Reader Submission - 2006-07 CSKA Moscow Andrei Nikitenko Jersey

Our newest reader submitted jersey comes from Alex Fennell, and it's from the most storied club team in hockey outside of the NHL, CSKA Moscow, or as it's more commonly known in North America, Central Red Army.

Here is Alex's story about how he acquired his jersey and the details of it's unusual customization details;

My name is Alex and I have a game worn CSKA Red Army jersey from the 2006-2007 season when they were a part of the Russian Super League before joining the KHL. It was worn by Andrei Nikitenko, a forward who currently plays for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL. 

It has a captain's 'K' ('C' in English) on the front of the jersey that is sewn on. It features the normal game wear (puck marks, boards marks, fraying on the edges), but one of the things that I find unique about it is the electrical tape residue over the 'K' where a coach used the tape to put an 'A' over the 'K' to signify some sort of demotion to alternate captain. 

 

I thought it was a puck mark at first, but I found out that using electrical tape to make captain's letters on jerseys was a relatively common practice in the former Russian Super League and makes the jersey itself unique. 

I bought this jersey on ebay a few years ago simply because I enjoyed the design and wanted to research its authenticity myself since the seller did not include anything official that ensured the jersey's authenticity. I also generally enjoy picking up jerseys with captain's letters on them as well since they are harder to find than those without, especially when the jerseys are game worn. 

It's other features include a nameplate sewn on with 'Nikitenko' in Cyrillic sublimated on it, sublimated numbers, a fight strap, 'Megafon' advertisements sewn on the sleeves, and ads sublimated on both the front and the back of the jersey (one for 'Norelski Nickel' and the other for Wurth). 

 

I took some photos of the jersey and its features myself, but I also scoured the internet for pictures of Andrei Nikitenko actually wearing the jersey for proof that the jersey is indeed game worn and included them in this email as well. (Note: In some of the photos, the jersey does not have advertisements sewn on the sleeves; this is because it was in a preseason or early season game before they were added on).

Here is a profile of Andrei Nikitenko on a Russian website that shows him being the captain of CSKA Moscow with a picture and statistics: http://www.syb-nsk.narod.ru/nikitenko.htm

Thanks to Alex for taking the time to photograph his jersey and send along the action photos as well as sharing the story of his beautiful jersey. We really appreciate the efforts involved when our readers share their jerseys.

Central Red Army won championship after championship during the days of the Soviet Union, but fell on hard times with the fall of communism. No longer able to acquire any player they desired through the power of their affiliation with the Soviet Army, and suffering from a loss of funding as well, CSKA has yet to win another championship since 1989, their final one 32 total and last of 13 consecutive.

If you have a jersey in your collection that you'd like to share with us and your fellow readers, please submit your pictures and a story to go with it, no matter how brief or detailed, to spyboy1@gmail.com and we look forward to seeing your favorites.