My wife got a #24 Wild jersey with Payton this Christmas.
I like custom jerseys for three reasons:
1. I genuinely think they are cool. Hardcore fan cool. I remember being pretty young, going to a Broncos game in the late 80s or early 90s and seeing a fan with a customized orange Broncos jersey. I got the concept right away. “Its like the jersey he would have if he was on the Broncos!“ I’ve loved the idea ever since.
2. I am not about to change team loyalty. I also learned this at around the same age. In 1990, the Broncos were limping along to a 5-11 season after getting belted 55-10 by the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIV the year before. I had a good friend who had decided he had enough and was going to root against the Broncos the rest of the season. I figured, what the hell, and I also tried to root against the Broncos - it was a home game against the Raiders:
TV: “(Raiders QB) drops back to pass - throw is over the middle - and its picked off by Steve Atwater!”
Me: “YES!!!!! … I mean, no…"
I knew right then and there - rooting for another team - not possble for me.
3. In the modern sports world, with free agency, millions of dollars, salary caps and enormous egos, buying a jersey with your current favorite player is more often then not only good for handful of years. A decent replica jersey now retails for around $100 (at least). A handful of years isn’t a good enough shelf life for me.
Maybe nothing can illustrate this point better then the hot sports topic around Denver right now, the Cutler trade to the Chicago. If you asked me in December, “I’m going to get a Broncos jersey, who should I get?“ my answer would have been, “Cutler is probably the safest guy to get -- I doubt he’s going anywhere in time soon.” A handful of months, a coaching change, and a few bruised egos later and all those folks who bought that #6 jersey aren’t very happy with their $100 purchase now.
I know, all whole lot of talk about the Broncos for an Avs blog. But hockey certainly isn’t immune to this phenomenon. That modern day hockey cliché, “You think you’re untradable! Are you better than Wayne Gretzky! Cos he was traded, more than once!” only continues to ring true. Just look at the jerseys around the Pepsi Center the next time you go. Tanguay, Drury, Theodore, Blake, Brunette, heck I’ve even seen Tucker and Arnason jerseys.
If custom jerseys aren’t for you and you are planning to buy a player jersey, you have to ask yourself “If this guy gets traded tomorrow, would I still wear this jersey?” Only true legends will usually pass this test. Sakic? - sure. Forsberg? - check. Roy? - heck yeah. Stastny? Wolski? - well, maybe not.
My wife didn’t really have a favorite number to go with, so she picked #24. This is currently worn by her favorite player, Derek Boogaard. Recently, Derek has been a healthy scratch for the Wild, for weeks at a time, and looks to be more and more expendable. But because she didn’t get Boogaard’s name on the jersey, even if the Wild decide to part ways with Mr. Boogaard, it wouldn’t feel silly next season when she puts on the jersey.
Another thing you can do as a hockey fan is just get a blank jersey. They are cheaper and they aren’t going to be tainted by a player who has moved on. (Football fans don’t have this luxury!)
If you decide to a custom jersey, do NOT order from NHL.com. We ordered the jersey’s pictured at icejerseys.com. Why? Check out the light blue section to the right of the page and follow the “Still not convinced about the IJ Customization Difference?” link. IceJerseys.com actually went easy on NHL.com, because the Avs jersey’s look 50 times worse than that Koivu jersey - mostly because of the Avs curved name plate. I’ve seen a couple of these at Avs games this year, they look so bad that it seriously looks like it was homemade. I'll have to take a picture the next time I see one...
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