The sport of hockey has a pretty deep history. It has the oldest championship trophy in North American sports and it has a dedicated fan base that has been watching it since the original six teams. Not only is the sport historic but the equipment the players are wearing has gone through a bit of an evolution on its own. Hockey jerseys, traditionally known as hockey sweaters, have gone through several changes over the years.
When hockey first started to become popular and people were strapping blades to their shoes to get out onto the frozen ponds to play the hockey jersey wasn't much different from an everyday sweater. Sweaters were made of heavy fabrics like wool to insulate the body and keep the heat from escaping. With a wool sweater the hockey players could skate outdoors in the freezing cold for hours at a time.
As the sport grew up and moved from outdoor rinks into the warmed climates of indoor ice hockey rinks the hockey sweater was forced to make a change as well. It wasn't smart to wear a heavy sweater inside a climate controlled hockey rink even though it was still pretty cold. The players were getting too hot in those old sweaters and needed a lighter material. Tailors made jerseys out of linen and other light materials but unfortunately that wasn't good enough.
Today hockey jerseys are made out of synthetic materials. Polyester is an incredibly light fabric that allows for the skin to breathe underneath it. The breathability of these synthetics is perfect for the indoor hockey player. The jersey is light so it doesn't encumber him and it dries quickly so that he doesn't catch a chill from his own sweat. Also, new design techniques have allowed for some really cool emblems and embroideries on modern hockey jerseys that couldn't happen before on the old fabrics.
You're probably wondering what you should wear to play hockey. With all this talk about different hockey jersey fabrics you might think to yourself that if you don't own a hockey jersey you aren't properly playing hockey. While that might be true, you can still get away with wearing a t-shirt or a sweater to your pick up hockey games. If the games get serious and you join a league you'll probably want to pick up a polyester jersey at some point.
Hockey jerseys have evolved with the game of hockey. They have been made in different ways and with different patterns and styles but their function remains the same. Hockey jerseys are designed to protect and insulate the players while still distinguishing them from the others on the ice. A player's hockey jersey tells a lot about them. It gives us their number, their team, and their last name.
When hockey first started to become popular and people were strapping blades to their shoes to get out onto the frozen ponds to play the hockey jersey wasn't much different from an everyday sweater. Sweaters were made of heavy fabrics like wool to insulate the body and keep the heat from escaping. With a wool sweater the hockey players could skate outdoors in the freezing cold for hours at a time.
As the sport grew up and moved from outdoor rinks into the warmed climates of indoor ice hockey rinks the hockey sweater was forced to make a change as well. It wasn't smart to wear a heavy sweater inside a climate controlled hockey rink even though it was still pretty cold. The players were getting too hot in those old sweaters and needed a lighter material. Tailors made jerseys out of linen and other light materials but unfortunately that wasn't good enough.
Today hockey jerseys are made out of synthetic materials. Polyester is an incredibly light fabric that allows for the skin to breathe underneath it. The breathability of these synthetics is perfect for the indoor hockey player. The jersey is light so it doesn't encumber him and it dries quickly so that he doesn't catch a chill from his own sweat. Also, new design techniques have allowed for some really cool emblems and embroideries on modern hockey jerseys that couldn't happen before on the old fabrics.
You're probably wondering what you should wear to play hockey. With all this talk about different hockey jersey fabrics you might think to yourself that if you don't own a hockey jersey you aren't properly playing hockey. While that might be true, you can still get away with wearing a t-shirt or a sweater to your pick up hockey games. If the games get serious and you join a league you'll probably want to pick up a polyester jersey at some point.
Hockey jerseys have evolved with the game of hockey. They have been made in different ways and with different patterns and styles but their function remains the same. Hockey jerseys are designed to protect and insulate the players while still distinguishing them from the others on the ice. A player's hockey jersey tells a lot about them. It gives us their number, their team, and their last name.
About the Author:
Doug loves hockey but he especially loves youth hockey jerseys. He discusses hockey and hockey goalie jerseys at his blog.
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