Above: Stan Mikita (left) and Bobby Hull (right) wear the classic look of the St. Catharines Teepees
Licensing and the demise of quality sports apparel
Look into the crowd pictured below in these famous scenes as Bobby Orr flies through the air and Team USA celebrates their victory over the Soviets in 1980 and you will see no sign of team apparel, no team jerseys or even t-shirts. This was a sign of the times before mass produced licensed apparel, before teams and leagues realized how much money they could make selling branded apparel to their fan base. During this long gone era, several independent athletic apparel manufacturers competed for the business of supplying professional sports teams. This competition ensured a high level of quality as competition tends to do. In the early 80's leagues smartened up and started to realize the pent up demand and started licensing their logos for mass produced fan apparel (remember Starter?). Eventually licensees were granted exclusive rights to supply game jerseys for league play and souvenirs. As a result, quality declined, as tends to happen in monopolies.
We have brought back the quality of a bygone era by using the old manufacturers to make jerseys with a quality not seen in over 30 years, except from us! Some of our jerseys are actually made by the original manufacturers.
Seen at far left is the game worn
jersey of USA 1980 team captain
Mike Eruzione. At left is our
jersey. Note the identical over-sized
shoulder yoke construction, the
cross over collar and the flat taper
of the collar rather than the more
typical V-neck
Click here to make an order
Click here to make a general inquiry
Or call us at 716-602-4787. If no one answers, leave a
text or voice message and we'll get back to you.
We will consult with you on the fabric choice, proper sizing
and custom features to make your jersey memorable, because
we don't make hockey jerseys, we make memories.
Our Customers
Who goes to VHJ for their jerseys?
* One current NHL team owner
* One former NHL team owner
* Two members of the Forbes 400 list
of wealthiest Americans
* Hollywood actors
* Ex players from the 60's, 70's and 80's who never got to keep their old jerseys.
* Sons who buy them for their dads
* Wives and moms who get them for their husband or kids
But it's mostly guys like you and I who love the old teams and old school quality. Because we don't really sell hockey jerseys. We sell memories.
Welcome to VINTAGE HOCKEY JERSEYS.NET
Now you can have game quality jerseys of defunct teams. You can choose from our listings or order your own style custom jersey.
We can make any jersey with game weight fabric in your size. We can remake the logo or reuse the logo already on the jersey.
Many of our jerseys have not been available for many years. For example, the St. Catharines Teepees jersey, pictured at right, hadn't been seen for over 50 years. In addition to sporting a visually stunning style with unique shoulder piece, vibrant colors and a classic logo, this junior affiliate team of the Chicago Blackhawks produced many star players including Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, among others. So VHJ brought this jersey back.
One example of how we get it right is our 1980 USA "Miracle on Ice" jersey which to our knowledge is the only accurate replica of this jersey ever sold. The shoulder pattern and collar on the white jersey are very unique and have not been accurately reproduced by other jersey makers. We use the original game weight fabric while others use lightweight imported fabrics. We also use the correct font for the letters which are sewn in the correct position, others don't. The key to our success with this product is our manufacturer. While the original maker, Norcon, has been out of business for decades, our maker was in partnership with them and produces this jersey according to the original specifications.
"Forgotten" WHA Teams
We offer all WHA team jerseys including hard to find Calgary Cowboys Jersey Knights, Ottawa Nationals, Michigan Stags, Vancouver Blazers, San Diego Mariners, Phoenix Roadrunners, all star game jerseys and more.
WE MAKE THE BEST HOCKEY JERSEYS EVER.
That's a rather bold statement but we back it up with our superb products.
OUR BACKSTORY
In 1972 I was captivated by the Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union. My mother had a sewing room and she took a blank white cotton jersey, and from a hand drawn pattern she cut the red maple leaf logos for the front and sleeves, sewed them in place and I was probably the first fan to have their own Team Canada '72 jersey! Thus began a lifelong interest in hockey jerseys.
Fast forward to 1980 and I am in Canada looking at the usual souvenir jerseys at a hockey store when I spot something extraordinary; four actual game jerseys including the holy grail, an Edmonton Oilers road blue. These type of jerseys were unavailable to the public back then and were given to the store as a bonus for making their purchase of souvenir jerseys. The quality of these gamers was much better than the replica souvenir jerseys hanging next to them on the rack and I thanked my lucky stars as I bought them all. On my way home I said to myself "Someday I will have a manufacturer make this type of quality jersey for me."
Now that day has arrived and that old school quality is available for you! Here at
Vintage Hockey Jerseys (VHJ) we have the original manufacturers of game jerseys from
the 1970's and 1980's producing museum quality recreations of your favorite vintage jerseys, some of which are virtually indistinguishable from the originals