One of my favorite hobbies, as well as pastimes, is the
sport of hockey. I never actually played organized hockey, but we played a lot
of local ice rink hockey and pond hockey growing up. But I’ve always been a fan
of the sport. What better trophy is there in sports than the Stanley Cup? What
other sport openly allows players to police themselves with legal fighting
within the game? A buddy of mine and myself are going to stack up our top 25
jerseys against each other and see where they come out. It should be a pretty
close race. This first post is going to lay out my rating scale for jerseys and
give you an example of how I would rate a jersey.
My rating scale is a numerical value assigned to 6 different
categories that add up to an aggregate score of 100 points that I deem to be
important in the worth of a hockey jersey. Without further adieu, here is my
rating scale I have concocted.
Category #1: Jersey Type: 15 Points
As you know, there are many clothing manufacturers and not
all of them are the same quality. The same is true for hockey jerseys. Here are
my rankings.
To score a perfect 15 in this category, a jersey must be an
on the ice authentic. Sadly, I don’t own any of these, and Bruce I believe has
only one. Thankfully, there are some pretty high quality replica jerseys out
there. Jerseys that would score a perfect 15 in this category are the current
NHL on-ice jersey the Reebok Edge, as well as older on-ice versions, such as a
CCM Ultrafil, CCM Authentic, or Koho Authentic. These jerseys are the highest
quality and almost always come with a fight strap.
The next rung down the ladder are the top notch replica jerseys.
The current Reebok Premier is a good one. I have a bunch of these as will be
shown when I reveal my ranking list. I also assign CCM Vintage jerseys,
CCM/Reebok replicas (that’s one jersey they made for a short time when the NHL
was transitioning from CCM to Reebok), and the excellent heavy duty Koho
replicas with the vented sides. Jerseys in this category are not authentic, but
they’re good. I also chuck in good old replica CCM jerseys and pro player jerseys here. I give jerseys in this category 13 points a piece - only a 2
point deduction.
I slot the overseas CCM jerseys in a 12 point category along with the good knock-off jerseys.
I assign 11 for Maskas and 10 for Starters. Both are lesser quality.
I also reserve another category for other jerseys made by
other companies. I have a Finland national jersey made by who knows who. So, I
assign a numerical value based on its quality.
Category #2: Jersey Condition: 15 Points
The condition a jersey is in is a big deal. I leave a little room for subjective play in
this category, but not much. If a jersey is brand new with the tags still on
it, it gets a 15. And that is the only way it gets a 15. Since I wear my
jerseys (yes, all of them), I only have one of these right now.
If a jersey is in pristine condition and is mint, I give it
13-14 points, depending on just how flawless the jersey is. These jerseys will
have no noticeable flaws and will, for all intents and purposes, look pretty
much new.
If it is in good to very good condition, I’ll slap it with
11-12 points. The jerseys here might be just worn from age or have some minor
blemishes, but nothing major. They’re in nearly excellent condition and to the
untrained eye, not viewing the jerseys up close, they will appear to be nearly
new.
If a jersey is in OK condition with some blemishes, I’ll give
it 8-10. If it has some noticeable flaws, it scores 5-7 in the fair range. It
takes a pure rag to score between 1-4 in the poor range. I have a couple of
these, but rest assured, they’re nowhere near my top 50.
Category #3: Logos/Layout/Scheme: 20 Points
This is where it starts getting subjective. In this category
I look at how the logos used on the jersey, including front patch, shoulder
patches, and other “special” patches, and how they work with the jersey. I
score them based on the logo itself as well as how it works with the overall
layout of the jersey. Essentially I take the entire collection of patches on
the jersey and grade them as a whole. I don’t dock points from a jersey for
having only one patch (the Montreal Canadiens normal home and away jerseys have
only one, for instance), but I may add points to a weaker jersey if it has some
sort of special patch(s) on the sleeves or chest.
This tends to get subjective because there are certain logos
and patches I like a heck of a lot more than others. I tend to favor
simplicity, although I’m biased towards traditional logos and such. Original
six teams get a high nod from me. I love the Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal
Canadiens, and Toronto Maple Leafs logos and layouts - and even the Detroit Red
Wings (even though I despise the Red Wings). If you want a non original six
team that I like regarding their logo, look no further than the Calgary Flames.
