Jerseys 101

Gabriel Landeskog NHL Debut Jersey: At a Fraction of the Cost

March 7, 2013 by Jay Vean - The AHP

Game worn jerseys are generally expensive. This is definitely not breaking news or anything. I have my limit on what I’ll spend on them. I’m not one of those people that will ruin my credit or skip a mortgage payment to buy a jersey for my collection. This limits my options at times and that’s okay. More money for more jerseys is always a good thing.

With that said, I have spent pretty good amounts of money on some pretty sweet jerseys in the past (if I don’t say so myself.) For example, there’s this Joe Sakic game-issued jersey (with plenty more details here):

There’s these Peter Forsberg game-issued jerseys (with plenty more details here and here):

There’s this Peter Forsberg game worn and photomatched jersey which was worn in one game in 2004. Plenty more details here.

And last, but definitely not least because it’s most relevant to this post, Ryan O’Byrne’s game worn Peter Forsberg retirement night jersey. More details here.

The jerseys above were not cheap by any means. In order to have nice jerseys in the collection it’s essential that money is spent. On the other hand though, there are some ways around this. It involves some creativity, some patience, and some strategy, but it’s definitely possible to create a model of the same jersey that a player wore on the ice for a fraction of the cost. One of the newest jerseys in my collection is an example of this. Check it out:

The jersey above is modeled after the jersey that Gabriel Landeskog wore during his first game in the NHL. Landeskog began his Calder Trophy campaign on October 8, 2011 at Pepsi Center against the Detroit Red Wings. The The Ryan O’Byrne jersey pictured above was the actual jersey O’Byrne wore during the actual game (details to come.) The game worn Landeskog from that same game went for $3,521. That price was obviously a little much for me, but that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t create something just like the game worn Landeskog for my collection. Here are the steps I took in order to make that happen.

Step One: Get a Peter Forsberg night patch.

These patches were on sale at Altitude Authentics (the retail store at Pepsi Center) during and after Peter Forsberg night. No problem. I got three so I still have two that are waiting for jerseys to go on.

Step Two: Get a jersey to put the patch on. Blank 2011-2012 jerseys in the same style the players wear on the ice are no easy find. They aren’t sold at retail and don’t show up on eBay really ever. The game-style jerseys on NHL.com aren’t very close to what the players actually wear on the ice. I like the real thing, so I have to work a little harder to make jerseys happen.

Small aside, and as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the neck tagging on the 2010-2011 jerseys was different than on the 2011-2012 (and current) jerseys.

The back of the neck on the 2010-2011 jerseys looked like this:

While the back of the neck on the 2011-2012 (and current) jerseys look like this:

I pay attention to the small details on jerseys and I want every detail on the jerseys in my collection to be correct. This is one of those small details.

In late spring of 2012 my friends at The MeiGray Group began listing a game issued jerseys from earlier in the season. Included in these game-issues were a couple of Patrick Rissmiller jerseys. (The other Rissmiller jersey I purchased was a blue alternate that I also had made into a Landeskog.) To my advantage, Rissmiller is a big guy. He wore a size 58+ jersey. That’s the size jersey I like to wear to games. Rissmiller wasn’t signed to a contract in Lake Erie during the 2012-2013 lockout so I went ahead and made the decision to purchase the jerseys and have their nameplates and numbers stripped off of them. If Rissmiller was still in Lake Erie, in other words, if he ever had any chance of ever playing for the Colorado Avalanche, stripping the jerseys would not have been an option.

Step Three: Get the patch and the blank jersey to Denver Athletic so they can put the patch, “Landeskog”, and “92” on the jersey. Denver Athletic letters the jerseys the Avalanche wear on the ice so that’s obviously a no-brainer.

Those three steps took a while from start to finish, but the finished product is beautiful and is definitely ready to be worn to a game at Pepsi Center. And after doing all the math, I paid less than 5% of what the game worn jersey went for at auction to make the jersey myself. Not bad at all.

Sometimes the jersey game is about having money available at the right time. Sometimes it’s seeing an auction that others have overlooked. Sometimes it’s about being patient and taking your time for the entire process to run its course. The patience and time it took to get through the process of making my Landeskog rookie debut jersey is one of the things that helps me feel really good about having this jersey hanging in my closet.

