Pat Murphy shared a photo on Twitter that’s gotten tremendous interaction on the social media site. The longtime Washington Capitals fan has collected a jersey of every member from the Caps’ Game 5 Stanley Cup-winning lineup. In his photo, he arranged all the jerseys in their lines and defensive pairings.
“I’ve always looked at jerseys as a cool way to hold on to favorite players even after they move on,” Pat said in an interview. “I also just have a natural inclination to gravitate towards the guys doing the bottom-six work. The whole project essentially kicked off after the Stanley Cup win when I realized that, just by chance, I was only six or so players short of the roster and I thought, ‘this would be a pretty cool way to remember the Capitals’ first Stanley Cup.”
Photo
Photo: Pat Murphy
Pat estimated that the collection cost between $2,000 and $3,600 over the course of 12 years.
“I bought them from various outlets over the years,” Pat said. “I’m guessing between $100-$180 for every sweater. I think the key was that I really would sit back and wait for sales, so it’s probably on the lower end.”
Pat added that he has a decent amount of jerseys of older players too, including Olaf Kolzig (me too), Peter Bondra, Rod Langway, and Larry Murphy. Here’s a look at his closet.
— Richard Panik at the DiscOvechkin (@PF_Murphy) January 29, 2020
The Caps fan credited his wife for her immense support.
“My wife has been awesome about the whole thing,” Pat said. “She understands that the Caps have been a huge part of my life and that collecting jerseys for me is a way to hold on to a bit of each player I’ve become a fan of.”
Pat has an interest in potentially landing KHL or junior jerseys for Capitals players as the chase of tracking them down excites him. If the Caps win another Stanley Cup, he’d love having to consider doing another jersey line-up.
“But I think I’m done doing anything with the collection,” Pat said. “My wife and I had a son last summer so I feel like I basically wrapped up this project at the perfect time. If a new Caps jersey comes out or a new guy jumps out as a favorite I might look into getting another jersey, but for now, I’m done with proper Caps jerseys. And of course one of the first purchases I made for our son was his own Ovechkin jersey.”
Perfect.
The jersey collection
Alex Ovechkin, 2015 Winter Classic Reebok Premier
Evgeny Kuznetsov, Home Capitals jersey – Reebok Premier
Tom Wilson, Alternate Capitals jersey – Reebok premier
Jakub Vrana, Home Capitals jersey – Adidas Authentic
Nicklas Backstrom, Home Capitals jersey – Reebok Edge
TJ Oshie, Home Capitals jersey – Reebok premier
Andre Burakovsky, 2014 Alternate Capitals jersey – Reebok premier
Lars Eller, Capitals Stadium Series jersey – Adidas Authentic
Brett Connolly, Home Capitals jersey – adidas authentic (autographed)
Chandler Stephenson, Away Capitals jersey with Stanley Cup Final patch – adidas authentic
Jay Beagle, Away Capitals jersey with NHL centennial patch – Reebok premier
Devante Smith-Pelly Home Capitals jersey with Stanley Cup Final patch – adidas authentic
Dmitry Orlov, Home Capitals jersey – adidas authentic
Matt Niskanen, Away jersey with Stanley Cup Final patch – adidas authentic
Michal Kempny, Alternate Capitals jersey – adidas authentic
John Carlson, Away Capitals jersey – Reebok Edge
Brooks Orpik, Team USA Olympic alternate jersey – 2010 Nike
Christian Djoos, Home Capitals jersey – adidas authentic
Braden Holtby, Away Capitals jersey – Reebok premier
Philipp Grubauer, World Cup of Hockey Team Europe – adidas authentic
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