NHL may have misled fans about jersey ad patches

NHL teams will hit the ice this season sporting advertisements on what was once considered holy territory. In fact, it was NHL commissioner Gary Bettman himself who once said that the league would never consider putting ads on jerseys... yet here we are. If there's one thing I've learned in my life of being a hockey fan it's not to trust much out of Bettman's mouth though...

Despite protests from fans and the players themselves though the NHL is moving ahead with jersey ads and several teams have already unveiled there "partnerships" for the upcoming season.

To me the ads look ridiculous... I mean... what little boy doesn't dream of one day playing with the 'MILK' logo on his chest?

Nevertheless... there's no going back. Now that jerseys are allowed on ads it's more or less a free for all and, like most things when it comes to the NHL and money, it's the fans who end up footing the bill. After all... who wants to spend their hard earned money on a jersey that has a Milk ad on it? Or a Caesar's Sports Betting ad or Rogers ad? The game is full of ads on the boards, on the ice and in between every second of action... enough is enough.

Interestingly enough, initially the NHL said they would NOT be putting ads on jerseys for sale to the general public, but then fans started to notice ads on jerseys in team stores. This led ESPN reporter Greg Wyshynski to investigate and get to the bottom of things.

Check it out:

 “it is up to the discretion of the Club if they choose to offer authentic jerseys with sponsor patches only or to offer both options (authentic jerseys with or without a patch)."

So, it's essentially up to individual teams if they want to ram more ads down your throat or not. Anyone wanna take a guess as to what most teams will do? I have a feeling that these owners love money too much to NOT include ads on jerseys. Anyways, personally it's just nice to know that I won't be buying or receiving any jerseys this upcoming holiday season...