The Method Behind the Jersey Madness — UPDATE

February 5, 2013 by Jay Vean - The AHP

(In case you missed the first part of this two-part series please check out the original post here.)

Let’s begin this post with this image. I think it sets the mood quite well.

It look just a little longer than Denver Athletic had originally promised, but that’s okay, their work is always worth the wait. The jerseys are in and they look beautiful. The delay was from a few Colorado Avalanche and Denver Cutthroat roster moves that led to some rush orders for jerseys for the teams. When it comes to customers I know the pros are always going to have priority. It’s just one of the realities of dealing with a big-time lettering company who deals with big-time customers.

So without further ado here are the pictures and a little information behind each jersey I had made in this order. Let’s begin with the two jerseys that needed the most attention to become what that are now.

2012 Gabriel Landeskog NHL debut jersey. First, the blank version of the jersey that’s currently worn on the ice by the players is pretty much impossible to get on eBay, NHL.com, MeiGray or anywhere else. Next, the “21” patch was worn in one game only, opening night of the 2012-2013 season. I purchased three of the Peter Forsberg night patches close to opening night last season. One sure fire way to know that a jersey sickness exists is to buy the patches for jerseys that haven’t been acquired yet. Those of you that know my collection well will be beyond shocked to know that I have put the patch before the jersey many, many times. My solution? I bought two Patrick Rissmiller game issued jerseys from MeiGray a few months ago, had the name plates and numbers stripped off the jerseys, and had Denver Athletic make the newly blank jerseys into the Landeskogs you see below. I swore, at one time, that I would never do this to game worn or game issued jerseys, but when it’s time to get a Landeskog (like when he’s named captain of your favorite NHL team) or two in the collection it’s time to get a Landeskog or two in the collection by any means necessary. We’ll just call this mission accomplished.

2013 Gabriel Landeskog Blue Alternate. Don’t mind the spots on the image of the front of this jersey. That’s just my brilliant photography skills. He’ll debut this jersey (wearing the Captain’s “C”) at some point when he returns from his recent injuries.

2005-2006 Rob Blake Burgundy Alternate. This finishes off the players in my collection that wore the Captain’s “C” and the Alternate Captain’s “A”s for that season. (The other players, in case you were wondering, were Joe Sakic and Ian Laperriere.) I love the way the two details look next to each other on the upper left chest.

2006-2007 Paul Stastny Burgundy Alternate. He wore this number on the alternate in one game (October 14, 2006) before he switched to his current 26. If I have a reason to make a jersey I make a jersey. I love jerseys with stories. This jersey has a great story behind it.

2001 Milan Hejduk Stanley Cup Jersey. Hejduk represents one of the two players from that championship team that are still playing in the NHL. (The other is Calgary’s Alex Tanguay.) 1000+ games with the Avalanche and one of my favorite Avalanche players of all time. This will look great hanging next to the many other Hejduk jerseys I already have in my collection.

2000-2001 Rob Blake White. I purchased the blank jersey with the 2001 All-Star patch already applied. The patch is about an inch or two too close to the piping in the right side of the chest. I’m still trying to decide whether that patch placement bothers me enough to have it removed and replaced in its proper position. In the jersey game, as in sports and in life as well, inches count. We’ll see. I’m leaving it where it is for now.

2000-2001 Chris Drury Burgundy. Chris Drury was clutch. He scored some huge goals wearing this style jersey during the 2001 Stanley Cup run. You can never go wrong with Chris Drury jerseys. Just ask any veteran Avs fan.

And last, but definitely not least, a 2001 Shjon Podein Burgundy Stanley Cup Jersey. I have a white version of this jersey in my collection already and it was lonely. What can I say? I strive to keep my jerseys happy and satisfied.

So there you have it from beginning to end. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it in the end when your jerseys look like this. If you have any questions or I can help you in any way just be in touch: Leave a comment here, send me a message or create a post on The AHP Facebook page, or contact me on Twitter at @AvsHkyPodcast.

