Saturday, October 10, 2009

Muskegon Lumberjacks Jersey... why the Pens?

I was thrilled when Muskegon changed their name from the Fury back to the Lumberjacks in honor of the team that used to play in the LC Walker Arena. I was instantly in the market for a jersey, but when I clicked on the Jersey, I couldn't help but notice something:











It was one of the Penguins old jerseys.

Now, I understand that most minor league teams just take a NHL jersey and slap their own logo on it and call it good, but the Detroit Red Wings fans are in a bit of a feud with the Pens right now and I would guess that I'm not alone in my feelings that I don't want to wear something that someone might mistake for a Pens jersey. Take yourself back to 1996 and pretend the Fury changed their colors and took on the Avalanche jersey and tell me how many you would buy.

The Lumberjacks did wear a third jersey for a few games last December, but they only sold those actual jerseys worn in the game in an auction. That's fine; minor league teams do that all the time. Heck, Ilitch probably makes a killing selling the Red Wings old jockstraps at Hockeytown Authentics, so why not? Well, they're a smaller market that only reaches West Michigan, so it's probably not cost-effective to mass produce a third jersey. But why not just ripoff another NHL team with similar colors? The Boston Bruins have similar colors. Close enough for a third jersey, anyways.

I love my local minor league team and will support them no matter what their colors are or what their jersey looks like, but unless they make a change in the future, I'll just stick with a hoodie.

1 comment:

  1. Muskegon used to be affiliated (in the old IHL) with the Penguins.

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