Germany jerseys

To continue on the international jersey front I created a couple of Germany jerseys.  Being of German heritage on my dad's side, I decided to make a couple jerseys a while back.

The first jersey I don't have any more.  This one was created out of 2 jerseys.  The main jersey was plain black mesh.  The other jersey was a yellow jersey with white, and black striping and covered in screen printing in an old Cincinnati Cyclones pattern.  Basically just cut both jerseys (allowing a little extra material for seam allowance) and serged on the bottom or the waist and arms onto the black jersey.  The small Germany crest I think I got off Ebay.

The second jersey I still have.  I traded jerseys with someone at my hockey group.  It originally had a large image screened on the front; that's part of the reason the German eagle shield is so big, so it can cover all the screen printing.  Found the German eagle image online, enlarged it and printed it out and then went through my usual process (almost).
When it came to securing the eagle down to sew on the crest a household iron wouldn't cut it; too many points that likely wouldn't stay down.  The good people at Buzzy's Jerzee City heat pressed it down for me at no charge.  Sewing the eagle on was a pain in the ass with all those points.  Had a name bar with my name on it and put that over the sponsor on the back.  A two colour #11 was already heat pressed on the back when I got it; surprisingly the #11 hasn't starting to come off, as I found that in my experience the two layer heat pressed vinyl numbers eventually do.  Making sure it hangs to dry and never hits the dryer may have helped.

I remember reading quite a while ago the Germany was at one time developing it's hockey better for a while and then went into a decline when they allowed more imports to play in their leagues; whether that is true, your guess is probably better than mine.
 This year they were good enough to make it the long way into the World Juniors but with 1 OT loss and 3 losses are out of the playoffs and onto the Relegation Round.  Also onto the Relegation Round are Latvia, Slovakia and surprisingly to me Finland (as then finished below Switzerland).  The Swiss in recent times are a lot more of a challenge than they used to be.

Soviet player's jersey

Beside the Soviet goal jersey, I also have a player's red CCCP jersey.
Jersey has the heat pressed diamonds and numbers when I got it.

The jersey was originally uncrested.  Found the CCCP online somewhere, printed it out, made and sewed on the tackle twill letters.  Looks similar to the jerseys the Soviet worn in 1980.  #17 at that time would have been Kharlamov.

Also modified the end of the sleeves.  Originally only had 2 white stripes on the sleeves.  Found some white mesh material and serged in the last stripe.  Either the sleeve was originally a little short or I miscalculated somewhere; in any case the sleeves are a little shorter than normal (may or may not fix in the future).

Soviet and Canada goal jerseys

Without the NHL going on this year the main event this year will be the World Juniors (that are currently going on).  This got me to think about any international hockey jerseys I have.  I have a couple that are goal jerseys.

I have a Soviet goal jersey.  The jersey was originally blank and uncrested.  I tried to reproduce the jersey the Soviets used in the 1991 Canada Cup since the blank jersey matched this style.  I used online pics and guessed at sizing to make templates of the CCCPs and the numbers.

Even though they didn't use Cyrillic names in 1991, I thought I'd like my last name in Cyrillic on the back.  I think I contacted an online group that was either 'Study Russian' or something similar to get my last name approximately transliterated into Russian Cyrillic.  All names and numbers are tackle twill.

The other international goal jersey I have is a Team Canada one; it's like the ones they used in the Canada Cups.  Picked this one up at a thrift store.  Even though it had the #1 on the back it wasn't an adult goal cut.

 For this, I did the old trick of splitting the jersey down the arm seam and using material an old hockey jersey and football jersey ,that I got from a bag sale at a thrift shop, for extra material.  This works pretty well for converting a player's jersey to goal; it works okay to up the sizing of a player's jersey one size - any more than that and the shoulder seams throw things off way too much.

 Borrowed my mom's serger (easier and quicker than a sewing machine) to add in the extra under arm material.

It had what I assume is the previous owner's first name (KYLE) on the back.  I covered this up first with some white tackle twill material; when the name still bled through I decided to add some white airknit jersey material on top of that.

Here's a pic of the front and the back.

Beer League Years - Part 1

Start off at the beginning of my beer league years from 1993 to about 2000.  Didn't start playing beer league as early as '93 but I am going to include the Huff and Puff Tournaments.

