Connor McDavid is wearing Patricia Parker’s hockey jersey. In fact, he’s wearing two of them. At the same time. Alongside nearly 60 others.
The jersey is from a Rogers marketing campaign you can expect to see in the coming months. It’s called The Great Canadian Jersey and involves small patches from dozens of jerseys spanning the country.
Parker, a teacher at Yellowknife’s St Joseph’s School, knew nothing about this until an email from the company arrived in her inbox as vice-president of the Yellowknife Women’s Hockey Association.
“They asked me to donate a jersey from when I was younger,” she told Cabin Radio this week as Rogers’ finished product was revealed.
Picking a jersey to send was a hard decision. Parker has various Arctic Winter Games jerseys and eventually selected one from 2002 – but also sent one from the Yellowknife Robins women’s team.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
Rogers went with both, and placed each one right in the middle of the jersey. The NWT’s logo from the Arctic Winter Games can be readily seen just below a large slice of maple leaf, then the Yellowknife Robins’ red material is immediately below (next to the black of a jersey from Gander Minor Hockey).
“My father went to all of my things with me and he’s no longer with us, so those are my fondest memories with him. Luckily, I have four Arctic Winter Games jerseys so it was easy to hand one over to be part of this thing,” Parker said of the meaning behind her choice.
“When I sent it in, I actually wasn’t sure if it was going to be on it or who would wear it or anything like that. But I texted my boyfriend and I said, ‘I’m going to envision Connor McDavid is going to wear my jersey. I’m putting it into the universe, and it’s gonna happen.’
“And then when I got emailed that he was in it, I was so excited. I texted, like, all my friends. ‘Oh my God, Connor McDavid is wearing a piece of my history.'”
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
Rogers calls the jersey a “symbol of national unity.”
The telecoms and broadcast giant says it was “handcrafted by former OHL player turned fashion designer” Cameron Lizotte, with patches from every province and territory.
More: See Rogers’ guide to which jerseys are included
Included among the patches are pieces from the seven Canadian NHL team jerseys, McDavid’s York Simcoe Express minor league jersey, Marie-Philip Poulin’s Montreal Victoire jersey, and Sarah Nurse’s Ancaster Avalanche jersey.
“It’s so cool,” said Parker. “I couldn’t even imagine that this could happen.”
She has been told other high-profile players will don the jersey in the weeks ahead. Rogers said five different versions of the jersey will make appearances as its national advertising campaign grinds into gear.
“We could have been a small piece of it, and we’re just front and centre,” said Parker.
“And now, even in interviews I’ve seen, they’re talking about the Northwest Territories – and that’s really cool.”
Jasmine Nasogaluak contributed reporting.
