2011 Reebok Black & Gold Game Away Game Worn
#2 Matt Niskanen with Black & Gold Game Patch
Manufacturer: Reebok
Size: 56
Purchased From: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins via eBay
Lettered by: Sports-Jes
The Story: The start of the hockey season is an exciting time in my house. My daughter and I attend the first day of Penguins Training Camp every year and enjoy a couple of split-squad scrimmage games, and we look forward to watching the Black & Gold Game, the team's unofficial season opener, on TV. In 2011, the Penguins held the Black & Gold Game in Wilkes-Barre for the live crowd there, so we didn't get to see it here in Pittsburgh. However, I read up on it the following day and saw that the team was wearing Wilkes-Barre/Scranton uniforms, much like they did in the first Black & Gold Game, in which Mario Lemieux wore a WBS home jersey that I finally was able to get my hands on! However, instead of wearing the Baby Pens road jerseys, the away team wore a new third jersey being unveiled in Wilkes-Barre that night. It was a really cool jersey design that featured a new style of lettering and so much Vegas Gold that part of the jersey almost looked tan. Explaining it, it doesn't sound good, but it was really cool to see. These jerseys weren't available to the general public yet, but when they were, they'd sell out almost immediately.
The Baby Penguins sell all of their game-worn jerseys on eBay. You usually have to be careful buying on eBay, but when the seller is the WBS Penguins, you can be sure you're getting the real deal. They started listing the Black & Gold Game jerseys and the prices were astronomical, at least for me. Fringe NHL players' jerseys were selling for $500, WBS favorites' were going in the $750 range, and all of Pittsburgh's stars' jerseys were running from $1000 to over $5000. In other words, way too rich for my blood! But there was a new defenseman who came over from Dallas in a trade late in the 2010-11 season. The media had him being a #7 defenseman for the Pens in 2011-12, so his jersey didn't get much attention. That player was Matt Niskanen, who went on to star for Pittsburgh for a few years before signing as a free agent with Washington in the summer of 2014. So while all these jerseys were ranging in price from $500 to over $5000, I was able to get this one for a comparative steal.
I was very excited to see my new jersey and the first gamer I ever bought, so I was quick to open the package when it was finally delivered. As soon as I opened the flap on the FedEx box, the smell about knocked me over. I figured no big deal, something must've got dumped on it in transit. Then I pulled it out of the box and the whole floor of my house stunk. Nice folks that they are up in Wilkes-Barre, they wanted me to have the full experience of being there, so they sent me the jersey as quickly as they could. That means they didn't take time to wash it! The smell was the two-week-old sweat from the jersey. It went straight to the washer a smelly mess, but what came out was one of the coolest jerseys I had ever seen, before or after. Best of all, the autograph on the back of the jersey didn't even smear or fade in the washer!
Size: 56
Purchased From: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins via eBay
Lettered by: Sports-Jes
The Story: The start of the hockey season is an exciting time in my house. My daughter and I attend the first day of Penguins Training Camp every year and enjoy a couple of split-squad scrimmage games, and we look forward to watching the Black & Gold Game, the team's unofficial season opener, on TV. In 2011, the Penguins held the Black & Gold Game in Wilkes-Barre for the live crowd there, so we didn't get to see it here in Pittsburgh. However, I read up on it the following day and saw that the team was wearing Wilkes-Barre/Scranton uniforms, much like they did in the first Black & Gold Game, in which Mario Lemieux wore a WBS home jersey that I finally was able to get my hands on! However, instead of wearing the Baby Pens road jerseys, the away team wore a new third jersey being unveiled in Wilkes-Barre that night. It was a really cool jersey design that featured a new style of lettering and so much Vegas Gold that part of the jersey almost looked tan. Explaining it, it doesn't sound good, but it was really cool to see. These jerseys weren't available to the general public yet, but when they were, they'd sell out almost immediately.
The Baby Penguins sell all of their game-worn jerseys on eBay. You usually have to be careful buying on eBay, but when the seller is the WBS Penguins, you can be sure you're getting the real deal. They started listing the Black & Gold Game jerseys and the prices were astronomical, at least for me. Fringe NHL players' jerseys were selling for $500, WBS favorites' were going in the $750 range, and all of Pittsburgh's stars' jerseys were running from $1000 to over $5000. In other words, way too rich for my blood! But there was a new defenseman who came over from Dallas in a trade late in the 2010-11 season. The media had him being a #7 defenseman for the Pens in 2011-12, so his jersey didn't get much attention. That player was Matt Niskanen, who went on to star for Pittsburgh for a few years before signing as a free agent with Washington in the summer of 2014. So while all these jerseys were ranging in price from $500 to over $5000, I was able to get this one for a comparative steal.
I was very excited to see my new jersey and the first gamer I ever bought, so I was quick to open the package when it was finally delivered. As soon as I opened the flap on the FedEx box, the smell about knocked me over. I figured no big deal, something must've got dumped on it in transit. Then I pulled it out of the box and the whole floor of my house stunk. Nice folks that they are up in Wilkes-Barre, they wanted me to have the full experience of being there, so they sent me the jersey as quickly as they could. That means they didn't take time to wash it! The smell was the two-week-old sweat from the jersey. It went straight to the washer a smelly mess, but what came out was one of the coolest jerseys I had ever seen, before or after. Best of all, the autograph on the back of the jersey didn't even smear or fade in the washer!