Wings' Winter Classic Look Leaks Too!
Friday · Feb 22 · 2013 | 1:13 AM PST
curt4201 via ebay
Well, once the Maple Leafs' jersey was leaked, you had to know it was only a matter of time before the other one came. It appears ebay has now provided us a look at the 2013 Winter Classic sweater of the Detroit Red Wings.
Once again, I have to believe it's a legitimate Reebok product — not because curt4201 says so — but because of the details you find. The embroidering, the tags, the NHL shield. It's all so far from what counterfeiters are capable of producing.
The seller actually calls it a "throwback alternate" jersey. Think it's safe to say he's not a big hockey sweater guy. First, it's not a throwback to anything. It's another homage to the Detroit Cougars with a big of Red Wings mixed in (just like in 2009). It's also not a third jersey — something the Red Wings have never had.
Based on this, we know it was intended for this year's Winter Classic. Back in January, some images of WC merchandise, including t-shirts, were leaked by an online retailer. The Red Wings t-shirt used the exact crest found on this jersey — down to the custom font that spells DETROIT. Even the custom numbers can be matched to that shirt.
However, there's a problem. The Maple Leafs jersey that was leaked was blue. That means neither team would've had a white sweater for the Winter Classic. Is that unprecendented? Of course not.
TheHockeyJersey.co via ebay
A blue-vs-red game could work quite well. I, for one, hope we still get a chance to experience that again when we ring in 2014. It'll be a sight to see.
So, just as with the Leafs jersey, I'm content to say this Red Wings jersey did, in fact, come out of a Reebok factory. Whether it's the real deal or a mere prototype, you can decide for yourself until we get something official from the NHL.
But whatever the case, what do you think of it? Were these two jerseys the right way to go?
Reader Comments (26)
I got to be honest, if this is actually the redwings jersey I'm going to be very disappointed. It hardly ties into the redwings history . Next to the weird 80's wings font and the subtle nod to the cougars with the Detroit arched over the old school fat tire style weel. The jersey its self isn't a redwings jersey its a wild 3rd jersey with the Rangers WC shoulders slapped on. At least when other team like Boston & New York have come up with a faux-back jersey that fits in with there history. I'm obviously disappointed with this, I'm curious to see what other people think of it.
^ Matt's right. There is no reference to the Wings history, but how could there be? The Wings have had the same jersey for 81 years. At least they're trying. IMO I liked the Red Stripe jerseys from 2009, and wouldn't mind seeing them again (hopefully for the Millionaires game).
I remember the 2002 All Star Games, both teams wore colored jersey (red and blue) and it was a mess. But I agree now with HD, it might be different. Personally I like the Red Wings jersey. It's hard to tie with Red Wings history because they always had (more or less) what they have now. The only two other distinguishable jersey they had (both as Cougar), they used at the 2009 Winter Classic and in 1991-92 for the NHL 75th anniversary.
Im a huge wings fan myself but i am disappointed as well,love the idea of a red vs blue but the jersey just feels like its lacking something,i think that my wings could have done something classic and even if not totally retro why not just flip the white winter classic they had before and to shake it up just use the cool looking font they have here.either way cant wait to see em play in the big house.
As far as overpriced polyester shirts go these two are absolutely stunning uniforms. Perfection the NHL needs more of this.
Odd.
Why was the Leafs jersey listed at $499 while the Red Wings jesey was only at $149?
Both on ebay.
The Leafs jersey is now marked sold while at the same time the listing states OBO.
Weirdness.
I actually like this Detroit sweater. To me, it does look like something that could have been worn back in the day, and I think it captures the spirit of the Winter Classic. However, one can argue that this is more of a throwback to the 1972 Summit Series USSR jersey than anything in the Red Wings history when it comes to the overall look. With Datsyuk's name on the back, seems somewhat appropriate, doesn't it?
Not a chance. There's no assistants 'A'.
I'm with Matt. This is disappointing. There are some elements that I do like, but the striping, especially on the shoulders, makes it seem foreign. This is not a Red Wings jersey. As a life-long Red Wings fan who had tickets to go to the Winter Classic and was looking forward to buying the jersey when it became available, I would not buy this. I am interested to see what the rest of the uniform would look like, but the jersey alone is weak and I feel completely misses the mark. I would remove the shoulder striping all together, the thinner stripe on the arms and waistline. There have been several concepts on this blog over the last few months that were much stronger than this. McElroy, Haslett, and Cox's concepts come to mind immediately.
I think these are great jerseys. A blue vs. red game between two original 6 teams, outside. I think it'll be a beautiful sight to see.
I love the idea of a red/blue matchup. I get why we need white jerseys, but I love how in soccer, both teams can wear their dark colors if the colors don't clash. Manchester United and Chelsea matches are ALWAYS red vs blue. It's beautiful. No reason why the NHL shouldn't allow teams to do the same. That being said, I really dislike this Red Wings leak. I would have preferred a red version of their 2009 Winter Classic jersey. That was great, and when you think of Detroit, you think of a stylized D (thanks to the Tigers). But this jersey leak seems almost too minor league to me. It doesn't look like something a proud, historic NHL club would wear.
