1997-98 Starter Road Replica
#82 Martin Straka with Alternate Captain's "A"
Manufacturer: Starter
Size: M
Purchased From: eBay
Lettered by: KOSports Hockey
The Story: If this jersey looks similar to the Jagr Alternate jersey from 1995-96, you're right! Due to its popularity and a good playoff run while wearing them, the Penguins made this jersey their road jersey. My son wanted one of these and he absolutely loved Marty Straka! At the time, he was too young to fit into anything but a replica, but we had to get the lettering right. I had had a couple of bad experiences with NJK Lettering, having had them ruin two of my jerseys, so I needed to find someone else. I started calling around and found that KOSports Hockey could get the authentic lettering kit for this jersey. What in the world is a lettering kit?
It turns out that due to all those people making all that money selling and lettering jerseys bearing players' names, the players (rightfully so) wanted their piece of the action given that, after all, it's their name! So the NHL Players Association started licensing lettering kits for jerseys that jersey shops had to buy in order to legally customize a jersey. It added a little bit to the overall price of a jersey, but at the end of the day, a player should see some of the profits for a jersey that bears his name. Ordering the lettering kit took forever, but KOSports did a fantastic job on the lettering, right down to the glacier twill. Now that this jersey is too small for anyone in my house to wear, I wish I could put these letters onto one of my other jerseys.
Size: M
Purchased From: eBay
Lettered by: KOSports Hockey
The Story: If this jersey looks similar to the Jagr Alternate jersey from 1995-96, you're right! Due to its popularity and a good playoff run while wearing them, the Penguins made this jersey their road jersey. My son wanted one of these and he absolutely loved Marty Straka! At the time, he was too young to fit into anything but a replica, but we had to get the lettering right. I had had a couple of bad experiences with NJK Lettering, having had them ruin two of my jerseys, so I needed to find someone else. I started calling around and found that KOSports Hockey could get the authentic lettering kit for this jersey. What in the world is a lettering kit?
It turns out that due to all those people making all that money selling and lettering jerseys bearing players' names, the players (rightfully so) wanted their piece of the action given that, after all, it's their name! So the NHL Players Association started licensing lettering kits for jerseys that jersey shops had to buy in order to legally customize a jersey. It added a little bit to the overall price of a jersey, but at the end of the day, a player should see some of the profits for a jersey that bears his name. Ordering the lettering kit took forever, but KOSports did a fantastic job on the lettering, right down to the glacier twill. Now that this jersey is too small for anyone in my house to wear, I wish I could put these letters onto one of my other jerseys.