Hockey Trade Rumors

My first stop was Grove City, which is about 45 minutes outside Erie. Let me tell you for anyone who has not been to the Grove City Outlet mall, I highly recommend the shopping. 140 stores of generally unbeatable prices compared to the prices we suckers pay in Canada. Yes, I may sound a little feminine bragging about shopping but when you can get a pair of Timberland boots for under $50 US, enough said. Okay, back to the issue at hand. Looking at my outlet map, I noticed a Reebok store. Ironically, this would be the last store I would visit before I would go back on my tour bus. Walking through the outlet mall, there were a few sports stores. For any Steeler fan, they have a store specifically for you. The Adidas store was great for their clothes but then I came across the Reebok store.

I looked along the walls and it was apparent that I was in Steeler country. They also had a decent selection of other NFL jerseys. I calmly walked around the store searching for the hockey section. Well to my surprise, the company that makes the current NHL jerseys didn’t even have a hockey T-shirt. I had a little chat with one of the associates and questioned, why would the manufacture of NHL jerseys not carry at least a Crosby jersey (RBK’s poster boy I might add) specially in a mall where there are hundreds of Canadians shopping there everyday? The response I got, there is no demand for hockey apparel. I inquired if they ever carried hockey apparel and he said no.

While on the tour bus, the thought of this article came to mind briefly but I decided not to make my judgement until I went to a normal mall in Erie named Millcreek the following day. This mall was specifically designed for the locals not like the tourist attraction in Grove City so I was certain I could find what I was looking for there. Looking at the mall directory, I was not surprised at the copious amounts of sports stores here. After all, athletics is a religion in the US. Champs, Dicks, Finish Line, Foot Locker, and the Pro Image were my targets. No, No, No, No. After a pathetic sigh, I saw the Pro Image. If the Square One Mississauga, ON Pro-Image carried pretty much every hockey jersey out there, they would certainly have a Pen’s jersey here. Nope. Ok, well my last hopes were JC Penney and Macy’s. Maybe I will find a T-shirt there. One of the sales associates gave me a funny look in JC Penny when I asked him about Crosby jerseys or T-shirts. I was surely a lonely hockey fan lost in Steeler Nation.

After 2 days of power shopping, I definitely needed a break. I went down a tucked away corridor with my recently purchased soft pretzel in hand to have a seat. Looking around, I found something very interesting. A beaten up sign promoting the OHL Erie Otters. I was shocked that in a mall where hockey apparel is tougher to find then Osama Bin Laden, I see a promo for Major Junior Hockey. I almost broke out in a hysterical laugh. (You had to be there). With my spirits up, I walked towards the Burlington Coat Factory where my tour bus was waiting to take me home. On my way I saw Nascar Obsession. I am not a huge Nascar fan but I am definitely a fan of cars. By the way, the new 2007 Ford Shelby Cobra GT500 rules. Wouldn’t you know that in a store devoted to Nascar, I see a Pen’s T-shirt. No jersey, but a T-shirt. Again, cue the hysterical laugh. I though I heard the word hoser whispered in the background as I left the store with my purchase.

Unfortunately, my quest for a reasonably priced #87 failed. During my 4-hour trip home, this article again popped up in my head. I asked the question to myself, is the American retailer the cause of hockey’s unpopularity in the US? After my experiences, it is a resounding yes, well at least in western PA for sure. To me, it seems that retailers have no interest in promoting a team let a lone a hockey prodigy like Crosby. Now I would not be surprised if I was to go into Pitts, I would likely find what I am looking for. But for a city with a population of 100, 000 + in Erie and with an amazing team like Buffalo only 2 hours away, and 2 NHL teams in the state, its definitely a lack of motivation by the retailer rather then a demand issue. This kind of mentality is definitely a negative for the game. I am not blaming the retailer exclusively for the lack of hockey’s popularity but they are definitely a contributing factor. I certainly hope that any Americans reading this article can conflict with what I said because if this is the case in a lot of US markets, look for a few more teams to be in the Pen’s situation in a few years.