I Know That Model!

Holy cow, I know the model on the right! That's former Bisons defender Erica Rieder, and she was chosen as the representative from MoDo's women's team to model the new uniform that MoDo will be wearing this season during the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association which oversees the SHL and the SDHL! This is a big year for the Swedish domestic leagues as the first championship was awarded by the Swedish ice Hockey Association in 1922, so the leagues are celebrating that mark!

As seen above, both the men from the SHL and the women from the SDHL will be celebrating this historic season for which the Swedish Ice Hockey Association awards championships. If we jump back to the 1922 final, IK Göta won the first Swedish Championship over Hammarby IF by a 6-0 score. I would expect to see lots of historical information this season about the leagues, the teams, and everything Swedish hockey as the seasons get underway on September 11 for the MoDo women and on September 24 for the MoDo men.

According to the details on this page on the MoDo site, the jerseys are made in the Czech Republic and will be different than past jerseys as they will tighter in the same trend that NHL jerseys have gone. The material used for the jersey is lighter in weight than before "which makes the jersey easier to wear, says Thomas Wågström, material manager for the men's team."

I would contend that the weight of the uniform makes very little difference in how players play on the ice, but I have no frame of reference since I don't own a MoDo jersey from any era. In any case, I'm skeptical on the jersey's manufacturing playing a role in wins and losses this season, but there's no denying that the players from MoDo will look good as they play.

If you're looking at those uniforms and thinking, "There are a ton of ads on those jerseys," you're not wrong. There are eleven companies advertising on the front of the women's jersey comprising a total of 18 ads that don't include the manufacturer's mark on Erica's gloves. The men also have eleven companies advertising on the front of their jerseys, worn by MoDo player Mikkel Aagaard, comprising a total of 16 ads not including the manufacturer's mark on Mikkel's gloves. When the logo starts to get edged out by advertising, there may need to be a discussion. And wearing the captaincy letters on the ribs as opposed to the shoulder is a little crazy.

What I do know is that Erica looks good in that MoDo jersey as a professional player, and I wish her as much success as she and MoDo can find this season. My early research also has former Bisons defender Alexandra Anderson returning to SDE in Sweden as well, and it would seem that SDE is building their own Canada West all-star team based on the number of former Canada West players they have on their initial roster. We'll see if that holds true through to September 11 when the season starts, but rest assured that I'll have articles on how the U SPORTS players are doing over in Sweden just like last season.

While all the teams will be wearing a 100th anniversary jersey of some sort, I needed to draw attention to the model selected by MoDo in their images. We're still super-proud of all that Erica accomplished while wearing the brown-and-gold at the University of Manitoba, and we'll be cheering her on this season as MoDo looks to capture an SDHL championship!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!