Red Wings Fans Seek Out Stanley Cup Championship Merchandise

Wings Fans Clamor To Snag Stanley Cup Champion Locker Room Hats, Other Merchandise

With the Red Wings winning the Stanley Cup on Wednesday, fans are "seeking their own holy grail: the official locker room hat," according to Herrera & Kozlowski of the DETROIT FREE PRESS. The white New Era hats, which feature the Red Wings' full-color logo on the front and a Stanley Cup graphic under the bill, arrived in Detroit-area stores late Thursday morning. While the Dick's Sporting Goods in Taylor, Michigan, opened just before 6:00am ET with "lots of memorabilia to go around, early-bird fans had to wait for the coveted caps." The Joe Louis Arena store opened at 8:00am and appeared to have "one of the earliest supplies of official hats," as customers "left the store, hats in hand, by mid-morning" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 6/6). In Detroit, Jaclyn Trop reports the $35 hat was the item "most in demand." Hockeytown Authentics in Troy received a shipment at 12:15pm and sold out by 1:00pm. Red Wings officials were unavailable to discuss the "volume of licensed merchandise sales," but analysts said that the sales "could last through the end of the year." SportsOneSource analyst Matt Powell said that the 48 hours following the win "will be the most lucrative." Powell: "The rest of this week will be massive. The rest of the month will be very good, and the next six months will be fine." SportsOneSource data indicates that demand for Red Wings gear has been "second only to Penguins merchandise for the past 17 weeks" (DETROIT NEWS, 6/6).