As the NHL lockout stretched into mid-December, the decision was made to cancel the 2013 Winter Classic. We've seen "leaked" images of t-shirtsThe game between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs never happened and no merchandise was ever made available to fans, until now.
Over the last week on eBay two Winter Classic sweaters have made their way onto the online sellers website. The first to be put up for sale was from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a whopping $499.99.
 |
| Leafs eBay Sweater |
At first glance this sweater seems pretty legit, the first glance is so convincing it's made Icethetics believe this is an authentic sweater. This looks like the sweater the Leafs wore from 1930 to 1934, but I'm not sold this is an authentic Winter Classic sweater.
Here's what doesn't make sense:
- No Winter Classic Patch: Even the leaked images of the Winter Classic t-shirts had the logo, why is it not on this sweater.
- Black collar laces: Blue jersey, white striping, black collar laces...one of these items doesn't fit. That just makes no sense.
- No tags: Where's the Reebok tag that comes with every sweater? Replica or Authentic sweaters all come with some sort of Reebok tag.
- Name, Numbers and Shoulder Patches: These do not exist on this sweater as far as we can see from the photographs provided by the seller.
In just ten minutes of research I was able to find 19 different blank Toronto Maple Leafs sweaters for sale, some of which are very similar to the sweater above. I was also able to find small NHL shield patches for sale. A quick search of eBay reveals no shortage of Leafs crests for sale, though I was unable to find that exact crest at this time. All of the components .
 |
| Red Wings eBay Sweater |
A few days ago another 2013 Winter Classic sweater found its way to eBay, this time from the Detroit Red Wings, priced at a modest $150.00.
This one looks a little more legit than the Leafs sweater. It looks like a New York Rangers 2012 Classic sweater mated with a Minnesota Wild alternate sweater. Again the logo is spot on with the leaked images of other merchandise and the numbering seems spot on as well. The collar laces appear to be the same "vintage" white as the rest of the sweater and look to be the proper length for a Reebok sweater. You can also see the Reebok tags that were lacking on the Leafs sweater.
Still there are a few issues with this sweater:
- Vintage White: If you look closely the vintage white color on the thick stripe on the bottom of the sweater doesn't quite match the thinner stripe just above. Likewise, the vintage white on the wheel logo doesn't match the vintage white in DETROIT, same with the numbers on the back of the sweater. Could possibly be due to the flash from the camera as these are not professional shots, but worth pointing out anyway.
- Alternate Captain: Datsyuk is one of Detroit's alternate captains...where's the A?
- No Patch: As with the Leafs sweater above, there is no 2013 Winter Classic patch anywhere on this sweater.
In my opinion, the Leafs sweater is too easy to fake, that logo has been used for years by the Leafs in some form or another. Someone with enough time could order each piece separately and assemble it on their own. I'm sure that if you looked hard enough you could even find a few REEBOK patches to replace the old vector logo or another sweater manufacturers logo. The Detroit sweater however is much harder to fake, but still could possibly be done. Unless you knew someone that could make a crest for you from an image from the internet it's nearly impossible to recreate that sweater.
Rumor is the 2014 Winter Classic will still be Red Wings and Maple Leafs at the Big House in Michigan, so maybe we'll get to see if these sweaters are for real or (more than likely) fakes.
