Despite a gnarly injury caused by a reckless “play” by Robert Bortuzzo, Viktor Arvidsson made it back onto the ice in time to join the Nashville Predators for the 2020 Winter Classic.
The Preds little ball of energy wore this game worn jersey during the first period of the matchup versus the Dallas Stars, and thanks to another collector this gamer made it into my collection.
Arvidsson’s jersey was originally part of the NHL Auctions/Fanatics auction, and I have a different companion piece where I have collected and compared the final prices from those auctions versus the prices of the 2nd period sets from MeiGray.
Arvy’s jersey has pretty light wear compared to the other game worn jerseys from the Winter Classic.
There are several marks on the back hem, most of which appear to be blue paint. There is some light wear throughout the rest of the jersey, but nothing particularly notable.
The most visible wear on the jersey is a stick mark to the left of the Nashville Predators wordmark. It has been photomatched to three different photos, including the one seen in the photo below.
A photomatch to a unique mark on Viktor Arvidsson’s first period game worn jersey.
The game didn’t go so well for the Preds from the start.
Between the long term injury to Ryan Ellis (thanks Corey Perry!) and the 4-2 loss, it was a pretty awful day, pageantry aside.
The brightest spot from the game turned out to be the jerseys themselves.
From the Dixie Flyers inspiration, to the amazing “cat head” and “full cat” alternate logos, and the wonderful coloring and pop of the numbers, these jerseys quickly shifted from maligned to loved once they hit the ice.
My primary collection is focused around the seven captains in Nashville Predators history. I have one jersey from each of the seven framed on the wall. Among that group, it’s easily Roman Josi’s 2020 Winter Classic gamer that pops the most.
It is one of the nicest looking jerseys in the Preds history.
And it’s an amazing addition to my Arvidsson collection.