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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — NHL draft watch parties are an opportunity for fans to get together and congratulate the player their team has selected in the hope that that player can be part of a brighter future.
And for fans who attended the Anaheim Ducks viewing party at the Honda Center, they had the chance to see Örebro HK star Leo Carlsson’s hub as both a part of their past and a part of their future.
Carlsson, whom Ducks picked with the NHL draft’s #2 pick on Wednesday, showed a hologram of himself to fans at the Honda Center wearing his new team’s sweater
But he doesn’t just wear any sweater. The Ducks chose this moment to launch their 30th anniversary sweater. The Ducks will wear the third sweater in their inaugural home game, home matches against rivals in the same division and some road matches.
Ducks vice president of marketing Merit Tully told ESPN: “We have such a unique history with our team. It’s important to look back and dig deep into our historical roots and how that history develops to the present day”. “We have popular brands throughout our history. We tried to use some of those brands and with this shirt it’s a new and unique way to combine those brands. popular over time.”
Like the team’s first road sweater, the 30th Anniversary sweater will be plum color with jade, silver, plum, and white stripes at the elbows. The center of the sweater has a large circle that reads “ANAHEIM DUCK” in white, with a slightly more aggressive version of the face of Wild Wing, the famous Duck mascot in a white hockey mask featuring The most familiar image in team history.
Beneath the Wild Wing’s face is one of the sweater’s subtle details, with the Ducks choosing to use their “D” symbol as a way to tie together their past as the Hero Ducks. powers of Anaheim with their current name, Anaheim Ducks. Those jade, plum, silver, and white rings are also on the bottom of the sweater.
The sweater that Carlsson wears has two words “ANAHEIM DUCKS EST. 2006” on a silver ring at each elbow to mark when they changed their name. Tully said the actual sweater the players will wear — and will be sold to fans — will have the words “MIGHTY DUCKS OF ANAHEIM” on one sleeve and “ANAHEIM DUCK” on the other.
“It’s a small token or metaphorical timeline as we like to describe it,” Tully explains. “From a color standpoint, we wanted to hit the head. We’ve always understood that our fans love the old and original color scheme with plum and jade. As we reviewed the third jersey. three recent history together with our 25th anniversary shirt and the third shirt we’ve worn, while historically in essence this is a whole new look.”
Tully, who interned with the Ducks in 1998 and returned to the team 10 years ago, said a group of 12 longtime Ducks employees met about 14 months ago to discuss the idea of a commemorative sweater. 30 years. They brought their idea to the ownership of Ducks, who gave the project the green light.
Since then, the Ducks have worked with the NHL and their clothing supplier, Adidas, to come up with a design that is historic, unique, and can serve as the thread for the team’s position and position. they want to go next.
Keeping the sweater a secret took some work. Tully says that between the Ducks, the NHL and Adidas, fewer than 30 people know about the design or have seen what it looks like.
Word began to spread on Tuesday that Ducks had something up. Social media went up in flames when people saw the team’s digital flyer for the viewing party. There’s a Duck hat with the team’s current color scheme and the logo on the sweater in a darker color.
Although the Ducks suggested the sweater to fans, they gave no warning that Carlsson would greet fans in the sweater via hologram from Nashville while the others were in Anaheim. .
“It’s something that’s never been done when drafting with a sports team in this context,” Tully said. “There are higher chances once it has been used. Ellen [DeGeneres] used it once in her show and did some really neat stuff with it. We think, ‘How do we get creative? How do we have a bit of a future and how do we apply that in the sports world?'”
Tully said the team ran tests Wednesday morning to address any potential issues. One team member went to Nashville to set up one end of the hologram in part of the Bridgestone Arena, while others handled everything from the Honda Center.
Tully said he hopes Ducks fans and fans of the sport in general will enjoy having such a unique sweater.
“I hope they see the depth of thought and the uniqueness of our history,” he said. “We recognize the popularity of our original brand, and we’re very open about future plans with that label. But I’m hopeful. [fans] We’re excited to take on dozens of games this celebration season and give Anaheim Duck a new and exciting look.”
