Not A Fanatic Over This

When it was announced that Adidas wasn't renewing its deal with the NHL to be the on-ice outfitter for all 32 NHL teams, there was some hope that the NHL would come to its senses and return to companies that specialize in hockey as opposed to those who spread themselves into "athletic fashion". Adidas' authentic, on-ice NHL jerseys weren't bad quality if they were viewed in a vacuum, but the price point combined with the products put out by CCM, Bauer, and Nike made Adidas jerseys the worst of the bunch: slightly ahead of Reebok's jerseys, but a long way from being what traditional hockey fans coveted. Sorry, but it's true.

After the NHL allowed sports merchandise giant Fanatics to get involved in producing their merchandise, there was a noticeable lowering of both quality and quality control in Fanatics' offerings, and more and more fans began to receive products with mistakes, incorrect orders, or cancellation of orders altogether. Yes, there was a difference between a CCM on-ice, authentic jersey and a replica jersey, but the latter wasn't marketed with buzzwords and jargon where "authentic" lost all meaning.

Sadly, the news today that the NHL signed a new ten-year deal with Fanatics for Fanatics to be the on-ice uniform partner of the NHL was received virtually by the entire NHL fanbase as a significant mistake made by the NHL. And I couldn't agree more.

CCM was dedicated to making hockey equipment and apparel as one of its main product lines. Adidas doesn't do that, and Fanatics certainly does not. While the NHL will point at the jersey templates currently being used and proclaim "Nothing will change!", there's no denying that the quality of NHL jerseys DID change when Adidas and Fanatics took over making jerseys just as Reebok changed the quality of jerseys after they acquired CCM, KOHO, and Jofa.

As a guy who has a closet of hockey jerseys, I struggle to understand why the NHL would opt to name a second-tier sports merchandise company as their on-ice uniform partner when the examples of Fanatics' shortfalls in the sports merchandise world have been documented over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

The good news is that I likely won't have any new Fanatics jerseys in my closet, so my disposable income should increase. The bad news is that the disposable income I may have used on a new jersey will likely take a bigger hit as I scour eBay and other auction sites for quality jerseys made by CCM. And if I may be blunt, I'm certain I won't buy any of the newer designs that have been introduced for my own collection simply because there's nothing to convince me that these Adidas or Fanatics jerseys, designed as they are, are worth the price at which they've been set.

There's an expectation that an official uniform will feel like it's meant to stand up to the elements of the game. If it feels like a paper bag or stretches like spandex, one has every right to question the quality of the materials, the craftsmanship, and the design. When the prices of these uniforms are hitting $400 per uniform, expect fans to exercise that right to question the quality of what they're buying, specifically if it comes from an inferior sports merchandiser as I've shown above. I try to believe that the NHL is still a league that cares about the sports experience for its fans, but I've very apparent that it will always be a business far before it's anything else.

I'll still watch the NHL for the hockey because I'm a fan, but don't expect me to wear or own the gear. You lost me at "Fanatics", NHL.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!