1999-2000 Pro Player Road Game Worn
#37 Kip Miller with NHL2000 Patch
Manufacturer: Pro Player
Size: 54
Purchased From: Facebook Pittsburgh Penguins Game Worn/Used Collectors Group
Lettered by: The Pittsburgh Penguins
The Story: One jersey brand that had escaped me over the years was Pro Player. Pro Player had the Penguins jersey contract for one year only, the 1999-2000 season, and that year's jerseys also included the NHL2000 patch. Every NHL jerseys was patched with this design, though in different colors to fit each team's home/road scheme.
Kip Miller is a member of a very successful hockey family. He and his two older brothers, Kelly and Kevin, all had long careers in the NHL, as did his cousins, Ryan and Drew. If that's not enough success for one family, consider that ten of the Miller family played their college hockey at Michigan State and you're left with quite a hockey lineage! Kip was good enough to play 449 NHL games over twelve years with eight different teams, but he was also up and down quite a bit between the NHL and the minor leagues. And therein lies the story behind this jersey!
Kip was claimed by the Penguins in the 1998 Waiver Draft, which is typically a place where teams find depth players to round out their roster just before opening day. Miller had a few things working against him. He wasn't overly fast, nor overly big, and he was considered by many to be a defensive liability. But he had an knack in the offensive zone to draw opposing defenders to him, thus creating space for his linemates, and he was a deft passer with a decent shot. Those playmaking abilities are exactly what the Penguins needed to compliment Jaromir Jagr. As a result, Miller went from being waived by his fifth team to the top line in Pittsburgh, usually playing on the left side with Jagr and center Jan Hrdina. "Kippy" performed well alongside his Czech linemates, putting up 22 goals and 48 points in his first season in Pittsburgh. He began the 1999-2000 season on the same line, but quickly fell out of favor with new Penguins coach Herb Brooks after a mid-season coaching change. A stickler of defensive effort, Brooks reduced Miller's ice time and, with the emergence of a strong second line of Martin Straka, Alexei Kovalev, and Robert Lang, Miller became expendable. He was traded to Anaheim in the moments after the Mighty Ducks beat the Penguins 7-1 on January 29, 2000.
This was right about the time the Penguins were switching to the season's second set of jerseys, and given that Miller was only playing five minutes per game by this time, the wear on his jersey was minimal. As a result, Penguins equipment manager Steve Latin kept his virtually new jersey, likely in the hopes that it could be recycled. Well, it was recycled when Miller was re-signed by the Penguins on September 25, in the middle of the Pens' 2000-01 Training Camp. By this time, CCM had been awarded the NHL's jersey contract, but Latin needed a jersey quickly for Miller, so Kip suited up in his previous season's jersey for the remainder of the 2000-01 preseason. Wearing the previous year's patchwork isn't all that big of a deal, but Latin did have to sew some small pieces of fabric on the rear hem to cover the Pro Player logo as CCM/Koho was once again the NHL's exclusive jersey source. These swatches were sewn to both the inside and the outside of the jersey, so there's no way the Pro Player logo could become visible during play. New CCM jerseys were worn for the Pens' season opener, so this one was retired. Miller went on to reunite with Jagr and Hrdina until late-December, when Mario Lemieux made his NHL comeback. From there, Miller was relegated to third- and fourth-line duty and the defensive liabilities I mentioned earlier led to his being assigned to the minors - not to the Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins, but to the unaffiliated Grand Rapid Griffins of the International Hockey League. Kip Miller's stay in Pittsburgh was over, though he went on to play half a season with the New York Islanders and ended his NHL career with two successful years with Washington, once again playing on a line with Jaromir Jagr.
Pro Player jerseys are highly sought after by collectors. Some like the rarity of a jersey brand worn only for one year while others are very impressed with the comfort, quality, and cut of the Pro Player design. Personally, I wanted this jersey due in part to the one-year-only branding and patchwork, but mainly because of the unique story behind this particular jersey. It became available at a relatively inopportune time for me, so I had to part with another Pens gamer in order to get it. The end result is a jersey I was very happy to add to the collection in May, 2020. Even though this jersey was worn in two different seasons, wear on it is very minimal. There are some scuff marks on the glacier twill lettering, and a couple of pucks/stick marks, but no holes, tears, or repairs. After I received the jersey, I was able to hunt down some photos which brought me to what looks like a pretty likely photomatch of a puck mark on the right sleeve (pictured below)!
