When the Winnipeg Jets hit the ice they do it in style, but off the ice, their partners are giving them a run for their money.
Wives and girlfriends of players on the team have been rocking puffer jackets made from the white heritage Jets jerseys throughout the team’s post-season run. The inspiration for those jackets came from Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes, who wore Kansas City Chiefs coats made from jerseys of Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes during the past NFL season.
“The whole world, I think, went crazy over those and we just saw them, like the group of girls on the Jets, and thought how cool would that be for our playoffs,” said Andrea Hellebuyck, the wife of Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
Hellebuyck says every year the Jets make the playoffs, they get jackets made. And because you have to go with white by virtue of the Winnipeg whiteout, the heritage whites were an easy pick.
But getting enough of the white heritage jerseys wasn’t as easy as scoring an empty-netter.
“I don’t know who worked their magic, I didn’t have anything to do with sourcing the jerseys, but they ended up being able to find enough for our jackets here in Winnipeg,” she said.
The jackets were made by Michigan-based clothing designer Anika Rodericks.
Hellebuyck reached out to her after seeing another one of Rodericks’ designs and originally wanted a Jets jacket for herself, Rodericks said. But after some back and forth, Rodericks said Hellebuyck asked if she’d be able to do jackets for all the wives and girlfriends of the Jets players.
The answer was easy for Rodericks.
“I didn’t even think twice, I didn’t know how I was going to do it, how I was gonna work the logistics,” she said. “But I was just like, ‘Yes, I can do it,’ and it just went from there.”
Rodericks started working on the jackets in early March. It takes her about 18 hours just to get one ready for liftoff.
She starts by taking the jerseys apart, which includes cutting of the sleeves, patches and seam ripping everything. Rodericks said she uses a custom pattern to cut the jerseys before reworking them, and adding the layers and stuffing that make up the actual jacket.
The finished Winnipeg Jets jersey jacket features the old-school logo on the front, with the sleeve striping on the arms of the finished piece. Each jacket also has the last name and number of the player on the back and are fleece-lined with the NHL logo crest on the inside.
In the end, Rodericks rolled out 21 heritage jersey jackets that were finished just in time for the playoffs.
“I was like, ‘If I have to drive them to Winnipeg, I’ll drive them there, but I will get it to you before the game,” she said.
Hellebuyck also said she thinks the jerseys-to-jackets movement is here to say and is happy the Jets wives and girlfriends are taking a page out of Mahomes and Swift’s playbook.
“You inspired a bunch of really cool jackets in the whole entire sports community,” she said.
“I think this is not clearly going to be the first time that you see this happen, and probably hasn’t even been the first time since they wore those jackets.”
Through the team’s post-season run, wives and girlfriends of Winnipeg Jets players have been rocking puffer jackets made from the white heritage Jets jerseys.