What is a Huff and Puff Tournament?  It used to be a spring hockey tournament that was held in the township of Stanley (just outside of Thunder Bay).  I remember the trophy including a toilet plunger.  The winning team players got a bag of potatoes (and sometimes hats or something else).  The format for OT in the championship games changed from year to year; sometimes they would go from 5-5 to 4-4 going down further until someone scored.  Sometimes they had a shootout with a frozen turkey - moving the turkey closer and closer to the goal until someone from a team was able to shoot the turkey into the net.  Let's just say this tournament was a little unconventional.  The tournament was made up of teams of pickup hockey players; no league players were supposed to be playing in this tournament.  The tournament later changed it's venue to Delaney Arena in Thunder Bay and it's name to the Moan & Groan - not sure if the tournament is going on anymore.

In 1993 I played for a team called Damage Inc. in the tournament.  We beat the Blues 7-4, Grand Old Ranch 10-3, Abitibi 11-5.  We lost the A-side Championship 4-2 to Tues Knight.
In 1994 we lost the A-Side Championship again.  In 1996 & 1999 I played on teams that won the B-side Championship.

The first N.B.C. (No Body Contact - which really only meant no body checking) team I played for was called the All Blacks.  How I got on the team was that some of the players on the team were friends of a younger cousin of mine and I had played hockey with them a little before this.  The first season was 1996/97 it was a 6 team league and we came in 3rd.  At a party the team handed out awards for many of the players and I got a best defenceman award that year; the following year (1997/98) I got best defensive defenseman (not sure how we finished that year).  After that year the league folded.  Here's a pic of the team - not from playing in the league but from a previous year playing in the Huff and Puff (1996?).

In 1998 I played in a tournament in Terrace Bay.  We won the first game 4-2 over Pelegrino's then lost 8-0 to the Wolf Pack, and lost 6-2 to Manitouwage Insurance.  The team was in less than stellar shape for the start of the tournament; let's just say the partying started too early (some were hung over and some were still under the influence to start the first game).  If I remember correctly there was an A&W attached to or very close to the arena, and one team had their dressing room flooded (backed up toilet or a pipe burst??)

In 2000 I played in the Stanley Rural League for a team called the Warriors (jerseys were orange).  Got on the team through a friend of my brother and I.  League was a lot chippier than the Tournament Centre League.

Nostalgia, Arcade Games & Invaders hockey jerseys

"Don't you ever miss the days when you were nostalgic" from Dzur by Steven Brust.

While sick have been re-reading from the beginning Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series of novels.  One of my favourite fantasy series.

I'll go off on a tangent for a while on the subject of old arcade games and the arcades and places in town that used to have them.  One game I was pretty good at was called Lady Bug - what springs to mind with this one is the old Pizza Delight on Arthur St. (later a Robin's Donuts, much later Wasabi) near my house at the time had a cocktail version of the game that I would play quite a bit.   There was also a pizza place called Shakey's (not sure but might be the building that was later a Fish and Chips restaurant and now is a Mike's Mart near the LCBO) on Arthur street that had a game called Cheeky Mouse.  The Airways arcade was nearby but I didn't go there much.  My brother is very good at a game called Ghosts 'n Goblins which he played at his high school and later hang out - Galaxy Lanes.  When I think of games at Galaxy Lanes I also think of some racing game that I found out you could tilt - the name escapes me.  I associate the game Qix with the roller rink that used to exist where Smith's RV is now - Wheelies it was know by in it's later years; it changed it name from Saints, I think, because of having the same name as a rink in Duluth or Minneapolis.  Centipede I think I first played in Thunder Bay Mall - either there was a small arcade there or it was in one of the main stores - Kmart (later Zellers, most recently a new Walmart).  Caveman, a combination pinball machine/video game, I associate with the old 'Study' during my first attempt at a post secondary education at Lakehead University in 1987.  The revolutionary for it's time Dragon's Lair brings to mind Golden Castle on May Street - think a tattoo parlor is there now.  I think the other Golden Castle in the north end of town was up on N. Cumberland Street near the old now shut down Cumberland 5 cinema - Bubble Bobble is what I think of for that one.  I remember Chippewa Park at one time, somewhat after the 'golden days' of arcades, had a whole bunch of pinball machines and arcade games in a large building.  Pengo I played at the Mount McKay ski hill (may be a paint ball range there now) back when my parents had a ski membership there for the whole family.