This is interesting, but there are a couple things that lead me to believe it might not be legit.
- No "A" on the Datsyuk jersey
- No Winter Classic patch
- Looks like a mash-up of the Rangers' Winter Classic and Minnesota's third jersey as far as the stripes go
This could be the real thing, but those just stand out to me as peculiar
People are saying that they don't like it because it doesn't tie in with Wings history. But I say that it's great to go with something they never used, because we've already seen all of their real throwbacks hit the ice, at some point in time (92, 09 WC). They need to bring out something that innovative enough to avoid getting the "not that again" feedback.
I love the idea of a Red vs Blue game. Toronto and Detroit are the only two bi-colour teams in the entire NHL (unless you count Tampa, but they have other colours on their 3rd jerseys), so this is the best possible matchup for Red vs Blue. Much less chance for confusion than, say, Toronto vs Montreal, since the Canadiens have blue pants, helmets, and stripes.
If you ask me, the NHL uses white too much. I understand the need for contrasting jerseys, but you limit creativity when you force every team to include white in their primary colour palette (I realize yellow has been used alternatively to white before, but who wants that? And that's no longer an option anyway since Nashville now uses yellow for their coloured jerseys.).
The jersey looks great on it's own. We know it has nothing to do with Red Wings history,not many of the WC jersey's do. I'm not saying it is great as a Red Wings Jersey per say, but that it is a nice looking jersey. I wish the NHL would get off the Tie-String collars bandwagon, although I do not like any of the Reebk collars, since they went to the stupid edge uniforms. I still want those things gone!!!Can only hope that one day the NHL will have straight hems and NON Edge jerseys.
Ech, disappointing. Why can't they just go with a Howe-era jersey with the darker shade of red and the old-style winged wheel instead of this overly-busy frankensteined mess? It's like some weird mashup of the Canucks uniforms with that awful striped DETROIT heritage jersey from a while back. I was really psyched to finally have a reason to get a new wings jersey since there's so little difference between any of them but if this is really it I'm a lot more reluctant.
Having both teams wearing colors, regardless of how similar they are, is distracting to me as a player. It's much easier to differentiate white from color than color from color in a split second reaction.
Two colored jerseys have gone at it before. Bruins & Rangers went at in 1996 both wearing their 3rd jersey (yellow 7 dark blue). March 23, 1996. Rangers won 5-4. Proof is in the book titled "A Day in the Life of the National Hockey league." You can see the photo in that book.
I collect all jerseys, but I am not a fan of the Red Wings jerseys (or team) by any means, and in fact I wish they'd ditch their jerseys altogether. However they keep doing an outstanding job making their WC jerseys. I was upset when I couldn't get one from their first WC, but if this is what they wear next year, I'm gonna have a hard time not buying one.
Not a big fan of this concept. There is one throwback in particular the Wings haven't done - the original white Red Wings jersey, from 1934-1956, with the white sleeves. It might be plain, but I'd still love to see it.
the Wings' sweater looks pretty legit. it would be hard to piece it together as that logo has never appeared on any detroit uniform ever, unless you know someone that can make something like that from a picture on the internet. you can probably find everything you need to purchase to make the Leafs sweater from eBay. Blank jersey template, small NHL shield for the collar and a TML crest.
Both jerseys are not real. They are missing one obvious crucial tell tale sign any real collector will notice. Theres no hem tag on the lower left front of the jersey. Every single legit reebok premier jersey has this and it amazes me how the counterfeiters and buying public both overlook this obvious big ugly grey tag on the jersey. Before anyone claims protoype oversight, not true. A prototype must have all these elements when its presented for approval to teams.
About the styles presented, not bad. Love the 'king clancy' model leafs jersey. We haven't seen that one in use in modern history so thats pretty cool, although its nearly the same as the 96 leafs throwback jersey, just with the shoulder yoke added to it. As far as the wings jersey.... Total failure. You guys hit it on the head and the first thing that popped into my mind was the wild 3rd jersey. A better option would be the 1950s wings road white shirt with the full white sleeves and single red stripe on them. Think a reversal of the red jersey. They actualy wore that and it would be a nice throwback even if its simple, but hey when you think red wings jerseys you normaly don't think busy or over the top do you.
So I have the leafs jersey in hand in Toronto anyone able to verify it if they had more details like tags, serial numbers better pics? Let me know ill be glad to send them or post
Maybe one of the jerseys isn't real. Doesn't one of them have to be white?
cheapjerseysmyshop
@RoF Hockey
The logo on this jersey is actually very close to what the Red Wings wore in the 1930's. The retro logo that the league trademarked in the 90's doesn't look anything like the ones they wore on the ice. It's a shame really that they didn't do a proper throwback because this logo is rendered so well. Imagine this logo in felt on a thin wool red sweater. That would be perfect for an outdoor game.