Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Where is the Civility?

Game-worn jerseys collectors are a passionate bunch.

Hockey fans are a passionate bunch.

Game-worn jersey collectors who are hockey fans are a very passionate bunch ... but it makes no sense to cross the line and it diminishes us all when somebody personally insults and attack another person for his opinion.

It happens too often. And it happened again today on gameworn.net when two people disagreed on the Penguins and Sidney Crosby.

I don't care which side of any hockey argument anyone falls on ... there is no excuse for name-calling. Two people who live hundreds of miles apart and share a passion for collecting jerseys and watching hockey should be able to argue all the time about who is the better player, which is the dirtier team, who should be suspended, who should win the Cup ... whatever.

Without somebody saying someone is an idiot. C'mon everybody. Smarten up.
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Playoffs start tomorrow. My first-round predictions:

Rangers over Senators in 6
Devils over Panthers in 7
Penguins over Flyers in 5
Bruins over Capitals in 5

Canucks over Kings in 7
Predators over Wings in 5
Blackhawks over Coyotes in 6
Sharks over Blues in 5
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MeiGray is delighted that 6 of our 8 program teams made the Stanley Cup playoffs. We know how to pick 'em, don't we!!!

MGG is now taking pre-orders on the playoff sets the Bruins, Flyers, Devils, Capitals and Kings will be wearing. The Predators are retaining the sets they are wearing in the playoffs.

But all 6 of our program playoff teams will wear two new sets of home and two new sets of road jerseys if they reach the Final. It's too early to start preparing those jerseys, but here at MGG we start thinking now about when to order the additional 60 home and 60 road jerseys we will need two months from now if one or two of our teams makes it. We don't like to jinx anything ... but you can never be too prepared!!!

Monday, April 2, 2012

It's Already Playoff Time!!

The NHL has one week to go, but at MeiGray, it's already playoff time.

Program teams are preparing their playoff sets, and planning for when the sets will hit the ice.

Although we work closely with our program teams, we make it our business NOT to get involved in hockey decisions. If a team likes to wait until the Trade Deadline for making its Set 2s, we wait until the trade deadline. If a team likes to wear its Set 3, the playoff set, late in the regular season to break them in, that's fine with us.

This season, the Washington Capitals have prepared their third home red set so that they can break them in before the playoffs begin ... if the Caps make it. The New Jersey Devils broke out their home red and road white Set 3s in late March. The Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers plan to start their playoff sets in Game 1 of their respective series.

If the Los Angeles Kings make the playoffs, and what a race that is out in the Pacific Division, they will start the playoffs in new Set 3s.

On the ice, it figures to be a great final six days before the season ends with all 30 teams playing on Saturday, April 7. At least one or two playoff spots might be up for grabs on that final day of the regular season.

By the way, we expect Washington and Philadelphia's Set 1s by the end of the regular season, so we will start closing out and shipping those jerseys in time for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.