The top choice in the 2023 draft is expected to sign deals with Canadian companies that will make him recognizable off the ice. Is old-school turned design-minded Sher-Wood Hockey the next big thing after lululemon?
Could one of the “most prolific sports stylists in the world” soon be dressing Connor Bedard? Serena Williams, LeBron James, James Harden, Candace Parker, and other “A-listers” have been dressed to the nines by Kesha McLeod.
Sher-Wood Hockey, a vintage hockey brand established in Sherbrooke, Quebec, in 1949, has appointed McLeod as its fashion director. As traditional of a hockey brand as a wood stick was Sher-Wood.
Even a player with Connor Bedard’s talent level couldn’t utilize a wooden stick and be at the top of his game today. However, when Vancouver-based athletic gear company lululemon revealed that Bedard had been named a brand ambassador, the NHL’s top 2023 draft pick did appear with a Sher-Wood CODE TMP Pro composite stick in promotional photos.
He was sporting a lululemon sweatshirt, shorts, and Sher-Wood hockey gloves in addition to being a future Chicago Blackhawks forward.
The beginning of something
Even though Bedard said “that’s personal stuff” to reporters when inquired about extra promotional agreements in Chicago last week. “I don’t really know how to answer that,” Bedard admitted. “I’m not sure what my agent’s thinking or anything. By the way, Mississauga, Ontario-based Newport Sports Management, which has a sizable roster of NHL clients, is the agency that represents Bedard.
Even though Sher-Wood or its parent organization, Canadian Tire Corporation, haven’t made a statement or responded to our questions regarding their plans.
even though Sher-Wood doesn’t produce helmets or skates.
Sher-Wood was well-known for producing sticks in the densely forested Eastern Townships of Quebec for many years. The “twigs” of choice for thousands of players, from home leaguers to Hall-of-Famers, were aspen, which was used to make models like the renowned P.M.P. 5030 Feather Lite.
Brendan Arnold, associate VP for brand at Sher-Wood, told THN Editor in Chief Ryan Kennedy last November that the company is working to change its reputation and is employing a “completely new playbook.”
Sher-Wood’s brand, according to Arnold, had grown “dusty and old” and “fell off the face of the Earth,” thus it required something completely different to be reborn.
The three new Sher-Wood pillars are “creativity, individuality, and self-expression.”
According to McLeod, many NHL players look fantastic in a pricey tailored suit, especially with their “thick thighs and thick glutes.” Younger players, however, require something more informal and pertinent, according to McLeod.
Remain tuned. Bedard claims that all he wants to do is join the Blackhawks and “be one of the boys.
The center might make a fashion statement even if he doesn’t speak.