The Method Behind the Jersey Madness

December 4, 2012 by Jay Vean - The AHP

The little details. That’s what jerseys are all about. Having an eye for and caring about the little details separates the strong from the weak in the jersey collecting game. This applies in life as well, but that’s for another post on another blog for a different time. I appreciate small jersey details and those of you that know me know that I love my jerseys. My collection somewhat speaks for itself, but I also thought I would share a little bit about the process that I go through to get my jerseys looking the way they do. Sure, someone can always go to my friends at Meigray and buy game worn jersey after game worn jersey, but buying Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, and Patrick Roy game worn jerseys can cost something well beyond a pretty penny. Why not find blank jerseys and get them lettered? They cost a fraction of the price and you can still, at least most of the time, get the quality of jersey the players wear/wore on the ice. Do I have your attention? Want to know more? We’re going to get along just fine. Thanks for being here.

Step one, find legitimate jerseys from legitimate sellers. I hate to say what not to do so early in this post, but do NOT buy fake jerseys. No one likes fake jerseys except your bank account. In general, you will get what you pay for. If a deal seems too good to be true, it is. Do your homework and deal with sellers that have a good reputation. eBay is my main source. This is the toughest part of the process, especially with older styles or the style that’s worn on the ice right now. They are pretty rare. You will have to wade through a lot of fake jerseys. Patience is definitely a key. Good jerseys will show up eventually though.

Step two, do some serious research about your blank jersey. Know of some reputable places where you can go to find pictures of players in the jersey you have. Even better, find images of a game worn jersey that has been up for auction at one point in time. Getty Images (searching by a particular year and/or particular player helps narrow the field quickly), gamewornauctions.net, and Classic Auctions are the big three that I use, but there are many smaller other options out there. Google images helps as well. Make something like this to send along with your jersey to the place that customizes your jerseys.

Again, the details. Nameplate or not? What material is the nameplate? Does your customizer carry the material needed for the nameplate? Buy a blank replica or a hopeless old authentic made with the same material if needed. Sometimes something like this has to happen to make a new jersey look the way it should and that’s okay. How are the numbers cut? Did the player wear an alternate captain’s “A” or a captain’s “C” in this style jersey? Adding a patch or two? Do the research and find legitimate patches from legitimate sellers as well. This is the same challenge as the jersey situation above.

The images in the example above are pictures of game worn Rob Blake jerseys that were auctioned off at one time or another. Sometimes I simply include images of jerseys already in my collection like here:

With a ~~sickness~~ passion like mine having different versions of the same jersey in the collection with only the patch being different on each jersey is a fairly common thing. The 2000-2001 Colorado Avalanche season was fun in the fact there were two versions of every jersey worn. That’s jersey heaven right there.

And for one more example, the best that can be done at times is finding images of the style jersey in game action.

And:

Basically, anything that you can do detail-wise to help the customizer isn’t going to hurt and a little more detail rather than less is always the side to miss on.

Next, find some patches (if needed.) And no, it’s not okay to put patches on jerseys that don’t need to be there. Be historically accurate and do things right.

Then, prepare the patches. Patches produced by National Emblem have a hard plastic backing on them to keep them from being placed on jerseys. National Emblem also makes the best patches around. So take the plastic backing off of the patches and get them ready to be placed where they were meant to be, on jerseys.

These are ready to go:

The next step in my process includes laying the jerseys and patches in the order out to double-check that all is accurate and I have absolutely everything I need.

Once everything looks good the patches are placed in baggies so they’re less likely to get lost, the jerseys are folded up carefully (make sure to not put a hard crease through the crest as they can be almost impossible to get out), and then each jersey (and baggie if needed) is put into its own larger bag.

The jersey bags are stacked in a tote so I can carry them all easily.

The lid is perfect to keep the elements out and the jerseys clean and dry.

Then we’re ready to make the trip to one of my favorite places on earth, Denver Athletic. You probably don’t have the luxury of being able to drive to the place that letters your favorite NHL team’s jerseys, that’s just a special perk of living in Denver and loving Avalanche jerseys the way that I do. I definitely don’t ever take this opportunity for granted.

Besides finding the jerseys the waiting is now the hardest part. My friends at DA do phenomenal work, so the waiting is always well worth it.

Stay tuned for an update post coming at you in a few short weeks…hopefully.

Have questions? Need more details? Let me know. Comment here, “like” The AHP Facebook Page (if you haven’t already) and send me a message there or email me at avalanchepodcast at Comcast dot net. I’m always happy to help you in any way that I can because getting jerseys done right is obviously a huge passion of mine. Be in touch. I would love to hear from you.

