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Ok, I’m sorry for the delay on this week’s “Gear Corner”. With the buyout window open and the playoffs over, GMs are in high gear. I’m aware that something could break at any point, so I will do my best to be on top of it. Many of you have commented regarding a Tyler Bertuzzi rumor. I don’t have any confirmation (or denial) on such a deal. After the Mantha trade, I’ll never say never again. Yzerman certainly operates in stealth mode and I don’t think he actually sleeps. If something big develops, I’ll do my best to cover it.
2014’s first round is quickly becoming a “reclamation” project. Detroit has personally taken on 4 of the first rounders with Dylan Larkin being Detroit’s draft pick of that year. Perlini, Fabbri and Vrana have all made their way to Detroit, the two latter are in good standing with the team. More players from the draft may find a change of venue as DeAngelo and Virtanen could be bought out, and Reinhart is one of the top tier trade targets (4X fast) as the former second overall pick.
If you missed my first three gear articles you can find them here:
my first gear corner with Doug Todd from Warrior Hockey.
My second “Gear Corner” talked a bit about gloves.
My third “Gear Corner” focused on helmets.
For this week’s gear corner, I asked Warrior Hockey’s Doug Todd for some insight into how special events are coordinated. As soon as players are selected in the draft, they have pictures taken using their sponsor’s gloves and sticks. For world events such as the IIHF, Olympics, World Cup and prospect showcases players have their preferred gear in their new team colors. (If I were a collector, I’d have a showcase for some of those gloves in national colors. Always beautifully done).
What strikes me is that companies like Warrior have their hands full with year round orders. If one of their players gets traded, new gear will be needed. Sticks are ordered months in advance to keep a steady inventory ready at all times. I found out what an important process this was when a lot of manufacturing was shut down during the early days of COVID. Teams who hadn’t placed orders early enough ran dangerously low on inventory. Warrior was a huge exception in that they have professional manufacturing in Mexico and was able to continue to fulfill orders. This was when I began to take an even deeper interest in the “hockey machine”. There are so many moving parts that it can be mind blowing. When shutdowns came into play that most of us never considered, it became an opportunity to better understand the finer points of what it takes to keep a pro sport moving and supplied.
Below is this week’s Q and A with Warrior Hockey’s Doug Todd:
Jeremy - Do you have any special responsibilities (personally and as a company) when there are huge international events? I assume teams bring their stuff, but do you have to have surplus sticks and equipment on hand just in case? Does anything special go into planning? Equipment to match country colors, etc.
Doug - I don’t have any personal responsibility for these events but for large, international events Warrior relies on both our North American teams and our International teams. Canada and the U.S. are serviced out of our North American offices and the rest of the world is serviced out of our European offices. All the players/teams have team coordinated gear and sticks for events like the World Cup, Olympics, World Juniors, etc. The only different one would be the World Championships. That is tough because players usually go directly from the NHL season to Worlds. That makes the timing of custom gear tough.
As for planning for the big events, yes, it begins months in advance in coordination with the teams/countries/players and our Pro Services Team. I think what most people don’t realize is that for the Olympics and IIHF sanctioned events, there are a lot of regulations and rules in regards to gear and logos. In particular, how many logos can appear on each piece of gear and the size that logo can be. It’s always a challenge to come up with a great looking design for the custom gear that abides by the rules. Regardless of the restrictions, our Warrior Product Managers always come up with something that looks spectacular.
As for the teams themselves, they do a great job of planning ahead and knowing how much gear they need to order and take with them. There usually isn’t a need for any of the manufacturers to have extra gear on hand. But we could if we needed to!
Jeremy - do you have equipment on hand for a “normal” draft? I know the top picks will do photo shoots with sticks and gloves, etc. just curious on the type of prep that may go into this stuff.
Doug - For the entry draft, any of our Warrior endorsed athletes will have gear with them for their official draft photo which are usually all done with black gloves. The challenge here is, unless it’s the top pick, it’s never a guarantee which team will select who. That makes glove coordination challenging.
We also may do something with the player after they’ve been drafted and have their game jersey but that is only if time allows. Most of the time after the players are selected their schedules are so tight that it’s hard to squeeze in a photo shoot. Timing is always the biggest obstacle.
Another huge thanks to Doug and Warrior Hockey. Taking this kind of time while they get ready for an instance schedule is something I’m exceedingly grateful for. I hope you enjoyed this glimpse behind the scenes!
Check out some of my previous posts
The Canadiens have to get down to business after the post season ended.
my previous article covered some of the top UFA right shooting forwards available.
The expansion draft is swiftly approaching.
In my third installment of Summer Reading, Chelios found out exactly what Yzerman was like as a leader..
My third “Gear Corner” focused on helmets.
Alex Tanguay is a new assistant coach in Detroit.
I posted about the state of the Wings being at about half of the team it needs to be..
Frank Seravalli’s top 20 list has some options for Detroit.
My second summer reading post took a look at the world’s funniest bar fight.
My second “Gear Corner” talked a bit about gloves.
The Golden Knights are out of the playoffs.
Updated mock drafts have Detroit looking at Wallstedt, Eklund and Edvinsson.
Helm and Filppula could be moving on.
Jared McIsaac may finally be healthy enough to have a solid pro year.
My first “summer reading post” covered Chelios’s career defining fib.
Friday was my first gear corner with Doug Todd from Warrior Hockey.
Albert Johansson won’t be competing for a spot in North America this season
I will be featuring the writings of Kevin Allen for a summer reading program this year. It’s tough to break up the summer months, and the one on one formats that Kevin has perfected is not only a pleasure to read but gives insight that isn’t easy to come by. I’ll be starting with Chris Chelios “Made in America”.
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