To bring things back to hockey jerseys we'll have to start with Ryan Connelly's (Space) Invaders jerseys.  I think I first saw them on the Uniwatch site in an article called DIY disasters: http://www.uni-watch.com/2009/11/03/diyd-do-it-yourself-disaster/  .  Some pics may be on the Facebook group Hockey Sweater/ Jersey Army, but I know you will find them on his blog Project 840.
Here's a pic of the front of a few of his Invaders creations:

Ryan Connelly creations inspired me to make a fake minor league version of his Pittsburgh Invaders team.  For the Thunder Bay version I went with the team name Lakehead Invaders and used the major landmark of the area 'The Sleeping Giant' in my creations.  So far I have made a black and a white jersey, but will likely eventually make a 3rd jersey with a yellow with black and white jersey I got off Ebay.  For the black jersey I used a jersey I already had that had some screen printing on the front that I covered up with my Invaders crest.  I got the white jersey off Ebay and replaced the front crest and cut off parts (parts that weren't embroidered on) of the shoulder patches and covered them over with my own patches.

Here's a close up of the front crest.

I sent a DIY Space Invaders Christmas card to Ryan Connelly.  Here's the place where I found out how to make one: http://www.minieco.co.uk/8-bit-popup-cards/

For those of your interested in old arcade games and want to play them on your home computer - check out M.A.M.E.  Most of the Roms (games) are only available at sites that the emulator (M.A.M.E.) isn't.

Have any memories of vintage arcade games that you used to like?  Feel free to add them (or anything else) in the comments.

New Jersey Devils jerseys (red & green for Xmas)

For Christmas, thought I'd go with a red and green theme - what better than the retro Devils

The white jersey is double knit material.  Originally had a different number and a crest on front.  Had a devils crest that I sewed on.  More on the numbers and name bar later.

Bought a K1 brand red devils jersey - likely on Ebay.  Made up name bar and numbers for this one also.  All numbers, name, and name bar done in tackle twill.

For letters I used and slightly modified Florida's font in the NHL fonts I had previously downloaded.  For the numbers I used a pic of a Devils game worn jersey, cropped and printed out the number, cleaned it up, and guessed at the sizing for a template.

Why Daneyko you may ask?  Who else would a defensive defenceman with limited offensive skills pick to put on a Devils jersey.  Besides, who doesn't like Ken Daneyko?  Was one of my favourite players.

Vancouver Canucks jerseys (bought & made)

Made this blue Canucks jersey (no longer have it).  Originally had Larry's Loungers screened on the front.  Covered that with a homemade Canucks 'stick in the rink' logo made of tackle twill.  Jersey also had orange instead of green stripes originally; used some green mesh material from another jersey and my mom's serger to change that.
Here's a pic of the jersey, close up of the crest, and the jersey inside out to show how the crest covered the screen printing.

Later got a blank uncrested black Canucks jersey from a thrift store and made the newer 'stick in the rink' as a primary logo out of tackle twill.  Sold or traded that one too.

Bought one of the yellow Canucks CCM 'vintage' replica 'V' jerseys (I think from River City Sports).  Unfortunately sold that one; too much bitching from those in 'scrub' aka 'pickup' hockey when I wore it (What are you supposed to be light or dark??).  It was one of my favourites at the time (to go well against popular opinion on the 'V' jerseys).  Probably should have tried to enlarge it and make it into a goal jersey; no one cares what the goalie is wearing.

"Made" a black V Canucks jersey that I still have.  Probably another thrift store purchase.  Was about a size too small so I split the seams under the arms and added a couple inches of black mesh.  Didn't have the arm patches so I found some on Ebay and sewed them on the arms.

Most recent purchase Canucks purchase was a pair of Johnny Canucks jerseys.  Someone in B.C. ordered at team set made up at Tally Hockey Jerseys for his Beer League team.  Contacted him and he had some extras he was willing to sell - wish I had seen if he had a pair of XL instead of XXL; they are a bit big on me.  The newer Athletic Knit sizing runs pretty large.

To end it, one more thrift store Canucks jersey.  Don't wear this one on the ice as it is a size medium; just fits me to wear around as a sweatshirt.  Screen printing of the crest and numbers has a rubberized feel to it.

Small DIY project. 
Just made the old time 'bone V' - like the Vancouver Millionaires had well over a century ago and put it on an blank jersey. 
Later traded for a white jersey that had some maroon in it and duplicated the 'V' and put it on there.

Here is a picture of Frank Patrick from 1913 wearing the 'bone V' sweater.

Between Bantam & Beer League years

After Bantam hockey I quit playing for a few years.  Came back and played "scrub" aka "pickup" with a Friday night group that my dad played with.  Played as a defenceman for a while then filled in for goal; my dad bought me some 2nd hand goal equipment from a goalie who was retiring and I was a regular goalie with this group for a while.  Later I went back to being just a regular player who occasionally filled in at goal.

