Fantastic Fashions – The Vancouver Red Canucks

1997-98 Score – Alexander Mogilny

So, today is Halloween.  However, just so we’re crystal clear here, the red uniform above that Alexander Mogilny is wearing was not a Halloween costume.  It was an actual uniform worn by the Vancouver Canucks in 1995-96, and then, because they were convinced it looked good, again – again! – in 1996-97.  I guess there is a Halloween theme here – because the Canucks’ uniform history has been something of a nightmare.  Heyo!

SIDE NOTE: you might not remember, but the Vancouver Canucks were an ice hockey team in the former National Hockey League (NHL).  You might remember the NHL for the times they actually played hockey between labour disputes.  In other news, I’m not bitter about the lockout.

Fantastic Fashions – Sergei Fedorov

1997-98 Score - Sergei Fedorov

I’ll bet nobody looks this damn cool at the Boston Bruins Stanley Cup celebration this weekend.  That slick hair/sunglasses/zippered golf shirt/white khakis combination is spectacular.  It just tops off how cool Fedorov was in the late 1990’s.  He had the white skates, the Nike gloves, the “White Russian” posters… don’t pretend you didn’t think all that was awesome back in the day.

Too Cool for Cardboard – Kelly Hrudey

1997-98 Score - Kelly Hrudey

I cannot begin to tell you how cool Kelly Hrudey was when this photo was taken.  Oh, all that spectacular California teal.  The jerseys, the shark logo, the sparkling new gloves… no wonder this shit was the most popular logo in the NHL at the time.  The Teal Revolution spurred on several impostors, but none who made it as cool as the Sharks.  The Mighty Ducks?  With purple? Not even close.  The Islanders?  A teal wave?  Can’t believe they even tried.

Now, I’m not done.  Back to Hrudey’s coolness.  The Sharks ball cap… is it a Starter?  I can’t tell, but all the best ones were… and whatever the brand, I’ll bet I wanted that hat.  Oh, and all that flow the hat is keeping in – usually the job of a beautiful baby blue bandana, but not on the bench I guess.  Why wear a bandana when you can have the coolest lid in the league?  And let’s not forget that “I’m better than you” expression on his face.  Awesome.

Hell yeah, Kelly Hrudey.  So cool you have two posts on this magnificent blog.  Way too cool for 1997-98 Score.  You sung it, and you brung it.

Out of Place – Esa Tikkanen

1997-98 Score - Esa Tikkanen

Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love.  This post has nothing to do with Valentine’s Day.  Sorry to destroy your expectations.

Instead, we are going to talk about Esa Tikkanen.  Yeah, it’s a new category, where we will celebrate not love, but things that are Out of Place.

Esa Tikkanen is out of place in 1997-98 Score for two reasons:

#1 – He is playing for the Florida Panthers.  I had totally forgotten that this happened.
#2 – He is wearing number 97.  Ninety-fucking-seven.

Esa played all of 28 games with the Florida Panthers, before finishing 1997-98 with Washington.  The greatest quote I ever read about him was in Wayne Gretzky’s 1990 autobiography, where he said “Tik was either fearless or stupid, I’m not sure which.”

Fantastic Fashions – The LA Kings Go “Retro”

1997-98 Score - Rob Blake

According to NHLUniforms.com, this jersey was worn by Rob Blake and the Los Angeles Kings to celebrate their 30^th year in the NHL on March 27, 1997.  What they don’t mention is how the Kings botched this retro attempt in a fairly brutal way.

See, what happened is that the Kings tried to do retro before everyone else was doing retro, and hence, they did it before anyone knew how to do it properly.  Instead of getting new helmets, gloves and pants (or shells), the Kings went with the jersey and socks, but kept everything else black.  The end result was definitely not ideal.

Eventually, the Kings got retro right, but it was not to be in 1997.