Detailed Jersey Set Notes
1974-1975
Comments:
The history of Michigan Tech Hockey preserved!... In January 2001 this jersey
was purchase on eBay from a sporting goods store in British Columbia. The seller said it was from the 1988-89 season.
However, when the jersey was inspected in person, the era in which the
seller placed this jersey became questionable. The material is a tightly woven heavy cotton/nylon and the jersey
shows a few repairs. The biggest eye opener is that the jersey shows a number change
at all locations: front, back and shoulders. It appears that this jersey was #6 when first numbered
and may also have had an "A" on the left chest.
In March 2001, I visited the Michigan Tech campus and spent an afternoon browsing through the photo
archives of the sports information department. After several hours of searching I began to find
matches in the 1974-75 season, the year of MTU's 3rd NCAA championship. I also received info from
former player Richard Novak (1984-89), who provided the following:
"I also have one of those jerseys...We did not wear them from 84-89, they are older than that.
They were given to the graduating players in 89... The jersey has a lace up neck, correct?
That in itself leads me to believe it could be really old, like early 70s..."
The jerseys being given to the players in 1989 would back the dealer thinking the jersey was
from the 1988-89 season. A very historic item to say the least!
Close-up Detail Images:
Wash tag
Lace-up neck
Front numbers
Back numbers
Sleeve numbers
1980-1982
Comments:
This set of jerseys was manufactured by Rawlings. The body of the jersey, and the black ends
of the sleeves were constructed of a very large mesh, but all of the striping is a tightly woven
cotten like material. The neck is solid black and is similar to the striping material.
The numbers and the crest are two color gold on black sewn twill.
Back numbers are 10", arm numbers are 4", and those on the front below the crest are slightly larger, 4.75".
Black single color names (on nameplates) can be found on some jerseys
and are identical in style to those used on the GoodSports jerseys. I don't believe that
these nameplates were on the jerseys when they were worn.
Close-up Detail Images:
Rawlings tagging
Nameplate
Typical repair
Front numbers
Sleeve numbers
Back numbers
1982-1984
Comments:
These Cooper Polyzorbs were worn
with the full length Cooperall pants that were popular at that time in the NHL.
But as quickly as they arrived, they were gone. These jerseys are extremely small compared
with other styles and were very form fitting. The cuffs on a size medium jersey
from this set were only 4.5" wide. Other features include cuff-to-cuff gold striping that
goes up over the shoulders, and a small iron-on Cooper logo on the back hem. The crest and back numbers
(no sleeve numbers) were two color gold on black sewn twill. The name was black twill sewn onto a nameplate.
Only two of these jerseys (numbers 6, 14) which were sold by the team to a Michigan dealer have been seen since
they were used. They were sold as 1983-84 jerseys, however the cover of the 1983-84 media guide shows the team wearing
these jerseys vs Ferris St with 5-0 on the scoreboard. This would likely be 2/5/83 when Tech beat the Bulldogs 8-0
and thus they were also used in the 1982-83 season as well.
A program from October 19-20, 1984 shows two photos of this jersey style, one vs Northern Michigan
and the other against the University of Michigan who Tech would not play until January and December respectively
so the photos are from previous season(s). In this photo the jerseys have a circular gold patch on the right chest
with the husky dog head and some text. It is unknown what this patch represents.
Close-up Detail Images:
Neck tagging
Back hem logo
Typical repair
Front numbers
Back numbers
1984-1985
Comments:
This jerseys set is identifiable by the black-gold-black neck line.
All of the players are shown wearing jerseys of this style in the 1985-86 yearbook headshots
(Oswald photo)
and also in action on the cover of the 1986-87 yearbook
(White photo).
This is also the only set in many years that did not have numbers on the front of the jersey.
The jerseys were produced by GoodSports and featured two color sewn twill numbers (gold on black).
The jerseys as worn on the ice has a single color black name on a nameplate with relatively wide spacing of the letters
(White photo).
The nameplate fabric is not the same type of material as the jersey and it is a much tighter knit.
The two jerseys in our collection have namplates of "ZUKE" (played 1980-84) and "TURNER"
(played 1981-82). However based on yearbook and program photos, it is unlikely either of those players wore this style
of jersey and that the nameplates were added after they left the team. The nameplates are also suspect because the
exact same style shows up on other sets of Tech jerseys that came from the same dealer. One last knock against the
nameplates is that they were noted as NOBR (name on back removed) when they were sold by Michigan Tech.
Jerseys that were sold as part of this set were noted as NOBR (name on back removed) and from the 1988-89 season
(numbers 5, 12, 17, 18, 21, 22, 25, 27, 28, 29).
Close-up Detail Images:
GoodSports tagging
Neck line close-up
Typical repair
Back numbers
Sleeve numbers
Nameplate
1986-1988
Comments:
This set of jerseys was produced by Melville Emblem. They were mesh with two color numbers on the back, sleeves and front. This set of jerseys is unique from other white sets because the front numbers were black.
A patch was added to the right chest of the jersey which appears to be in honor of Michigan's sesquicentennial (1987).
Close-up Detail Images:
1988-1991
Comments:
This set of jerseys was manufactured by Hooters Sportswear.
These mesh knit jerseys had two color black on white twill crests,
numbers and names all sewn down. The names were on nameplates of material identical to the jersey.
The WCHA logo was embroidered in gold on a white patch which was in turn sewn on the jersey.
Two piece tie-downs were also placed in the back of the jerseys.
Most of this set of jerseys entered the hobby through a dealer
(numbers 1, 5, 8, 10, 14, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24).
