German Christmas Jerseys

In the minor leagues, in North America, teams will occasionally wear a holiday patterned jersey at this time of year. Usually these are of the cookie cutter model with candy canes, snowmen, snowflakes etc. However, in Germany, where the decorative canvas style jersey is a thing unto itself the sky is the limit when it comes to Weihnachtstrikots (Christmas jerseys), and they certainly know how to go overboard.

The following were some of the best I could find and are all linked to the original sources where larger images are available (and believe me some of these you have to see much larger to truly appreciate). Simply click on the jerseys to see the bigger images. Most of these are game worn, although they are traditional and they do sell them in most of the team stores.


Fischtown Pinguins (Bremerhaven), by comparison to some of the others this is moderately tame. Trees, snow, snowflakes, and that thing that might be Snoopy's doghouse in the middle there...well it's actually the Fischtown Penguin wearing a Santa hat and hiding behind some advertising. These are actually Nike branded from 2005-2006. This year's model (left) is available to buy at IceShop.de for about €75.


Frankfurt Lions, 2003-2004, the bottom of these features a snow covered skyline of Frankfurt with snow flaked sleeves to match. The Lebeau in question here is Patrick not Stephane.


ERC Ingolstadt, Panthers. The top jersey to the right is from 2005, the far middle from 2003, and the bottom one from 2002. All feature the team's Panther logo decked out in a Santa hat (and looking a little like an angry seal). I'm trying to imagine the Nashville Predators with a similar appearance on the ice. You have to admit there is some nifty use of icicles here, especially on the bottom one's shoulders. They also feature the snow topped font that seems to be exceedingly popular on these jerseys. (Your choice of very similar fonts to this is available free of charge at dafont.com.)


Hamburg Freezers 2006, this one you have to see up close (these are all available up to about 2000 px wide) to understand exactly what is going on. It actually features a nativity scene with Mary and Joseph praying over (presumably) a baby jesus in a cradle. Oddly, this is taking place outside instead of the traditional manger. However, a donkey and a lamb are present - as well as the star. It seems the wisemen haven't quite shown up yet. (If you are thinking they might be on the front of the jersey you are mistaken, it is actually a bit creepy and can be seen here.) The cuffs say "Merry Christmas".


EHC München 2004. Probably the most cliche of the lot: trees (check), snow (check), snowman (check), snowy font (ch..no wait) hmm...no snowy font. I think they lacked a little creativity with this one.


Sinupret Ice Tigers jerseys from 2000 and 2001. Why yes that is the Kings font. However these both go far and beyond anything LA has ever done (including the Burger King jersey...) The stars encircling the numbers and names is pretty classic, but the trim using the words HO...HO...HO truly make one reconsider the complaints about the Rbk Edge piping. You can't tell too well with the small image but below the name King is a small Canadian flag (whether this signifies the country of origin of the player and others on the team have similar identifying flags I don't know).


Schwenninger Wild Wings, 2004 front and back. (Yes, that is the team's name.) These are really quite amusing, they even tell a story (not too common on hockey jerseys). It's hard to tell but the team's real logo is not the flopping goose thing on skates, but rather the streamlined goose silhouette that you can see on the sleeves.


Another Nike branded jersey, this time for ESC Dresden (Eislöwen or Ice Lions) from 2005. It's a bit tough to tell but there is a giant lion logo within the purplish-blue sky behind the trees. There are also Santa hats on the sleeves, and among their sponsors Pizza Hut and Gatorade....The red jersey is also Dresden and from 2004. The cool thing here is that the Santa and reindeer print is actually on top of the numbers (and part of the sponsors). Last of the three gets the award for Busiest Jersey Ever and is from last year. The text beneath the number reads "Merry Christmas from the Dresden Ice Lions". Besides the Nike logo there are 12 other sponsor logos plus the name plate. Oh, and the Christmas print complete with lion tracks in the snow.


Augsberger Panther from 2002. Perhaps the most amazing thing about this jersey (besides the packaging) is Duanne Moeser's number: 96.7. Curtesy of their sponsor RT-1 Radio with the same frequency number. This wasn't a one off thing, team captain Moeser, who usually wore just 7, actually wore that number for a couple of seasons in conjunction with the team's partnership with the station. Also, very cool that they actually incorporated the jersey style into the captain's C. The panther itself does not seem to be too happy about having to don the Santa hat though...


And now, perhaps the nicest of them all, a slew of jerseys from Lausitzer Füchse (foxes...obviously). This team really takes this Christmas stuff seriously as you can tell. Some things to notice, the top jersey is CCM branded with the logo actually on the outside of the collar. The team name is printed around the cuffs on the sleeves. On the back, above the numbers, it reads "Merry Christmas".

Next down you've actually got "X-mas 2006" embroidered on the collar, and multiple Christmas greetings printed elsewhere. You have to love the consistancy of the festive fox logo.

The third jersey down reads, "Happy Hockey Days" on the front, it took me a minute to get the "Happy Holidays" connection. On the back the print in the snow reads "Holiday on Ice". I'm not sure if it was planned, but it is pretty amazing how all of the colors, including the sponsors, all match.

The McDonald here is Nolan McDonald the team's goalie from Thunder Bay, Ontario. The bottom most jersey is actually this season's model and features, in addition to a supersized fox, the omnipresent Frühlische Weihnachten patterened around both the elbows and the shoulders. On the back, although you may not see a fox, there is the mysterious little guy to the right who is standing in front of the cabin. I have no idea what or who he is, it may be a fox. To add more confusion to it he is holding what looks like two boxes that have something written on them that is indecipherable. Inform me if you know.

So, now that you've seen these how bad can next year's NHL third jerseys possibly be?