Article Archive #42 - November 11th

This post originally appeared on Hockey Jersey Concepts on November 11th, 2016.

On this day 98 years ago, the fighting of World War One ended when an armistice was signed between the Allies and Germany.  Many nations now mark the occasion with an annual holiday to pay tribute to the people who have served (or continue to serve) their country, including Remembrance Day in Canada and Veterans Day in America.

The hockey world observes these memorial days in several ways, including many military appreciation games by junior and minor-pro teams.  Before the Chilliwack Bruins relocated, my dad and I had a tradition of attending their Remembrance Day game, where they would honour local veterans and also wear special commemorative jerseys (although I can't seem to find any photos of the jerseys online).  That tradition ended for us when the Bruins moved to Victoria, but you may be able to continue the tradition with your own local team.

Image from SooGreyhounds.com

If you live in Sault Ste. Marie for example, you could catch the Greyhounds game tonight and see them wearing these beautiful jerseys.  I love that the greyhounds kept these commemorative jerseys nice and simple, with just a subtle camouflage pattern added to the stripes and logo and a poppy above the heart.

Image from NiagaraIceDogs.net

The Niagara IceDogs are also wearing camouflage on Remembrance Day, but there design isn't nearly as subtle.  To be honest, I do like these jerseys as well.  The way I see it is you have two options with camouflage, you can either keep it subtle like the Greyhounds or you can go all out with a completely camouflaged jersey in true camouflage colours.  In fact, I'd like to see this jersey paired with camouflage pants and socks as well.

Image from @IceBears on Twitter

Veterans Day is also getting some love in the commemorative jersey department, courtesy of the Knoxville Ice Bears of the SPHL.  Instead of relying on camouflage, the Ice Bears went with a totally custom design which features fighter jets, a helicopter, saluting soldiers, and an aircraft carrier (I think), all in front of a wavy American flag background.  The logo is also customized, with the bear now saluting while donning a military helmet.  It's a busy design, but of these three jerseys it's the one I'd most want to own, it's just so unique.

Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images

Meanwhile in the NHL, you won't see any commemorative jerseys worn during a game, but some teams are wearing camouflage jerseys for warm-up as part of their military appreciation nights.  Also, all the American franchises have been wearing American flag helmet decals this November leading up to Veterans Day.

Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images

The Canadian NHL teams have a decal of their own, they're all wearing poppies on the back of their helmets.  I really like how it looks on the Jets helmet, it fits in with the military theme of their logos.

Now I'm sure there are many other teams celebrating Remembrance Day and/or Veterans Day today, these were just the few examples I had either come across already or could find with a quick Google search.