96-97 Derek Armstrong New York Islanders Jersey

January 25th, 2008

This is the 1996-97 New York Islanders home jersey of Derek Armstrong.

Army played in 50 games that season for the Islanders. At the time, it was the most NHL ice-time he’d seen in his career, having bounced up and down from the minors in the previous season.

I originally purchased this jersey from Milt Byron in the summer of 1999. By then, Derek Armstrong was the star player for the Hartford Wolf Pack. I already had one of his Hartford Wolf Pack jerseys in my collection, and added a New York Rangers Armstrong jersey courtesy of Meigray that same summer, so while leafing through one of Milt’s photocopied lists with colored stripes all over the mailing label (remember those?), the name Armstrong caught my eye.

Now, this was *way* before the Fisherman jersey gained it’s popularity — I think I paid less than $200 for this jersey.

Milt had a bunch of them at the time, and in hindsight, picking the Armstrong probably wasn’t the wisest move, but it fit my theme, and it’s still one of the jerseys in my collection that gets the most inquiries.

The jersey shows some decent wear — though most of it is on the dark areas of the sleeves and the front hem. A few unrepaired holes in the shoulder areas as well, though they are all small. No repairs.

It’s a size 52 (players weren’t all wearing tents yet in 1996), and it’s a sublimated airknit manufactured by CCM with the CCM logo embroidered in orange and navy on the right rear hem beside the old black and orange NHL logo.

A lot of people talk about how the Fisherman Isles jerseys had their crests replaced. Mine definitely shows a glue residue around the entire crest in the shape of a slightly larger version.

On that, I’d assume the crest was replaced, but quite honestly, the larger version of the crest could not have been much larger than the current one. I’m not sure why they would have bothered.

The jersey also features the Islanders 25th Anniversary patch. The four little Stanley Cups are a nice touch.

Looking at the back of the jersey, it’s no wonder this style didn’t last. The nameplates must’ve been a bear to put together, following the curve. They must’ve had an endless supply of numbers and letters on hand because each letter/number would almost have to be custom based on where it fell on the curvy wave.

This was also the first jersey in my collection where the name and numbers were that herringbone pattern type of fabric. You see it on jerseys a lot now, but back them, pretty much every team was just using plain old tackle twill.

Of all of the email I receive regarding this jersey, the one question everyone asks is if Joe McMahon’s signature is behind the crest. The answer is yes.

Joe McMahon was the Isles equipment manager at the time and often signed the insides of the jerseys behind the crest. Thinking about it, I’ll have to check my 1990-91 Jeff Finley Isles jersey for it now…

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