Suffering from a case of Winter Olympics fever (summer edition)?
As national orientation camps get underway for several men’s ice hockey teams this week, Team Russia unveiled its new sweaters for Sochi.
Washington Capitals captain and reigning NHL MVP Alex Ovechkin, who will serve as a torchbearer for his homeland in February, showed off the national team’s new threads Monday at an elaborate presentation at Sokolniki Ice Hall in Moscow. Soviet goaltending legend Vladislav Tretyak emceed the shindig.
The Nike-produced jerseys, approved by the Russian Hockey Federation, feature the red, white and blue of Russia’s national flag and are adorned by eight stars on the shoulder — one for every Olympic gold medal the hockey nation has won.
“It’s a nice jersey, comfortable,” Ovechkin told sports.ru (translated by Russian Machine Never Breaks). “Both options look good. I like the white. It’s very unusual.”
“The key is that the jersey should be light,” Ovechkin went on. “Most importantly, we need the new uniform to be a winning one. The stars on the shoulders will remind us about how many times we won gold. We want more of these.”
