Reader Submission - 1999-00 Hamilton Steelheads Boris Kerensky Jersey

Our 24th reader submission comes from Will Scheibler, and it is a very well written and documented story of his most interesting jersey.

Here is Will's story about his distinctly unique jersey and what makes it one of the most interesting reader submissions we've ever had.

Fairly recently acquired a Hamilton Steelheads jersey.  Who were the Hamilton Steelheads you may ask?  They were the home team of an old hockey television drama called 'Power Play' (1998-2000).  Originally aired on CTV in Canada;  in the U.S. it was picked up in 1999 for a trial run on UPN and got the lowest ratings in Nielsen rating history.  Click here for the Wikipedia entry for "Power Play"

Of the main characters probably the best known actors would be Gordon Pinsent (Due South and many other shows) and Al Waxman (King of Kensington, Cagney & Lacey, etc.)

Famous hockey players that made guest appearances include Bobby Hull, Guy Lafleur, and Jean Beliveau.  Politician Shelia Copps and singer Ashley MacIsaac also made appearances.  Don Cherry (of CBC's Hockey Night in Canada's Coach Corner) makes his acting debut as the head coach of the Philadelphia team.

Some of my favourite scenes are of the main character (Brett Parker - played my Michael Riley) in some episodes when he sees ghosts of hockey players that give him advice:  A pair of Hamilton Tigers, Bill Barilko, Howie Morenz, Jacques Plante and others. 

If you are looking for this series on DVD or even VHS you are out of luck.  Was repeated long ago on the Canadian tv station Showcase but that was long ago and hasn't been on the air anywhere in a long time, but someone kindly uploaded the full series to You Tube.

Click here for the best fan page I have found on the internet.

Click here for a Canadian tv and movie guide brief description and review.

Click here for a 1998 article from the film magazine "Take One" that the author has either quoted or has personally interviewed the producers of the show. 

Now onto the actual jersey.  My jersey is of a player named Kerensky (played by Ryan Scott) who shows late in the 2nd season of the show to help with the Steelheads playoff run (pics - screen shots of face in dressing room and back of him on ice).

 

Here's pics of the front, back, shoulder patch, and arm numbers.  You can see especially with the arm numbers with the remaining glue residue that this jersey had been repurposed from a previous Steelheads jersey.

 

Not too many jerseys scream 1990's more than this one - from it's colour scheme that includes purple, teal, gold and silver to it's cartoonish armoured goalie as it's main crest to it's fierce fish with teeth shoulder patch.

Thanks to Will for taking the time to photograph his jersey and share the story of of his great jersey and it's unique origin as well as providing all the links. We really appreciate the efforts involved when our readers take the time and effort to share their jerseys.

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!

Now, we're off to watch Season One of Power Play!