The Jets? They play in Winnipieg… or is it Winnipig?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/12/2022 (1353 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Have you heard of the “Winnipieg” Jets? How about the “Winnipig” Jets?

If you picked up an officially licensed beanie sporting one of the National Hockey League team’s retro logos recently, you may want to give it a close look.

At least “Jets” is spelled correctly.

“I do see defects sometimes,” said Angus La-Forrest, an employee at the Lids outlet in St. Vital Centre, who laughed when presented with a pile of tuques with typos Monday afternoon. Store staff hadn’t noticed the spelling mistakes before.

“It’s pretty natural in this line of work, especially with a lot of factory-made stuff.”

The tuques appear to be official, with NHL stickers and tags, with the clothing company brand Mitchell & Ness embroidered on the back. They were mixed in with identical tuques with the name spelled correctly. In store, they retail at full price for $40.99. While Jets merch is sold through the company’s online store, this particular style of beanie — bearing a slightly altered version of the team’s 1973-1990 logo — does not appear on the Mitchell & Ness website.

Mitchell & Ness did not respond to a request for comment.

True North Sports and Entertainment corporate communications director Krista Sinaisky said the organization that owns the hockey team was aware of the defective knit caps.

“While we were not part of the quality control for this item, our retail team was aware of this error,” Sinaisky said in an email. “We do expect that the tuques will be recalled from all stores.”

La-Forrest custom embroiders caps as part of his job at Lids. He said it’s likely a digital programming machine mix-up.

Sometimes, a defect becomes part of the charm. La-Forrest said his Lids location once received Phoenix Suns basketball jerseys emblazoned with iconic National Basketball Association player Steve Nash’s name… or they were supposed to. They arrived with the name “Steve Hash” on the back.

“We aren’t supposed to sell it. But if people really want it, we won’t offer a discount or anything like that, unfortunately,” he said. “I think some people might like it, just because it’s a good gag gift.”

If someone wants a Winnipieg Jets or Winnipig Jets tuque, he said they’re welcome to purchase one. But for now, La-Forrest said he’d be gathering the blundered beanies and putting them in a box of defective returns.

But would one of the hats possibly have some special collector’s value someday?

“I wouldn’t hold my breath,” La-Forrest said.

Winnipieg? Winnipig? Mayd frum wat’s reel.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca