Only Real Men Wear Pink
Pink seems to be a popular subject around Icethetics these days. You guys have been a great help in tracking down photos of some unique minor league uniforms. The best and most common theme seems to be breast cancer awareness — in other words, an excuse for grown men to wear pink. That's what we've got today.
Stingrays pink jerseyThe ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays held Pink in the Rink night back on February 20.
Icethetics reader Jeff forwarded along this photo (right) of the Stingrays' pink jersey. I know I chopped off the guy's head, but he's not as important as the jersey, right?
The Stingrays were successful in pink, beating the Toledo Walleye 6-0. And according to their website, there was a record crowd in attendance for the win.
If you're interested in more pictures, and I know you are, Facebook is the place to be. On the team's official page is a gallery showing the process of painting the ice pink. They've also got tons of fan photos from the game. Including this one:
Stingrays players thank the crowd for their pink support
Jarret Lukin #40In the Central Hockey League, the Allen Americans wore pink just this past Friday — but failed to find the win.
They lost to the Mudbugs, who've been featured on Icethetics a lot recently for some outlandish specialty sweaters.
The Americans' website said the following with regard to the jerseys:
The players wore pink specialty jerseys as part of the "Pink in the Rink" night. The effort with Susan G. Komen for the Cure aims to raise awareness about breast cancer. The proceeds from the live jersey auction following tonight’s matchup benefited Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Anyone else notice that the pink socks don't quite match the pink jersey? Just saying.
Jordan Evans #5The WHL's Swift Current Broncos refuse to be left out of the pink party. They wore theirs on February 19.
However, they got whacked by the Chilliwack Bruins 3-0. Notice the trend? A big win for the Stingrays, a big comeback (but in the end a loss) for the Americans. And a big loss for the Broncos.
I know this photo isn't the best quality, but it's what they have on their website. You can see more here.
Just look at those things. Obviously we've seen a lot of pink jerseys so we're getting pretty good at telling the good from the bad. This has to rank squarely in the bad. Pink ribbons on the socks!
But if you think that's bad, just wait until you see what's next.
Pink ExpressThe Atlantic Junior Hockey League's Walpole Express may take the cake for pinkest pink jersey of all time — you know, if there were a cake available for such an accomplishment (for what it's worth, I'm sure it would be pink too).
Normally Icethetics doesn't cover much junior hockey outside of the Canadian Hockey League, but the Express sent me these photos directly and they were too good not to share.
The thing about these jerseys is their almost hot pink. I'm told by the team they were supposed to be a lighter pink, but a deadline snuck up on them and they got stuck with this color.
Anyway, that's not the most interesting thing about Walpole's Pink in the Rink event.
Refs wear pink too!This is.
Even the officials got i on the action, donning their own pink garb. I'm told the AJHL was in full support of the Express' pink event, which took place November 1, 2009. They raised over $6,000 for breast cancer research and $2,000 alone from the jersey auction.
So good for them!
As always, if you've come across any pink jerseys worth sharing, don't hesitate to send them along. Obviously everyone's really getting a kick out of this series.
Maybe some sort of poll is in our future to decide which team has the best use of pink in a hockey jersey. If nothing else, it would just be a laugh to see dozens of teams wearing pink.
Icethetics returns to its roots. 3.8.10