Sunday, September 25, 2011

Slammers Hockey Sweater Celebration

Press Release

The Woodstock Slammers will be unveiling their new third sweater when they host the Campbellton Tigers Wednesday September 28th.

The colour scheme is green, white and black and the sweater features a new logo that recognizes when the Slammers first entered the Maritime Junior "A" Hockey League. "The sweater has a traditional look to it" commented Head Coach Jason Tatarnic. Every fans who wears a hockey sweater to the September 28th game will be entered into a draw with the prize being a game worn Slammer sweater. "We wanted to celebrate the unveiling and the design definitely has a heritage look to it. The hockey sweater has been part of our history as a country for over 100 years" commented Head Coach Jason Tatarnic. Exactly how far back and why was it called a sweater?

The National Hockey league has its beginnings in the 1910's. The league opened up with just four teams at the start: The Montreal Canadiens, the Montreal Wanderers, the Ottawa Senators, and the Toronto Arenas. Each of these teams adorned themselves with what they called hockey sweaters which helped not only to distinguish the players on the ice but also to provide insight into the communities the teams were coming from.

Sweaters originally had to be warm. Before large grand stand arenas and incredibly advanced ice technology, hockey was mostly played outdoors on ponds or other frozen water areas. The term hockey sweater comes from the material the original sweaters were made out of. Just like your run of the mill cozy sweater, hockey sweaters were knitted out of a wool cloth and dyed different colors and in different patterns. Patches were occasionally sewn on to the fronts of the sweater but that technique didn't fully take hold until later.

Today most people call them jerseys. Head Coach Jason Tatarnic shared his view on the term jersey or sweater. "The term hockey sweater has been used for over 100 years and as a Canadian its a part of history and I think we should honour our history. I still call it a hockey sweater, so I'm looking forward to seeing a number of hockey sweaters in the Civic Centre on September 28th".

Fans can get a glimpse of the sweater in this Friday's or Tuesday's edition of the Bugle Observer.

(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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