[Dr. D]

I'm thinking about buying a 1996 Team USA jersey -- the seller says it's a Nike Authentic. The jersey itself looks fine, and in the picture I can see the Nike authentic neck tag, but there didn't seem to be a fight strap. So I shot him an email and got this response:

Hi there, yes the jersey is authentic, the tag inside also says that. No, there is no fight strap, i don't think straps were mandated until 1997....

Can any of you verify this for me? Were there really no fight straps on the '96 jerseys?

[rabinsurance]

I don't think so. This jersey is from that time frame.

[Dr. D]

Yeah, but if what this guy says is true, that jersey could be from 97 when the fight strap was mandated. The jersey I'm looking at is a 96 WCoH one, which, according to him, didn't have a fight strap because it wasn't mandated.

[rabinsurance]

I'm pretty sure this jersey is older than 1997. I've had it since 1996.

[Dr. D]

Hmmm. Maybe the USA jerseys didn't have them but the Swiss ones did? Or this may just be a really weird jersey.

[rabinsurance]

I have a book from 1997 called "USA Hockey-A Celebration of A Great Tradition" written by Kevin Allen, USA Today writer. There are a lot of 1996 WC pictures in there. On page 165, there is a picture with Modano, Tkachuk, and Guerin with the fight strap on Guerin's jersey in full view, connected to his pants. IMO, the seller is trying to "sell" you something more than the jersey.

[Dr. D]

Excellent, thanks for looking that up for me. So much for me buying a nice WCoH jersey, then.

[rabinsurance]

I did a quick scan from the book.

[JeffB]

rabinsurance, on May 15 2008, 06:48 PM, said:

I did a quick scan from the book.

How did we ever win the tournament with a goalie who looks to be only 2' 4"? What a shrimp.

[Brilliant!]

Greatest goaltender in United States history. Hands down. That's also why his number is hanging from the rafters at the Garden:

[attachment=173:richterbanner.jpg]

Cheers.

[IIHFjerseycollector]

The B,C,D pool teams didnt have fight straps , i have/had a few game worns that dont .. and many top tier teams didnt have fight straps in friendly games either... only the IIHF tournaments as far as i know.. They did wear fight straps in teh 1996 world cup though.. I have an Austria authentic and 2 italy authentics with fight straps.

[rabinsurance]

xunearthhxcx, on May 15 2008, 10:45 PM, said:

The B,C,D pool teams didnt have fight straps , i have/had a few game worns that dont .. and many top tier teams didnt have fight straps in friendly games either... only the IIHF tournaments as far as i know.. They did wear fight straps in teh 1996 world cup though.. I have an Austria authentic and 2 italy authentics with fight straps.

Austria and Italy did not play in the World Cup, 1996 or 2004. It was USA, Canada, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Rep., and Germany. Italy did not play in the A pool at the IIHF WC until 1998, when they placed 10th. Austria played in the A pool from 93-96, relegated in 97, up in 98, and down again after 2005. Switzerland played in the A pool from 1991-93, 95, and then back up in 1998. I used an old (2000) copy of Total Hockey as my source.
Edit: Austria and Italy did qualify for Nagano 1998 Olympics.

[IIHFjerseycollector]

rabinsurance, on May 15 2008, 11:18 PM, said:

Austria and Italy did not play in the World Cup, 1996 or 2004. It was USA, Canada, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Rep., and Germany. Italy did not play in the A pool at the IIHF WC until 1998, when they placed 10th. Austria played in the A pool from 93-96, relegated in 97, up in 98, and down again after 2005. Switzerland played in the A pool from 1991-93, 95, and then back up in 1998. I used an old (2000) copy of Total Hockey as my source.
Edit: Austria and Italy did qualify for Nagano 1998 Olympics.

and

Austria and Italy did not play in the cup no. but they did play in the IIHF qualification tournament for the cup and were both Pool A teams in 1995 and 1996.
Italy played in the A pool world championships from 1992-2002 and from 06-

what is important here is that they were both pool A teams at the time of the tournament. which seemed to warrant them the jerseys with fight straps. Sounds weird. but thats how it seems to go ...

The world cup style jerseys were also worn during the 1996 world championships and were worn by participating countries.the 96 world championships were in Vienna, Austria info on championships

please look at the upper left hand side of the jersey of the guy in the background . he has the world cup of hockey patch
[img]http://www.geocities...gatesweb/rb.JPG[/img

http://sports.websho...052147336eoEtpk this was a team issued jersey and you can clearly see where the fight strap is sewn.

if youd like me to also include a picture of my austria authentic let me know.

