I was reading an article posted by NBC Chicago about counterfeit jerseys and felt I should put my two cents in.
It’s an interesting topic because I am an Avid jersey collector.. I’m not going to lie. I do actually own a few fake NHL jerseys. One of which I was duped and bought under the pretence that it was real. I then bought a few out of morbid curiosity as to how they fair up against NHL official merchandise.
Counterfeiting is an issue surrounding any business with intellectual or financial property. However there will always be a market especially with these people praying on those of us with less money or low incomes.
So I thought I’d enlighten anyone who isn’t aware how to spot a fake one by a mile. I may have missed a few things, but here’s some basics.
1) Player ID tags. The grey ID patch in the bottom right hand corner (if you are a looking at a photo of it.) I have NEVER seen one of these patches on an counterfeit jersey. Possibly because they are too hard to counterfeit, but in my experience I’ve never seen one on a fake jersey.
Real deal:
Counterfeit: 
2) The weight. Most of these jerseys are modified CCM overstock. The Fabric from top to bottom is extremely heavy in comparison to the official Reebok merchandise. The badges and patches including the NHL logo at the collar are all thicker and less detailed when inspected a little more.
3) Sizing.. Another obvious sign..Official Reebok jersey merchandise is sized as S, M, L, XL etc.
– CCM sizes are numbered. 42,54 etc. As I said before most fake jerseys are Modified CCM jerseys. clear sign of a fake!
4) Common sense. If a named jersey is for sale cheaper than 100 dollars from a store or seller frequent on something like ebay….beware. Especially if its from China or somewhere in south east Asia. You do however get private sellers who take real photos and are just selling a jersey, unwanted gifts etc. Then you got yourself a pretty sweet deal!
Basic Rule of Thumb – Anything cheap comes at a price my friends..if its too good to be true – it probably is.
If anyone has any tips of their own Tweet me with yours !
@pattenMH
marchhockey.com 