I think the Flames have put out some excellent jerseys over the years. I can’t
stand the new metallic arena football looking jerseys with gaudy logos. I don’t
like the logos of the Nashville Predators or Carolina Hurricanes.
I put a big number on this too, because with hockey jerseys,
looks are important.
Category #4: Personalization: 10 Points
Of course, the majority of my jerseys are not personalized
and have no name or number on them. They will score a 0 in this category. I
didn’t want to put too big of a number on this category, since it could then
skew the rankings too much for my liking. For instance, I could have a
personalized jersey of the Carolina Hurricanes or something (I don’t) end up
being ranked higher than a sharp looking Winter Classic jersey with no name or
number on the back. But in this system with a low number on personalization,
that won’t happen.
So how do I score this? Fairly simple, really. If the player
on the back is a Hall of Famer or an All-Time Great, the jersey will get a 9 or
a 10. A jersey with Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux is an obvious 10. I’ll give
a 9 to other Hall of Fame players who are not in the Gretzky/Lemieux class.
A current NHL star or excellent player will get a 7 or 8
from me in this category. Not only do I take into consideration how talented
the player is, but also if they’ve won the Cup, performed in the playoffs on a
high level, and things like that. I may make an exception for a player that has
been playing for many years in the league and is still playing - but only if
that player is a slam dunk Hall of Famer. I may give that one a 9. For example,
I have a Capitals Alex Ovechkin jersey. By anyone’s standards, love him or hate
him, he’s a superstar in the league now. He gets an 8. I also have an old
Canucks alternate jersey with Todd Bertuzzi on it. Bertuzzi is a good player,
but he’s an example of a 7 for personalization.
A good NHL player who is average to above average past or
present gets a 5 or 6 here, while a common player will get a 3 or 4. I have a
penguins Winter Classic jersey with Max Talbot on the back. Even though Talbot
has some serious sentimental value for me (he scored 2 goals in game 7 at
Detroit in the Cup finals and the Pens beat the Wings 2-1), he still gets a 5.
He’s a 3rd line player who has never been considered to be a star in
the league.
Personalization is important and really completes a jersey,
but that does not mean that there will be no blank jerseys (logos and patches
but no name and number) in my top 25. A hockey jersey collection is an evolving
process and list, but at last count, 7 of my top 25 jerseys are not personalized,
although if I did get any of them personalized, it would blow up my top 10
(there is only one blank in my top 10. The first blank jersey makes an
appearance in the #7 spot). The blank jerseys that hit the top 25 are excellent
jerseys that will be awesome when a name and number are added.
Category #5: Color Scheme: 10 Points
This is quite subjective too, which is why I only slap a
maximum of 10 points on this category. Simply put, I take into account not only
the colors on the jersey, but also how they use them. For instance, the New
York Islanders skate out with blue, orange, and white more or less. That’s a
decent color combination, but I prefer the blue home and white road jersey over
the orange alternate they trotted out not so long ago. Simplicity and classic
color schemes trump some of the newer gaudy foolishness that some teams have
resorted to.
Category #6: Tradition/History/Longevity/Rarity: 20 Points
This is the category that separates the best from the best.
I take into account the tradition of the jersey here, so I’ll be more apt to
score the blue and orange Oilers jersey higher than the navy and copper one
they wore for around a decade. I’ll also take into consideration if the team
hoisted the Stanley Cup in that jersey, had winning seasons, or were perennial
contenders. The history and longevity of the jersey counts here too. Has the
jersey been around for 50 years or 2?
Finally, I take into account the rarity of the jersey. If I
were ever to get a hold of a Cleveland Barons jersey, that would be super rare.
I won’t deduct points for a jersey not being rare if it scores well in the
other criteria in this category, but I will add some points to a jersey that
scores poorly in the other criteria if it is rare and tough to get your hands on.
This is a catch-all category. how does the jersey look on? How does it feel?
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