They indicated in their notes that these jerseys were from the 1991-92 season, however MTU was using a set of gold
jerseys made by CCM in 1991-92 so it is unlikely that these Hooters jerseys were still in use after the 1990-91 season.
Close-up Detail Images:
Neck tagging
Back hem logo
Tie down strap
Hooters flag
WCHA patch
Back numbers
Sleeve numbers
Front numbers
Nameplate
1991-1993
Comments:
At least one set of gold jerseys were produced by CCM during these years. The jerseys were Ultrafil with two color
sewn twill numbers (black on gold for the sleeves and black on white for the back). The names were also two color
sewn twill (black on white) on a nameplate. A CCM logo was present on the back hem, however it was very small
(about 1/3" x 1").
The WCHA logo was embroidered in black on the right chest. The neckline was two color, black and white.
Most of these jerseys were raffled and I have seen a few with fans over the years at games. The jersey shown
became part of the collection through a former equipment manager of another WCHA team from that era.
Close-up Detail Images:
1993-1994
Comments:
A new era in the design of MTU's jerseys began in 1993. This was the first year of what has
become known as the "Husky Head" design. This set of jerseys was only used for
one season. Although they are similiar to home jerseys that were used in following years,
they can be easily distinguished from other sets by the three color neck that these jerseys
featured. I have not seen one of these jerseys since the final game of the 1993-94 season.
Close-up Detail Images:
1994-1995
Comments:
This second set of Bauer home whites had only one obvious design change.
The prior three color neck was replaced with a solid gold design comprised of three overlapping
layers of fabric. My guess is that this was the same neck design used other teams'
jerseys that required multiple colors. The twill MTU remained at each elbow and an embroidered
BAUER patch with a silver and gold outline was present on the back hem of the jersey.
Close-up Detail Images:
Neck tagging
Back hem
Back numbers
WCHA logo
Sleeve logo
Sleeve numbers
Nameplate
1995-1998
Comments:
This was the first set of home jerseys with the "MTU" shoulder patches. This set of jerseys can also
be identified by the single thickness gold neck. Also the BAUER patch embroidered on the back hem,
was outlined with silver only. The previous set had a two color gold/silver outline around the patch.
NOTE: During the 1995-96 season, color coordinating patches
were worn to celebrate the 75th season of MTU hockey. At the end of
the season, all of the patches from the home, road, and alternate jerseys were removed.
Close-up Detail Images:
Neck tagging
Hem logo
Shoulder patch
WCHA logo
Back Numbers
Sleeve numbers
Nameplate
1998-2000
Comments:
Although the overall design of the jerseys is identical to the previous sets, there are a few
items both on the outside and the inside of the jersey that will help you tell the two apart.
This set of jerseys featured the "Flying B" BAUER logo on the left chest. The BAUER logo on
the back hem was redesigned from a patch to directly embroidered, single color, black angled,
block letters. On the inside, the BAUER ProWear tag was still present, and an additional tag,
much larger in size, was also sewn into the neck which had the size information on it.
Close-up Detail Images:
Std neck tag
Goalie neck tag
Hem logo
Shoulder patch
WCHA logo
Back numbers
Sleeve numbers
Bauer logo
Nameplate
2000-2003
Comments:
This 5th generation of the "Husky Head" jersey design marked a drastic change from the previous versions.
A modern two color twill "MichiganTech" was featured below the front crest. Contrasting color shoulder
yokes were added along with a more rounded and slanted style of numbering. The names were single color
sewn on nameplates and were arched over the back numbers. The WCHA logo was emboidered on the right chest
and BAUER was embroidered on the back hem. For the 2001-02 season, all WCHA teams added a patch
celebrating the 50th anniversary of the WCHA (1951-2001) to the back of their jerseys.
Michigan Tech left them on the home jerseys for the 2002-03 season as well.
Close-up Detail Images:
Bauer tags
Back hem logo
WCHA 50th patch
WCHA logo
Back numbers
Sleeve numbers
Nameplate
2003-2006
Comments:
The 2003-04 season brought a new coach and a new look to the Huskies.
For the first time in 10 years, the script "Huskies" was back as the primary logo on the home jerseys.
The "Husky Head" logo was retained and moved to the shoulder area. The modern "MichiganTech" logo was
also retained, but it was moved to the back of the jersey below the numbers. This caused the numbers
to be place slightly higher on the back of the jersey. As a result, names were not originally worn on the
jerseys. (Arched gold names on black nameplates
were added to the jerseys prior to the start of the 2004-05 season.)
The numbers went back to the block style used for most of the 1990's. The "SP" logo was embroidered on the
back hem of the jersey and the "WCHA" logo was also embroidered on the right chest.
Close-up Detail Images:
2006-2008
Comments:
Very similar to the alternate jerseys produced by OT Sports, these jerseys were also made from "dazzle" material.
The jerseys featured three color twill numbers, however the gold color is only a thin edging. The WCHA and MTU logos on
the front of the jersey are embroided patches which were then sewn onto the jersey. The main crest on the front is gold
twill with the black and silver sections added via embroidery. The gold inserts under the arms are mesh and are also
edged with silver and black piping. The shoulders have two layers of material and the elbows have also be reinforced
with very tight airknit type of material.
Click HERE to view all the details on this set of jerseys as they sent to
OT Sports for production. (Thanks Mitch's Misfits / MTU for the image.)
Unfortunately, like the last few sets of jerseys to be released by the team through jersey raffles, all of
the nameplates have been stripped off the jerseys (per NCAA policy) and the jerseys were also autographed by the entire
2008-09 hockey team.
Close-up Detail Images:
Neck tagging
OT logo on neck
Fight strap
WCHA logo
Back numbers
Sleeve numbers
Front crest
2008 to Present
