Penguins CCM 3rd jersey ultrafil

[jdt]

Hi,

I'm new to all this, am a huge Penguins fan and am looking for a 1996 CCM Ultrafil jersey to no avail. The following season they appear to use Starter, is they're any difference between the two (not a fan of Airknit at all). I'm a novice to all this, so any info would be great.

Thanks,

J

[Brilliant!]

The Pens' 3rd jerseys in 1995-96 were air-knit rather than ultrafil. They only became ultrafil after the switch to Starter the year after. The same can be said for the Canucks and Kings(I think) that first year of the alternate: Ultrafil home/roads, air-knit 3rds.

[LAK74]

The CCM 3rds from 1996 were actually airknit, not ultrafil. You can find a lot of these as replicas, but authentics are nearly impossible to find, as I don't believe they were ever sold at retail, kind of like the Burger Kings and Wild Wings. The Starters were airknits too, although the hole pattern for Starter material was somewhat different from the CCM.

[jdt]

Thanks guys, great info! So are all the Starter and ProPlayer versions of that jersey AirKnit then, or at least until they went to CCM/KOHO. I'm not a fan of these branded ones as I think they're AirKnit and it was a a sad time to be a Penguins fan...

[LAK74]

Brilliant! may know something that I don't, but as far as I know all the Starters, ProPlayers and even the Kohos in the 2000's were airknit.

[Brilliant!]

I should clarify. in 1997-98, the Penguins actually used Starter ultrafil jerseys. The same with the Habs. That said, I've seen retail versions of the Penguins' ones in both Starter puffy-knit AND ultrafil so who knows?

[LAK74]

Mike, I think the OP is referring only to the Starter 3rds, not the home/aways. I haven't seen an ultrafil Starter 3rd, have you?

[Brilliant!]

I have indeed. I actually owned one a looooooong time ago. I believe it was a 1996-97 version with the S-star + wordmark Starter logo on the hem.

[LAK74]

Well, I learned something new then. I've seen ultrafil and mesh home and away Pens Starters from around 1996-98, but never a 3rd.

[akteon]

As LAK referenced, the Pens actually used nylon mesh for their home/away jerseys for part of the first season they wore Starter. I don't believe these were ever put up for general retail sale, however I do know that some folks got some from Starter outlet stores. All of the sizes I've seen were player sizes (56-58, a few goalie cuts).

Here's my black 58:

[LAK74]

I've always been rather envious of that mesh Pens, akteon, beautiful jersey!

I also managed to find one example of a 1997-98 Pens mesh Starter (home) here; it even has a Starter logo without the wordmark so it's not likely to be a leftover from 1996-97:

http://www.classicauctions.net/Default.aspx?tabid=263&auctionid=61&lotid=647

[akteon]

That's interesting. I always thought it was the 1996-97 season. I thought it was also the second half of the season, which is strange since they changed back for the following year. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the back of mine to see the hem tag. If I remember I'll check when I get home.

Edit: I remembered JustAnotherVictim has the same jersey customized as a Lemieux

Definitely 1997-98 Starter hem tagging, so maybe it was the second half of that season, which would line up with that Jagr skills competition jersey.

[thebiggoalie]

I picked up a mesh white Pens Starter from that era and was thinking of stripping and recustomizing it. Does anybody know when exactly they were used? I was thinking of putting Kasparaitis on it, with or without the "A" if anybody knows if that is accurate or not.

[LAK74]

That's interesting. I always thought it was the 1996-97 season. I thought it was also the second half of the season, which is strange since they changed back for the following year. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the back of mine to see the hem tag. If I remember I'll check when I get home.

Akteon, even if the hem logo is from 1997-98, the neck tags still look like the ones from 1996-97. Strange.

[akteon]

Look at the hem on the picture of JAV's Lemieux - look how the NHL shield is almost cut off at the bottom. It got me thinking it sure looks like the 1996-97 Starter logo (S-star over top of Starter wordmark) just folder over ...

Then I stumbled across this item from Classic Auctions:

And saw this

So I'm thinking the one I have and JAV has are definitely from 1996-97 and the hem is folder over the same.

But I agree the Jagr posted earlier looks like a 1997-98. So maybe they wore them the second half of 1996-97 into the first half of 1997-98?

[JustAnothaVictim]

Yeah, that Lemieux jersey was the reference to mine. I was glad I found those pics because that size 58 sure fits long on me while the sleeves fit like a perfect size 52. 1996-97 was the last season they wore this jersey, both ultrafil and mesh version. They also wore the white mesh jerseys in 1997-98 according to the hem tagging.

[LAK74]

Sharp eyes, Matt. No wonder the neck tags looked like 96/97's!

[akteon]

Good call JAV, I totally forgot that's when they switched to the Robo penguin full time.

So now it makes sense. They wore the mesh black jerseys the second half of 1996-97, and the white mesh the second half of 1996-97 into the first half of 1997-98.

[swaggerjack]

Kind of a random question, not sure it peterains to this thread, but I have a blank white 90's starter jersey. Best place where to get this customized? I doubt EPS does older jerseys. Anything local?

[LAK74]

EPS can do anything. I've had dozens of 90's jerseys done up by them. The Starter that you have, which team is it? Penguins?

[Cygnus X-1]

EPS can do anything. I've had dozens of 90's jerseys done up by them. The Starter that you have, which team is it? Penguins?

With all due respect, the can't do '90's Rangers.

[LAK74]

I had a feeling you might say that!

So, I'll clarify for the benefit of the OP. The original question seemed to be simply whether EPS could do jerseys from that time period, which they certainly can. Like any customizer out there though, there will always be some teams for which their customization will not be 100% accurate, and that is why I asked which team jersey he wanted done. As we all know, the Rangers are very difficult to get exactly right, and for the degree of accuracy which very demanding collectors expect, very few customizers can achieve this. Even Cosby themselves may do less than 100% accurate jobs on Rangers jerseys unless you provide a lot of very detailed guidance as to what you want.