2017-18 Adidas Home Team Issued
#28 Ian Cole
Manufacturer: Adidas
Size: 58
Purchased From: Joe Tomon/J & J Distributing
Lettered by: Pro Knitwear
The Story: Since we've already established that I like to collect jerseys that not everyone has, I set my sights on the new Adidas game jerseys, which debuted in 2017-18. These jerseys are cut similar to the Reebok Edge 1.0 jerseys, with different types of reinforced shoulders and elbows. They're also not available to the general public, even through Canadian distributors who were able to provide Reebok Edge 2.0 jerseys. That left one place to get them: the team's distributor, J & J Distributing. I kept a look out for a deal for a player I liked, but they're all so expensive! Late in the 2017-18 season, Ian Cole was traded to the Ottawa Senators as part of the deal that brought Derick Brassard to Pittsburgh. Not long after the season ended, I found this one and decided to pull the trigger, as this jersey (and this player) brings quite a story to my collection!
Cole was a solid stay-at-home defenseman who was an integral part of the Pens back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in 2016 and 2017. He was a gritty blueliner for the Pens who brought puck-moving skill and a physical presence to the Pens D-squad. He was willing to put everything he had into his play, a style that ended up costing him some teeth and part of his jawbone after he blocked a slap shot with his face in a game in Nashville early in the 2017-18 season. The injury was pretty ugly. He lost three teeth and he also needed some chipped pieces of his jawbone removed. But, being a hockey player, he ended up missing only three games with an injury that left him eating meals through a straw for much longer. In a weird twist of fate, it just might have been that injury that made this jersey being part of my collection possible.
During the regular season, the Pens use two sets of jerseys, donning a new set of sweaters right around the holidays. Some players - usually players known to drop the gloves often - have a second set of jerseys that are used as backups in case their primary jersey is damaged or blood-stained during a fight. After his injury (did I mention he literally ate a slap shot and only missed three games before returning with a full-face cage, as pictured above?), the likelihood that Cole's jersey would be bloodied easily was pretty high, so Penguins Equipment Manager Dana Heinze had another set of jerseys customized for him, just in case. This is one of those "backup" jerseys. As a "Set 1" (early half of the season) jersey, it was customized with the NHL Centennial patch on the right sleeve, but since this jersey never saw game action, that patch was removed when the Pens moved to Set 2. If you look closely, you can see the faint outline of the "NHL 100" patch on the right sleeve, just below the numbers. Tagging in the jersey is also unique, as the team's game jersey tag had typically been sewn inside the bottom rear hem, centered below the fight strap. In this set of jerseys, however, the thickness of the bottom yellow stripe was too thin for the tag to be hidden, so it was moved further up the inside of the back of the jersey, right next to the fight strap. The Pens 2017-18 home jerseys, by contrast, have a thicker bottom stripe allowing for the usual placement of this tag below the strap.
I know I've said in numerous places on this site that "every jersey has a story," but few have a story as unique as this one. Add to the fact that Ian Cole is "my kind of hockey player," one with a team-first mentality who is often an unsung hero of the team, and I was thrilled to add this jersey to my collection in the Spring of 2018!
Size: 58
Purchased From: Joe Tomon/J & J Distributing
Lettered by: Pro Knitwear
The Story: Since we've already established that I like to collect jerseys that not everyone has, I set my sights on the new Adidas game jerseys, which debuted in 2017-18. These jerseys are cut similar to the Reebok Edge 1.0 jerseys, with different types of reinforced shoulders and elbows. They're also not available to the general public, even through Canadian distributors who were able to provide Reebok Edge 2.0 jerseys. That left one place to get them: the team's distributor, J & J Distributing. I kept a look out for a deal for a player I liked, but they're all so expensive! Late in the 2017-18 season, Ian Cole was traded to the Ottawa Senators as part of the deal that brought Derick Brassard to Pittsburgh. Not long after the season ended, I found this one and decided to pull the trigger, as this jersey (and this player) brings quite a story to my collection!
Cole was a solid stay-at-home defenseman who was an integral part of the Pens back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in 2016 and 2017. He was a gritty blueliner for the Pens who brought puck-moving skill and a physical presence to the Pens D-squad. He was willing to put everything he had into his play, a style that ended up costing him some teeth and part of his jawbone after he blocked a slap shot with his face in a game in Nashville early in the 2017-18 season. The injury was pretty ugly. He lost three teeth and he also needed some chipped pieces of his jawbone removed. But, being a hockey player, he ended up missing only three games with an injury that left him eating meals through a straw for much longer. In a weird twist of fate, it just might have been that injury that made this jersey being part of my collection possible.
During the regular season, the Pens use two sets of jerseys, donning a new set of sweaters right around the holidays. Some players - usually players known to drop the gloves often - have a second set of jerseys that are used as backups in case their primary jersey is damaged or blood-stained during a fight. After his injury (did I mention he literally ate a slap shot and only missed three games before returning with a full-face cage, as pictured above?), the likelihood that Cole's jersey would be bloodied easily was pretty high, so Penguins Equipment Manager Dana Heinze had another set of jerseys customized for him, just in case. This is one of those "backup" jerseys. As a "Set 1" (early half of the season) jersey, it was customized with the NHL Centennial patch on the right sleeve, but since this jersey never saw game action, that patch was removed when the Pens moved to Set 2. If you look closely, you can see the faint outline of the "NHL 100" patch on the right sleeve, just below the numbers. Tagging in the jersey is also unique, as the team's game jersey tag had typically been sewn inside the bottom rear hem, centered below the fight strap. In this set of jerseys, however, the thickness of the bottom yellow stripe was too thin for the tag to be hidden, so it was moved further up the inside of the back of the jersey, right next to the fight strap. The Pens 2017-18 home jerseys, by contrast, have a thicker bottom stripe allowing for the usual placement of this tag below the strap.
I know I've said in numerous places on this site that "every jersey has a story," but few have a story as unique as this one. Add to the fact that Ian Cole is "my kind of hockey player," one with a team-first mentality who is often an unsung hero of the team, and I was thrilled to add this jersey to my collection in the Spring of 2018!