And when's the last time you saw someone sporting a Kip Miller jersey at the arena?!?
Size: 54
Purchased From: Facebook Pittsburgh Penguins Game Worn/Used Collectors Group
Lettered by: The Pittsburgh Penguins
The Story: One jersey brand that had escaped me over the years was Pro Player. Pro Player had the Penguins jersey contract for one year only, the 1999-2000 season, and that year's jerseys also included the NHL2000 patch. Every NHL jerseys was patched with this design, though in different colors to fit each team's home/road scheme.
Kip Miller is a member of a very successful hockey family. He and his two older brothers, Kelly and Kevin, all had long careers in the NHL, as did his cousins, Ryan and Drew. If that's not enough success for one family, consider that ten of the Miller family played their college hockey at Michigan State and you're left with quite a hockey lineage! Kip was good enough to play 449 NHL games over twelve years with eight different teams, but he was also up and down quite a bit between the NHL and the minor leagues. And therein lies the story behind this jersey!
Kip was claimed by the Penguins in the 1998 Waiver Draft, which is typically a place where teams find depth players to round out their roster just before opening day. Miller had a few things working against him. He wasn't overly fast, nor overly big, and he was considered by many to be a defensive liability. But he had an knack in the offensive zone to draw opposing defenders to him, thus creating space for his linemates, and he was a deft passer with a decent shot. Those playmaking abilities are exactly what the Penguins needed to compliment Jaromir Jagr. As a result, Miller went from being waived by his fifth team to the top line in Pittsburgh, usually playing on the left side with Jagr and center Jan Hrdina. "Kippy" performed well alongside his Czech linemates, putting up 22 goals and 48 points in his first season in Pittsburgh. He began the 1999-2000 season on the same line, but quickly fell out of favor with new Penguins coach Herb Brooks after a mid-season coaching change. A stickler of defensive effort, Brooks reduced Miller's ice time and, with the emergence of a strong second line of Martin Straka, Alexei Kovalev, and Robert Lang, Miller became expendable. He was traded to Anaheim in the moments after the Mighty Ducks beat the Penguins 7-1 on January 29, 2000.
This was right about the time the Penguins were switching to the season's second set of jerseys, and given that Miller was only playing five minutes per game by this time, the wear on his jersey was minimal. As a result, Penguins equipment manager Steve Latin kept his virtually new jersey, likely in the hopes that it could be recycled. Well, it was recycled when Miller was re-signed by the Penguins on September 25, in the middle of the Pens' 2000-01 Training Camp. By this time, CCM had been awarded the NHL's jersey contract, but Latin needed a jersey quickly for Miller, so Kip suited up in his previous season's jersey for the remainder of the 2000-01 preseason. Wearing the previous year's patchwork isn't all that big of a deal, but Latin did have to sew some small pieces of fabric on the rear hem to cover the Pro Player logo as CCM/Koho was once again the NHL's exclusive jersey source. These swatches were sewn to both the inside and the outside of the jersey, so there's no way the Pro Player logo could become visible during play. New CCM jerseys were worn for the Pens' season opener, so this one was retired. Miller went on to reunite with Jagr and Hrdina until late-December, when Mario Lemieux made his NHL comeback. From there, Miller was relegated to third- and fourth-line duty and the defensive liabilities I mentioned earlier led to his being assigned to the minors - not to the Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins, but to the unaffiliated Grand Rapid Griffins of the International Hockey League. Kip Miller's stay in Pittsburgh was over, though he went on to play half a season with the New York Islanders and ended his NHL career with two successful years with Washington, once again playing on a line with Jaromir Jagr.
Pro Player jerseys are highly sought after by collectors. Some like the rarity of a jersey brand worn only for one year while others are very impressed with the comfort, quality, and cut of the Pro Player design. Personally, I wanted this jersey due in part to the one-year-only branding and patchwork, but mainly because of the unique story behind this particular jersey. It became available at a relatively inopportune time for me, so I had to part with another Pens gamer in order to get it. The end result is a jersey I was very happy to add to the collection in May, 2020. Even though this jersey was worn in two different seasons, wear on it is very minimal. There are some scuff marks on the glacier twill lettering, and a couple of pucks/stick marks, but no holes, tears, or repairs. After I received the jersey, I was able to hunt down some photos which brought me to what looks like a pretty likely photomatch of a puck mark on the right sleeve (pictured below)!
And when's the last time you saw someone sporting a Kip Miller jersey at the arena?!?