chalk_one_up
05-16-2013, 03:54 PM
Courtesy of: http://www.panow.com/node/342690
By Jeff D’Andrea
paNOW Staff
Although the Prince Albert Raiders unveiled their completely new team jersey Thursday at the Art Hauser Centre, there is a certain familiarity with it.
The Raiders have officially traded in their all black uniforms for green, the same colour the team wore when they won the Memorial Cup back in 1985.
According to the Raiders, the change back to green was one highly demanded by fans.
“We certainly interact with our fans quite a lot, being a community owned team, and one of the common comments was ‘we want sure like to see the green jerseys back,’” said Bruce Vance, Raiders director of business relations. “Back in the Memorial Cup days, they had the green jerseys.
“The black jerseys were great, they made the boys look real big, but green is a very popular colour here in Prince Albert.”
Raiders alumni like Garrett Zemlak and Dustin Cameron, who played professional hockey in the UK this season, were present for the unveiling, as well as Mark Odnokon and Warren Harper.
The first three Raiders players to see the jersey and wear it for the first time were Prince Albert’s own Sawyer Lange, Reid Gardiner and Tim Vanstone, who were met with applause when they came out wearing sharp new threads.
Many of the Raiders players took to Twitter to show their excitement about the unveiling on Wednesday, a day before the jerseys were showcased.
“A lot of the guys are excited about the new jersey, kind of get a new atmosphere in the room,” said Lange. “Our big thing is ‘change and win’ with our team, we’re always looking to move forward.
“I think these jerseys symbolize that this team is going to move forward in the years to come.”
The Raiders have been working towards this for about two years, working with Reebok closely to make sure they got the result they wanted.
“It’s a big day for us, it’s been in the works for two years,” said Raiders general manager Bruno Campese. “The pirate head (design) served the team well for many, many years but it was time for a new look.
“It’s a modern, more sleek look that’s more with the times and we’re extremely proud of our look.”
The new crest
The logo itself took about 18 months of work to design. It features the team’s ‘Raiders’ moniker and a vertical sabre sword in front of a shield with ‘PA’ written in green and Vegas gold letters.
Evan Poitras, Raiders public relations and marketing director, helped design the logo. He said the team really wanted to make sure Prince Albert’s most common nickname, PA, was an important focus point of the team’s crest.
“We wanted to get ‘PA’ in because nobody refers to Prince Albert as ‘Prince Albert’ if they’re from Prince Albert—it’s PA,” said Poitras. “We wanted to work PA into it and get our name in it more prominently, the Raiders name.
“The design was chipped at for about 18 months to where it was now.”
Financial impact
After the end of the 2010-2011 season, the Raiders reported a $300,000 deficit over the past three years. Since that time, the Raiders have drastically increased their balanced sheets, improving their ticket sales to 2,674 this past season, the most they have ever recorded in a single year.
Campese believes the jersey change can help keep the Raiders moving forward financially, while adding buzz and excitement at the same time.
Minor hockey getting the facelift as well
The Raiders won’t be the only team wearing these model of jerseys. Campese said travel teams from the pee wee, bantam and midget levels will wear the new design as well.
The jerseys are not currently available at the Raiders’ souvenir shop, but there are many other merchandise items with the new crest available for sale.
The Raiders team will wear the team’s old jerseys during the preseason, and will wear the new ones for the start of the regular season.
jdandrea@panow.com
On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea
http://www.panow.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/node_full/images/news/342690/reid_gardiner_tim_vanstone.jpg
Gotta say, these are amazing and a nice fresh change.
By Jeff D’Andrea
paNOW Staff
Although the Prince Albert Raiders unveiled their completely new team jersey Thursday at the Art Hauser Centre, there is a certain familiarity with it.
The Raiders have officially traded in their all black uniforms for green, the same colour the team wore when they won the Memorial Cup back in 1985.
According to the Raiders, the change back to green was one highly demanded by fans.
“We certainly interact with our fans quite a lot, being a community owned team, and one of the common comments was ‘we want sure like to see the green jerseys back,’” said Bruce Vance, Raiders director of business relations. “Back in the Memorial Cup days, they had the green jerseys.
“The black jerseys were great, they made the boys look real big, but green is a very popular colour here in Prince Albert.”
Raiders alumni like Garrett Zemlak and Dustin Cameron, who played professional hockey in the UK this season, were present for the unveiling, as well as Mark Odnokon and Warren Harper.
The first three Raiders players to see the jersey and wear it for the first time were Prince Albert’s own Sawyer Lange, Reid Gardiner and Tim Vanstone, who were met with applause when they came out wearing sharp new threads.
Many of the Raiders players took to Twitter to show their excitement about the unveiling on Wednesday, a day before the jerseys were showcased.
“A lot of the guys are excited about the new jersey, kind of get a new atmosphere in the room,” said Lange. “Our big thing is ‘change and win’ with our team, we’re always looking to move forward.
“I think these jerseys symbolize that this team is going to move forward in the years to come.”
The Raiders have been working towards this for about two years, working with Reebok closely to make sure they got the result they wanted.
“It’s a big day for us, it’s been in the works for two years,” said Raiders general manager Bruno Campese. “The pirate head (design) served the team well for many, many years but it was time for a new look.
“It’s a modern, more sleek look that’s more with the times and we’re extremely proud of our look.”
The new crest
The logo itself took about 18 months of work to design. It features the team’s ‘Raiders’ moniker and a vertical sabre sword in front of a shield with ‘PA’ written in green and Vegas gold letters.
Evan Poitras, Raiders public relations and marketing director, helped design the logo. He said the team really wanted to make sure Prince Albert’s most common nickname, PA, was an important focus point of the team’s crest.
“We wanted to get ‘PA’ in because nobody refers to Prince Albert as ‘Prince Albert’ if they’re from Prince Albert—it’s PA,” said Poitras. “We wanted to work PA into it and get our name in it more prominently, the Raiders name.
“The design was chipped at for about 18 months to where it was now.”
Financial impact
After the end of the 2010-2011 season, the Raiders reported a $300,000 deficit over the past three years. Since that time, the Raiders have drastically increased their balanced sheets, improving their ticket sales to 2,674 this past season, the most they have ever recorded in a single year.
Campese believes the jersey change can help keep the Raiders moving forward financially, while adding buzz and excitement at the same time.
Minor hockey getting the facelift as well
The Raiders won’t be the only team wearing these model of jerseys. Campese said travel teams from the pee wee, bantam and midget levels will wear the new design as well.
The jerseys are not currently available at the Raiders’ souvenir shop, but there are many other merchandise items with the new crest available for sale.
The Raiders team will wear the team’s old jerseys during the preseason, and will wear the new ones for the start of the regular season.
jdandrea@panow.com
On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea
http://www.panow.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/node_full/images/news/342690/reid_gardiner_tim_vanstone.jpg
Gotta say, these are amazing and a nice fresh change.