Ryan O’Byrne Peter Forsberg Retirement Night Game Worn Jersey: Upon Further Review

May 5, 2012 by Jay Vean - The AHP

Joe Sakic’s retirement night, on October 1, 2009, was definitely memorable. Avs fans had the opportunity to send him out in style with speeches, a banner in the rafters, the whole thing. The team also wore a special patch on their jerseys just to commemorate the night. Those jerseys, worn for only that night, were then auctioned off on NHL.com.

As far as the game goes, here are your highlights. Do what I like to do whenever I get the chance and look for the patch.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eVDS4_P-LY[/youtube]

I kept my eye on a few of the Sakic night jerseys that I thought would be affordable and that didn’t work out too well. Even the game issued jerseys ended up being pretty pricey. Maybe next time.

That next time came as we fast forward a few seasons to October 8, 2011. It was time for Avs fans to say goodbye to Peter Forsberg. Same procedure: banner, patches worn for one night, and those jerseys auctioned off on NHL.com.

Here are the highlights. Again, the patch, look for it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt0f3szcsRI[/youtube]

Here’s some video from my seats that night too.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_Pghq-FS24[/youtube]

I was NOT going to miss the chance to get one of these jerseys and I ended up living up to my word.

Here’s a close up of the Forsberg night patch.

Normally with a jersey worn for just one night there may be a mark or two, but nothing too distinguishing. This jersey wasn’t normal. Check out the damage. This is a close up of the back of the right shoulder just above the “E” in O’Byrne.

And the big foot patch on the right shoulder has some scuffing/burning along the toes.

The next step for a jersey collector when it comes to damage is to try and photo-match it. That process usually begins on Getty Images. I was hoping to get lucky and maybe get a close up shot of the back of the jersey. That didn’t work out well. There were only two images on Getty featuring O’Byrne wearing this jersey opening night: here and here. The Forsberg patch isn’t visible in the second image, but the “21” on the boards is the other clue.

Next, it was time to check the highlight videos for a hit that O’Byrne might have been involved in. That didn’t work out either. The NHL, Avalanche, or whoever decides what gets posted in the highlights only saw two hits the entire game that were worth sharing with the fans. Thanks so much for the help guys. Try not to wear yourselves out.

I’m not one to give up easily so I went back to the game on my DVR hoping I could see something, anything, that might clue me in as to how the damage on the shoulder of the jersey happened. Not wanting to watch the whole thing (I don’t really prefer watching the Avs get shutout over and over) I fast-forwarded between O’Byrne shifts and watched him very closely while he was on the ice. He scraped the boards along the far side of the ice late in the first period, but these jerseys are made to last so that couldn’t have done it. Then, as the second period horn sounded, Johan Franzen did what hockey players do and stuck up for his linemate Jiri Hudler, who had been knocked down by Ryan O’Byrne in the near corner. That’s when the magic happened. Franzen’s hit caused O’Byrne to slam into the boards in a seam between two panes of glass. That had to be it. It all made sense now.

I never thought I would ever thank Johan Franzen for anything. He’s been a huge Avalanche killer over the years and I obviously don’t care for that. But, Johan Franzen, thank you very much for coming to the aid of Jiri Hudler after big mean old Ryan O’Byrne knocked him down. You did the right thing in regards to the jersey I now own.

As far as an official photo match through Getty and MeiGray, that will be easy. The jersey and patch were only worn for a single game. Blow up one of the images above and call it good. But with a little persistence, and some investigative skills, I was able to video match this jersey as well. It’s stuff like this that gets jersey collectors ~~called the sickos they actually are~~ really excited.

It took me two tries to get a retirement night jersey, and I’m still beyond satisfied that I was able to set a goal and achieve it. Because of that fact, this Avalanche jersey is undoubtedly one of the big highlights of my collection. Seeing it live in action made adding it to my jersey closet that much sweeter.

MeiGray creates a letter of authenticity that accompanies every game worn jersey they sell. This letter was a little different than the others that I have. Here are the sentences that made the letter extra special, “On October 8, 2011, the Colorado Avalanche wore a commemorative set of jerseys in honor of Peter Forsberg’s retirement. The actual jersey worn on “Peter Forsberg Night” by #3 Ryan O’Byrne is now yours.” I love the sound of that and I think I’ll hang onto this jersey for a while. And by a while I actually mean forever.