1998-99 Starter Road Authentic
#11 Darius Kasparaitis
Manufacturer: Starter
Size: 52
Purchased From: eBay
Lettered by: House o' Hockey
The Story: Darius Kasparaitis was a bit of a folk hero in Pittsburgh in the late-90's. Not only did he score an overtime game winner against Buffalo in Game 7 of a playoff series, he devastated the hated Eric Lindros on a clean (at least by 1998 standards) shoulder check in front of the home crowd, putting the Flyers' captain out of action for 18 games. Whenever there was a scrum on the ice, Kaspar always seemed to be in the middle of it. He's what you might call a pest! He was always stirring things up and was one of the NHL's most difficult players to play against. He hit hard, played hard, and as a result, was a fan favorite during his time in Pittsburgh. He was one of my favorites, too!
I was able to get the jersey on eBay at a good price, and once I got it, it was off to NJK Lettering to get it lettered. I'm not sure exactly why, but the lettering on this jersey was very subpar. I'm guessing that one of Norma's assistants did the job on this one, but not only is the nameplate lettering far different than that of the on-ice jerseys, the numbers themselves were mis-cut. I had too much respect for Norma to ever express my dissatisfaction, as she's about the sweetest lady you're ever going to meet, but I wasn't happy at all. By this time, lettering kits licensed by the NHL Players Association were coming into existence, so to get the "real" lettering on jerseys moving forward, you had to get one of these lettering kits.
I kept this one in the collection for years and, in December of 2019, I completed my first stripping project. We removed the lettering with a seam ripper (and by "we," I actually mean my Mom, as she's a lot handier and more experienced with those things than I am!), which left some glue residue from the original tackle twill lettering behind. From there, I used an industrial adhesive remover called Goof Off to remove that glue residue. This was a pretty meticulous and intensive effort, as using too much of this chemical can damage the jersey, but using too little doesn't remove the residue. Once this tedious process was complete, I did a little bit of spot cleaning to remove some spots acquired over the last 20 years and I was left with a jersey that looked new except for some "ghosting" on the letters where stitch marks in the jersey were still visible. Enter Ron at the House o' Hockey! He ordered me an authentic, glacier twill lettering kit and it turned out that the numbers in the kit were a few millimeters larger than the original numbers, so he was able to hide all that ghosting. Since his shop is more than an hour's drive for me, he had his seamstress assemble the new nameplate prior to my coming in and his team was able to get the new lettering onto the jersey while I waited. The level of service I've seen from him over the years has been incredible, and this is no different. I recommend people to the House o' Hockey all the time.
I'm really happy with the way this one turned out, and I'll be wearing this one proudly to an upcoming Pens game. I learned a lot about stripping and restoring a jersey, skills which I'm sure I'll put to good use in the future. More importantly, I'm thrilled to finally have a great looking authentic jersey from one of my all-time favorite Penguins in the collection!
Size: 52
Purchased From: eBay
Lettered by: House o' Hockey
The Story: Darius Kasparaitis was a bit of a folk hero in Pittsburgh in the late-90's. Not only did he score an overtime game winner against Buffalo in Game 7 of a playoff series, he devastated the hated Eric Lindros on a clean (at least by 1998 standards) shoulder check in front of the home crowd, putting the Flyers' captain out of action for 18 games. Whenever there was a scrum on the ice, Kaspar always seemed to be in the middle of it. He's what you might call a pest! He was always stirring things up and was one of the NHL's most difficult players to play against. He hit hard, played hard, and as a result, was a fan favorite during his time in Pittsburgh. He was one of my favorites, too!
I was able to get the jersey on eBay at a good price, and once I got it, it was off to NJK Lettering to get it lettered. I'm not sure exactly why, but the lettering on this jersey was very subpar. I'm guessing that one of Norma's assistants did the job on this one, but not only is the nameplate lettering far different than that of the on-ice jerseys, the numbers themselves were mis-cut. I had too much respect for Norma to ever express my dissatisfaction, as she's about the sweetest lady you're ever going to meet, but I wasn't happy at all. By this time, lettering kits licensed by the NHL Players Association were coming into existence, so to get the "real" lettering on jerseys moving forward, you had to get one of these lettering kits.
I kept this one in the collection for years and, in December of 2019, I completed my first stripping project. We removed the lettering with a seam ripper (and by "we," I actually mean my Mom, as she's a lot handier and more experienced with those things than I am!), which left some glue residue from the original tackle twill lettering behind. From there, I used an industrial adhesive remover called Goof Off to remove that glue residue. This was a pretty meticulous and intensive effort, as using too much of this chemical can damage the jersey, but using too little doesn't remove the residue. Once this tedious process was complete, I did a little bit of spot cleaning to remove some spots acquired over the last 20 years and I was left with a jersey that looked new except for some "ghosting" on the letters where stitch marks in the jersey were still visible. Enter Ron at the House o' Hockey! He ordered me an authentic, glacier twill lettering kit and it turned out that the numbers in the kit were a few millimeters larger than the original numbers, so he was able to hide all that ghosting. Since his shop is more than an hour's drive for me, he had his seamstress assemble the new nameplate prior to my coming in and his team was able to get the new lettering onto the jersey while I waited. The level of service I've seen from him over the years has been incredible, and this is no different. I recommend people to the House o' Hockey all the time.
I'm really happy with the way this one turned out, and I'll be wearing this one proudly to an upcoming Pens game. I learned a lot about stripping and restoring a jersey, skills which I'm sure I'll put to good use in the future. More importantly, I'm thrilled to finally have a great looking authentic jersey from one of my all-time favorite Penguins in the collection!