Stanley Cup patch moved to other shoulder to facilitate sponsor patch

If you're a creature of habit and a collector of National Hockey League jerseys along with patches that are sewn on separately to them, you know well that the first Stanley Cup patch was created and sewn onto the sweaters for the first time for the 1989 Stanley Cup finals.

These patches have been placed over the right shoulder from the beginning until now.

Reports surfaced just days before game one between the Florida Panthers and the Las Vegas Golden Knights that the National Hockey League has moved these patches from the right side to the left where a letter for the Captain or Assistant Captain ordinarily sits. See for yourself:




This change not only looks wrong but messes with tradition that dates back thirty-four years, void of having letters on jerseys which may have occurred for the first time in 1917 when the NHL was formed. It has been documented that the first player to wear the «C» in the league was Montreal Canadiens, Jack Laviolette.

Hockey fans are keenly aware that this is Gary Bettman's NHL and that whatever he decides goes. The idea of having more revenue through patches of sponsors on jerseys makes sense from a revenue perspective, but for a traditionalist, it just doesn't sit right.