in my respect for the man himself, I’ll turn to his words to introduce the uniform:
“Back in ‘95 I was approached by some old school hockey guys, along with Theo Fluery and Joe Sakic, with a proposal to partner up with them to bring a junior hockey team back to Calgary to play in the WHL. I said count me in and was beyond flattered when they named the team after me - The Calgary Hitmen - and used the colors of my wrestling gear as the team colors! At the press conference announcing the debut of the team we unveiled a really cool, edgy logo. So cool that as soon as it appeared in the papers the next day calls came into my office non stop from people wanting to know where they could buy T- shirts and jerseys with the awesome new logo.”
“I was WWF World heavyweight champion at the time and when I wore the logo on TV The Calgary Hitmen filled phenomenal numbers of orders to legions of my fans - and hockey fans - from all over the world. Wherever I’d go, from Bangkok to Buffalo, people would show up at autograph sessions and ask me to sign their Hitmen jerseys. Sick and dying Make A Wish kids were often brought to meet me backstage at the wrestling shows, many of them wearing Calgary Hitmen shirts.”
“And as for the cool (successful) logo……nay sayers proclaimed it to be too violent! The logo that replaced it, a cartoon balloon that said Hitmen, was so wimpy that they couldn’t give merchandise away - and after one season it was quietly retired in favor of the original one, which the team still sports today. I honestly believe that if they had kept the lame one, in those early days, it could easily have been the difference to the ruination of The Calgary Hitmen! “
Here’s the “cartoon balloon” version of the logo the Hitman spoke of that was used during the 1995-96 inaugural season to replace the “violent” one, which I’m sure we can all agree on the lameness of!!:
On another note, the more “violent” version of the logo that was brought into regular use during the sophmore season of the franchise in 1996-97 and exists in slightly modified form up to present day was deemed violent for two main reasons. Take another look:
The most obvious objection was over the Jason Vorhees-type mask worn by the player on the crest. Any guesses on the second reason cited? Look no further than the height of the stick blade folks. In some circles this particular stick pose (blade edging over shoulder level) was a blatant violation of the Canadian creedo of “Keep your stick on the ice”, and was subsequently deemed too threatening or aggressive. Luckily less anal heads prevailed and the logo stuck around……
The jersey has changed some over the years, with the most marked adjustment coming upon the sale of the franchise in 1997 to the Calgary Flame ownerhip. At that time, rather than going ahead with a rumoured name change to the Calgary Junior Flames, the jersey colour scheme was changed from the original pink, grey and black to one of black, gold, red and white for the 97-98 season:
In addition, since the 2003 season, two versions of a Hitmen third jersey have been produced, both of which feature a prominent crest of the Jason Vorhees-type character’s head on the front of the jersey:
2003-04 Version
2005-06 Version
All in all, I like the jersey in all its forms. Unique design and a few stories to tell along the way! I cannot think of a better way to wrap up then to give you all a look at the guys who’ve sported these jerseys over the years who have been drafted into the NHL, adding more stories and history to the Calgary franchise, and making the WHL fans who cheered for them proud (well, in most cases anyhow!!).
Cheers folks, have a good one, and we’ll see you again next week with a new hump-day jersey review!
Shawn
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Facebook: Shawn Gates
Drafted Into NHL
Karl Alzner 1st Round Washington 2007
Alex Plante 1st Round Edmonton 2007
Brett Sonne 3rd Round St. Louis 2007
Carson McMillan 7th Round Minnesota 2007
Ryan White 3rd Round Montreal 2006
Brodie Dupont 3rd Round NY Rangers 2005
Dustin Kohn 2nd Round NY Islanders 2005
Andrew Ladd 1st Round Carolina 2004
Jeff Schultz 1st Round Washington 2004
Andy Rogers 1st Round Tampa Bay 2004
Brett Carson 4th Round Carolina 2004
Steve Covington 7th Round Detroit 2004
Ryan Getzlaf 1st Round Anaheim 2003
Mike Egener 2nd Round Tampa Bay 2003
Shaun Landolt 8th Round Toronto 2003
Johnny Boychuk 2nd Round Colorado 2002
Brandon Segal 4th Round Nashville 2002
Owen Fussey 3rd Round Washington 2001
Brent Krahn 1st Round Calgary 2000
Matt Pettinger 2nd Round Washington 2000
Wade Davis 5th Round Calgary 2000
Shaun Norrie 4th Round Edmonton 2000
Pavel Brendl 1st Round NY Rangers 1999
Kris Beech 1st Round Washington 1999
Rod Sarich 4th Round Florida 1999
Jeff Feniak 4th Round Philadelphia 1999
Matt Kinch 5th Round Buffalo 1999
Jordan Krestanovich 5th Round Colorado 1999
Chris Nielsen 2nd Round NY Islanders 1998
Curtis Rich 5th Round Tampa Bay 1998
Brad Moran 7th Round Buffalo 1998
Boris Protsenko 3rd Round Pittsburgh 1996
Kevin Marsh 8th Round Hartford 1996
Mike Muzechka 9th Round NY Islanders 1996
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