OHL's Kingston Frontenacs to wear The Tragically Hip-themed jerseys
Hockey and The Tragically Hip. It doesn’t get much more Canadian than that.
Canada’s favourite game and Canada’s favourite band will form another bond when the Ontario Hockey League’s Kingston Frontenacs wear jerseys inspired by The Tragically Hip in a game against the Mississauga Steelheads on Jan. 28. The jerseys will be auctioned off after the game, with net proceeds donated to the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research through Sunnybrook Hospital.
Downie, the band’s poetic and beloved front man, went public in July with his diagnosis of Glioblastoma, a rare and terminal brain cancer.
“Gord’s diagnosis touched our entire organization and everyone we spoke with, from hockey fans to music fans, across Kingston, and Canada,” said Justin Chenier, the Frontenacs’ executive director of business operations in a press release. “As a team, we’ve talked about honouring The Tragically Hip and when the reality of Gord’s diagnosis set in, we knew we could to do something special to honour the band and help raise funds to help with the research for brain cancer.”
The Hip embarked on a cross-country “goodbye” tour in the summer of 2016 that sold out from B.C. to Ontario. The final show – which was broadcast on CBC and watched by millions across the country – was held at the K-Rock Centre in Kingston, the same arena the Frontenacs call home. The band – consisting of lead singer Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker, bassist Gord Sinclair and drummer Johnny Fay – formed in Kingston in 1984 and has produced 16 albums, nine of which reached No. 1 in Canada.
According to the Frontenacs’ press release, the jersey was designed by the team and Catstich, an Ontario-based jersey manufacturer that specializes in themed jerseys for hockey teams.
“We started with the base of the 1964 Boston Bruins home jersey, to reflect the year Gord Downie was born and his favourite team,” said Chenier in the press release. “We added The Tragically Hip’s logo wordmark from their 2011 concert at Bobcaygeon as the main logo on the front of the jersey, and their signature wordmark on the back. In the background of the jersey is the name of every album and song recorded and released by the band, from their self-titled 1987 debut to 2016’s Man Machine Poem.”
