Caveat Emptor... Again

With it being the holiday season, everyone is searching for that one special gift that will absolutely wow the recipient of said gift. I try to do the same, but this led to an interesting discussion at work about buying hockey memorabilia and hockey jerseys. I have no issue whatsoever with people spending their hard-earned dollars on a great, one-of-a-kind gift for a loved one, but I take serious issue with people who try to take advantage of those who may not know enough to spot a fake or misadvertised product. This happens often on websites such as eBay, so let's take a look at a few examples of why one needs to be aware of the product one is buying.

Our fitirst example comes from eBay where a won't-be-named-seller is offering up this "vintage University of Alberta Pandas" jersey. The only problem is that none of that is true in any way, shape, or form, and there are some clear giveaways that our seller didn't bother to do any research on this. While I'll credit the seller for knowing that the University of Alberta's women's hockey team is called the "Pandas", the Beaverton, Oregon eBay seller seems to have ignored or missed a couple of easy clues on this jersey as well. Let's go through these so you don't get fooled.

The shoulder emblem is a clear indication this was never from the University of Alberta considering the outline is in the shape of Arizona. Arizona was also the 48th state added to the United States, so the "48" might be another easy indicator that someone wasn't trying very hard when one listed this item on eBay.

Secondly, one can certainly call this "vintage" if one chooses, but that logo is far more modernized that anything the Pandas have ever used in their history, and it's a logo that has never once appeared in Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) play nor U SPORTS play. It should also be noted that K1 Sportswear was established in 1987 in Cloquet, Minnesota with one sewing machine in a basement, and, according to this 2016 story by Jana Peterson in the Pine Journal, the company began by making "softball jackets to local teams for a mom-and-pop operation out of Wisconsin".

To make a long paragraph short, I am very skeptical that the University of Alberta would have contracted a Minnesota-based company to not only create their jerseys, but add a brand-new logo to the front along with a clearly-Arizona shoulder emblem. As they say in business, if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't true. This "vintage University of Alberta Pandas" doesn't come close to passing the smell test.

Perhaps you're a big Michigan State fan and want to add a piece of memorabilia to your collection that is unique. A game-worn jersey would be great, right? Over on a site called "Hip Check Jerseys", there are a bunch of NCAA jerseys for sale including the one pictured to the left that was apparently worn by Jake Chelios, son of NHL legend Chris Chelios, while skating for Michigan State. It's listed at $555 which seems pricey, but it might be slightly overpriced because I can tell you that Jake Chelios never wore this jersey at any point in his NCAA career. Like the previous example, the seller seems to have ignored or missed a couple of very obvious clues that what's being advertised isn't what's actually being sold.

While it's true that Jake Chelios did skate for Michigan State, a quick roster check shows that Chelios wore #42 for all four years he skated for the school. There was, however, a Chelios that did wear #16, and that "D" for his abbreviated first name makes way more sense when you hear that Dean Chelios wore #16 from 2010-14!

Dean, also Chris Chelios' son and the brother of Jake, played a few seasons in the ECHL from 2013-16 after graduating from Michigan State, but his 104-game trip through four ECHL cities ended in 2016 with Dean accumulating nine goals and 35 assists in his career. He went on to become an AHL scout for the Los Angeles Kings in the 2018-19, but Dean's hockey career doesn't carry the same cachet as his brother's career with Jake having played for Team USA at the 2022 Olympics and skated in the NHL with Detroit for five games.

I'll take nothing away from Dean Chelios as he skated in the NCAA. However, for a person selling game-worn jerseys on a website, the least one could do is notice the "D" in "D. Chelios" and both name the advertisement appropriately while pricing it accordingly. He could have said Chris Chelios wore this jersey and it would be as accurate as Jake Chelios wearing the jersey. Regardless, I don't pay the asking price for Jake Chelios' jersey when you're buying Dean Chelios' jersey.

Expensive holiday gifts should always be researched prior to completing a purchase to ensure one is getting everything for which one is paying, but having sellers misadvertise their products when people are more apt to buying expensive gifts is downright criminal. In both of the examples above, a little effort by the sellers would have been appreciated, and I hope that these two examples I listed will remind you to keep your guard up when buying online this holiday season.

After all, no one wants disappointment for the holidays regardless of who gave and who received. Caveat emptor as always, folks!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!