Blockbuster deal means savings on Jets jerseys

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This article was published 12/02/2015 (4125 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Everything affiliated with Zach Bogosian and Evander Kane must go!

Retailers scrambled Wednesday to slash prices of merchandise and memorabilia bearing the pictures, likenesses, numbers and signatures of the two former Winnipeg Jets. The pair was traded to the Buffalo Sabres just hours after the Jets’ 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild Tuesday.

Gerald Haasbeek, owner of Royal Sports, said he worries about a top player getting traded, because so much of his Jets stock is personalized with names and numbers.

“It’s all part of the game. If you want to be a licensed dealer, this is part of the process,” he said.

“We just discounted all of our Kane and Bogosian merchandise by 50 per cent.”

Royal Sports typically stocks personalized items from a core group of players, including Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little, Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba, Ondrej Pavelec and Mark Scheifele, in addition to Bogosian and Kane.

“Even at 50 per cent off, we don’t anticipate selling it all. People are picky. I was looking for Kane jerseys (at the Wild game) and people who already owned them weren’t wearing them because we have such a savvy fan base.”

Bogosian merchandise has been among the top three sellers since the team relocated from Atlanta nearly four years ago. Kane merchandise used to be a strong seller but has trailed off of late, Haasbeek said.

The discounts are even deeper at River City Sports. Joe Wendt, manager of the St. James store, said he has cut prices on No. 44 and No. 9 merchandise by 75 per cent.

“As soon as we heard about the trade, we started marking them down,” he said.

Fans looking to get an inexpensive jersey and personalize it for a different player will be in for a surprise, Wendt said. The numbers are stitched into the fabric, so taking them off could damage the jersey’s material. Changing the name bar is considerably easier, so feel free to walk around with a No. 9 or No. 44 jersey with no name.

Joe Daley, who runs a sports cards and collectibles shop in St. Vital, said he has discounted hockey cards as well as pictures of Kane and Bogosian.

Daley said rumours about Kane wanting out of Winnipeg and his propensity for posting controversial pictures on social media have negatively impacted the value of anything bearing his signature.

But if he goes to Buffalo and lights it up like people hoped he would here, he could reverse the trend.

“People go after items from the stars,” Daley said.

Daley had one autographed Bogosian jersey in his shop this week but a customer bought it on Tuesday for a friend’s wedding social. The same customer came in Wednesday following the trade but rather than ask for a refund, he bought a number of other items for the same social. In exchange, Daley threw in a framed picture of Kane.

Daley said he’s glad player trades don’t happen on a regular basis in Winnipeg and that his shop isn’t a big retailer of expensive jerseys.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca