Drop the Puck, Lord Stanley

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The NHL playoffs start tonight, and reader Ben Traxel has marked the occasion by finding the perfect use for one of those Uni Watch logo stickers I was giving out a few months ago. Nicely done, Ben.

In honor of the playoffs’ start, here are a bunch of sensational old hockey photos from the recent Mears Auctions listing, selected for us by reader Mike Hersh:

• Check out the jersey crest being worn by the 1929 Bruins. Looks like a close cousin to the 1929 Tigers (here’s the full auction listing).

• Speaking of the Bruins, here’s what their current throwbacks are based on. Love that chunky “Boston” lettering (full listing).

• More Beantown uni goodness, but not from the Bruins this time — check out the gorgeous script worn by the 1938 Boston Olympics (full listing).

• Two rarities here: white pants and vertically striped socks (full listing).

• Oh baby, here’s one that’s just begging for colorization. That’s Leo Carbol of the 1930 Seattle Eskimos (full listing).

• The Eskimos weren’t Seattle’s only 1930s hockey team, as you can see in this shot of a Seattle Elks player (full listing).

• Yet another great-looking Seattle team: the Iron Men (full listing).

• No caption, but I’m assuming this is still another Seattle-area team, or at least from the Pacific Northwest. Note the football-style thigh pad insert, too (full listing).

• Fisher’s Blend was a brand of flour. That seems like an unlikely sponsor for a hockey team, but the resulting uniform was a beauty. Meanwhile, what’s that peeking out from over the player’s left shoulder? Wish we could see! (Full listing.)

• Oh. My. God. Doesn’t get any better than that (full listing).

• And we conclude with a uniform that lives up to its name. Mmmm, love that ribbed collar, too (full listing).

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Speaking of the NHL postseason, two Uni Watch readers are conducting playoff-related contests:

• Teebz is running his annual playoff pool on his Hockey Blog in Canada site. Big prizes, Teebz says. You can enter up until the first puck is dropped this evening.

• Pin-up illustrator extraordinaire Rob Ullman has set up his annual playoff picks with accompanying cheesecake illos and is inviting folks to pick the final four, final two, and Stanley Cup champion (if that link isn’t working, check back in a little bit — at press time, Rob was still putting the finishing touches on the page). The person with the

most correct picks gets a custom piece of original jersey pin-up art based on his or her fave hockey team, plus Rob’s Atom-Bomb Bikini book, his Old-Timey Hockey Tales zine, and some stickers. Two runners-up get just the books and stickers. Enter before the games start tonight!

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Bookmark this: What do a bunch of letters, a postcard, a receipt, a recipe, a map, some four-leaf clovers, and the bookmark shown at left have in common? Find out in the latest installment of Permanent Record.

ESPN reminder: In case you missed it yesterday afternoon, my latest ESPN column, about uni-notable moments in women’s sports history, is available here. I’ll have another ESPN column tomorrow. Busy week!

Uni Watch News Ticker: The Astros wore their Colt .45s throwbacks. They get bonus points for going the extra mile with batting helmets and stirrups, although most players didn’t wear (or at least show) the latter. ”¦ Looks like Jose Molina was wearing a ski cap under his mask yesterday in Detroit. ”¦ Speaking of cold-weather gear, look what was going on in Chicago last night. ”¦ If you live in the DC/Balto area and can’t decide between the Nats and the O’s, here’s the perfect solution. But here’s the weird thing: That’s Webster Groves High, which is actually in Missouri, nowhere near DC (from Gary Streeting). … New uniforms for the Japanese national softball team (from Jeremy Brahm). … Pretty funny video clip about NFL logos — recommended. … The NFL has discontinued its monthly magazine after only four issues (from Patrick Bouche). … New kit for Ipswich (from George Chilvers). … Nebraska football fans have been weighing in on what the team’s new alts should look like. “I’m not a hardcore traditionalist like a good portion of our fan base, but this proposed alternate scares me,” says Josh Erlandson. … You know those old Gatorade caps with the football helmets on them? I didn’t know there was an accompanying display for them until now (from Michael Klepchick). … Black baseball jerseys on top for Arizona State (from Marc Altieri). … You know how the USA hoops uniforms for the upcoming Olympics have that upward-arching insignia? Gymnast Shawn Johnson was wearing a T-shirt the other day with that same insignia facing down (from Terry Duroncelet). … You knew this would happen: Now that the Giants have two different gray road jerseys, somebody was wearing the wrong one yesterday in Colorado (good spot by Jake Hurley). … Ian Kinsler of the Rangers is a high-cuffer, so someone created this T-shirt. As usual, I take issue with the term “high socks,” since everyone wears high socks under their pants. The key for Kinsler is that he goes high-cuffed. Get it right! (From Chris Mycoskie.) … You know those team-builder sites when you can design your own uniform? Callaway has created something similar that lets you custom-colorize your golf club. I’ve written a short ESPN piece about it. … Douchebag v. Douchebag has been settled. … Tone of baseball-themed cigarette ads here (from Frankie Parish). … Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos hated the team’s pre-2012 logo. ”¦ Scott M.X. Turner was on Vashon Island over the weekend and found these socks in a thrift store. “Presumably Vashon High School — it’s their colors,” he says. “I bequeath them to you upon my passing. The authorities have been notified.” ”¦ The Orioles were wearing their white-paneled home headgear last night. But Endy Chavez somehow ended up wearing grabbed the solid-black road helmet when he came up in the 9th. Very odd — why would the road helmets even be in the O’s home dugout? (Screen shot by Robert Onolfi, although about 10 other readers also caught this one.) … New uniforms for the Orlando Solar Bears. … Adidas has come up with “smart jerseys” for the MLS All-Star Game (from Jeremy Brahm). ”¦ Good interview on the business of bobbleheads.

On the road again: By the time most of you read this, I’ll be on my way to Bristol for a day of ESPN meetings. Won’t be home until midnight-ish, so please go easy on the Ticker submissions today. Thanks.