I beleive that the Usa jersey either had its fight strap cut off, is some type of prototype and never got the fight strap installed. Or it just isnt an authentic

[rabinsurance]

xunearthhxcx, on May 17 2008, 09:34 AM, said:

and

Austria and Italy did not play in the cup no. but they did play in the IIHF qualification tournament for the cup and were both Pool A teams in 1995 and 1996.
Italy played in the A pool world championships from 1992-2002 and from 06-

what is important here is that they were both pool A teams at the time of the tournament. which seemed to warrant them the jerseys with fight straps. Sounds weird. but thats how it seems to go ...

The world cup style jerseys were also worn during the 1996 world championships and were worn by participating countries.the 96 world championships were in Vienna, Austria info on championships

please look at the upper left hand side of the jersey of the guy in the background . he has the world cup of hockey patch
[img]http://www.geocities...gatesweb/rb.JPG[/img

http://sports.websho...052147336eoEtpk this was a team issued jersey and you can clearly see where the fight strap is sewn.

if youd like me to also include a picture of my austria authentic let me know.

I beleive that the Usa jersey either had its fight strap cut off, is some type of prototype and never got the fight strap installed. Or it just isnt an authentic

If Italy did play in the World Championships, I apologize because the book I was using had France listed twice instead if Italy. I stand corrected. Thanks for pointing that out and making me take a closer look at my source. I have never heard of a qualifiying tournament for the World Cup. Just like the Canada Cup, just the top eight countries were invited. I would like more info on the World Cup qualifiying tournament if there was one.

[IIHFjerseycollector]

rabinsurance, on May 17 2008, 10:43 AM, said:

If Italy did play in the World Championships, I apologize because the book I was using had France listed twice instead if Italy. I stand corrected. Thanks for pointing that out and making me take a closer look at my source. I have never heard of a qualifiying tournament for the World Cup. Just like the Canada Cup, just the top eight countries were invited. I would like more info on the World Cup qualifiying tournament if there was one.

the top 8 were invited based on what statistics?

I think 6 were guaranteed and there was a qualification tournament for the final 2. im not sure. but i think this is how it was done in the world cup for 2004..

[rabinsurance]

xunearthhxcx, on May 17 2008, 11:02 AM, said:

the top 8 were invited based on what statistics?

I think 6 were guaranteed and there was a qualification tournament for the final 2. im not sure. but i think this is how it was done in the world cup for 2004..

There was never a qualifying tournament for the World Cup in 2004. Period. They took the same eight as 1996. This was an invitation tournament sponsored by the NHLPA and the NHL. Just like there was never a qualification tournament for the Canada Cups. If there was a qualifying tournament for the World Cup in either 1996 or 2004, please share with us where and when this was held. I think that you will find that these were invitation tournaments only. Maybe you're confused with the World Cup of soccer, that has qualifiers. As far as why they took the coutries in there, USA, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Rep., Slovakia, and Germany is because the vast majority of NHL players come from one of those countries. Slovakia pulled itself from the D pool to the A pool in record time after the split of Czechoslovakia. As far as Germany, a few NHLer's came from there, but the DHL is still, and was, a stong league, thus Germany could compete with the others. Also, in 2004, Cologne, Prauge, and Helsinki built NHL-calibur arenas and games were held there, along with the Globe in Stockholm. Also, West Germany bumped Finland out of the 1984 Canada Cup. So Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Latvia, or any other counrty was never seriously considered. They were not one of the "big" hockey nations.

[lafountain]

OK, I am looking at a 1996 World Cup Russia jersey but do have a couple questions about one on ebay. The necktag shows it as a size M but it has a fightstrap.

The seller has a pretty good reputation but the jersey just seems a bit off.

http://cgi.ebay.com/...86.c0.m14.l1318

[Brilliant!]

That's at least the second time that guy has listed this jersey. I don't know...something just seems a little off with it. That fight strap looks like it may have been added on. Besides, didn't Bauer make all the 1996 World Cup jerseys? At least all the ones I've ever seen. Also, the fact that the guy says the jersey's got 'snags, scuffs and tears' is a little disheartening. Not to mention all that pilling on the collar.

EDIT: Scratch that. Team Russia did in fact wear Nike jerseys. So did Team USA for that matter.

[lafountain]

The apparant condition is also a concern, but I haven't seen many 1996 World Cup Russia jerseys come up for auction and it is one I would like to add to my set.