Here's one team pic from the group with me in goal (Sharks coloured jersey)

Wearing the old leather deer hair filled pads (Winwell) and the separate and chest (Brown) and arm protectors (Cooper?) along with the old waffle blocker, a Cooper XL7 helmet with a Cooper GL-100L goalie cage, Bauer goalie skates about a 1/2 size too big, etc.



Played one semester of high school hockey for Churchill High School.  Except for my last 1/2 year of high school I was at Westgate High School.  My dad and I tried to get me to play on Churchill's team (who in most games was lucky to have 2 full lines) while still going to Westgate (who had enough players trying out to probably fill 3 or 4 teams).  I won't go into all the details here but needless to say I still have some resentment towards Westgate and the SSSAA.  In my opinion they were a lot more concerned with the letter of the "law" and not at all concerned with the spirit of the "law".  I ended up playing as a winger, which I had never played before in organized hockey.

Here's a team pic of Churchill's hockey team scanned from the yearbook from 1987.  I'm 2nd row far right.  We finished one point out of the playoffs; a win instead of tie in our last game of the season against, I think,  F.W.C.I. would have put us in the playoffs.  Even if we had made the playoffs we would soon have been toast anyway since the Hammarskjold Vikings were far and away the best team in the league that season.

Another pickup group I occasionally filled in for goal and played out in was a Sunday morning group my dad played with.  Didn't play with this group a lot because I was and am still not a morning person; though I did enjoy going for breakfast at McDonald's with some of the guys after the game.  I am wearing my Churchill jersey in this photo.  They played red team against the blue team with the regulars usually staying they usual colours.

Westfort Hockey (my Atom & Peewee years)

In my younger years started playing organized hockey in the Westfort Hockey League in the Atom age group for the Pipe Trades 628 and in Peewee for IGP (Industrial Grain Products) and the Kiwanis.  Played one year of Bantam for the Westfort Maroons.  Played almost exclusively defence (except for being put in goal in Atom for 2 games when goalie was either sick or injured).

In the first few years on the Pipe Trades wore purple and gold dureen (cotton with nylon or rayon) sweaters.  Have one badly faded team photo and one personal pic.  Back when I started playing organized hockey some games in the Westfort League were played on outdoor arenas and some on indoor arenas.  We usually didn't get to keep the sweaters back then; they were used year after year.

For my final year with the Pipe Trades team we changed to a red polyester jersey.  I believe I was #6 that year. Here's another team pic and personal from the 1977-78 season.  I am in the top left corner next to my dad who was one of the coaches that year.  Both pictures were very likely taken at Delaney Arena.

None of my trophies survived several moves, but I kept the plates that were on the trophies.  While at one of the local library branches I looked through some old local papers on microfilm and found some information on the 1977-78 playoffs.  We beat the Hansford Hustlers 4 games to 1 in the championship games: 1-5, 4-3, 3-2, 3-1, 3-2.

Don't have any pics of the Pee Wee or Bantam years, but have one pic of what I believe is likely a team pic of the year I was on the all-star team.  We played in a tournament in Nipigon/Red Rock.

[EDIT: Dec 20/14]
Got some photos from Kevin Wright of the Pipe Trades.  A couple team photos and the sweater he has.

Quebec Nordiques #3 jersey

Keeping on the Nordiques theme from last post there is a Nordiques jersey that I "made".  This jersey originally had some screen printing across the front chest.  I covered that with a square blue piece of tackle twill.  Found an old Nordiques logo on the internet and made a crest for the front of the jersey out of various coloured twill.  It's supposed to look similar to the Nordiques jersey worn in the later half of the WHA and their first year in the NHL.  After seeing pictures of actual game worn jerseys I can see the proportions in the logo are a bit off the game worn one, but what's done is done and it was good enough for me.

There is a #3 on the back.  The blue rectangle that I had sewn on blend in better than the photo shows.  The flash of the camera makes it look like their is a bigger colour contrast than there actual is.

No longer have this jersey.  Gave it to a friend who frequently gives me rides to hockey a while after I got the 00 Nordiques jersey.

00 jersey - Quebec Nordiques

Figured I'd post the other 00 jersey I have.  This one is an Ebay purchase.  Don't have my own pic of the jersey, but downloaded the pics from Ebay at the time.  Jersey is a little lighter coloured than pictured and I removed the name bar from the jersey when I got it.  Was originally going to expand it and make it into a goalie jersey, but decided to leave it as a player's jersey.  Main crest embroidered and all patches and numbers sewn on.