Vancouver Giants wear referee jerseys and the internet loves it
The Vancouver Giants got dressed up to show some love to an often underappreciated group on Sunday night.
For the first time ever at the Langley Events Centre, the entire team wore special black-and-white striped jerseys for Referee Appreciation Night and wore them for the whole game.
Here’s what they looked like:
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🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍#RefereeAppreciation pic.twitter.com/Ln362AKU9X
— Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants) October 22, 2023
The referees wore plain white sweaters without any stripes to avoid confusion on this night — similar to what referees used to wear prior to the introduction of the now-common black-and-white stripes.
BCHockey linespersons Mitchell Gibbs & Nick Albinati return from their pregame warmup at the Vancouver Giants WHL Referee Appreciation Night at Langley Events Centre Sunday afternoon pic.twitter.com/YDNTRYTjM4
— BC Hockey Officials (@BCHockey_Refs) October 22, 2023
The men in stripes beat the Spokane Chiefs 5-3, with five different Giants players finding the back of the net.
Needless to say, the internet loved these creative uniforms.
What in the heck? https://t.co/tV8XBH4PB7
— David Alter (@dalter) October 23, 2023
Drop the black skate the canucks need to wear these full-time we'd never lose a game😂 https://t.co/RQoQ48q3XL
— Bella🦇 (@rude_canuck) October 23, 2023
New meaning to “playing the refs” https://t.co/ChUkj41SFW
— jo is watching hockey 🦑 (@DiaryofJo) October 23, 2023
this will be one of the most used clips on Hockey Twitter https://t.co/EPXBpIBprG
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 23, 2023
The scrum at the end with players punching ref jerseys in the head was very confusing
— Gregory Balloch (@GregBalloch) October 23, 2023
Great Sweaters https://t.co/w940Pubamo
— Will MacNeil (@RFWill149) October 23, 2023
good on 'em. being a ref at any level is a thankless job that needs more appreciation.
— ⚡️®uñning B1tcorn⚡️ (@runningbitcorn) October 23, 2023
Lovely unis for the @WHLGiants tonight… https://t.co/zFvuQCUPgw
— Scouting The Refs (@ScoutingTheRefs) October 23, 2023
Other team gonna be scared to hit them… or be extra motivated
— Melon Husk (@davidimhearn) October 23, 2023
This is what reffing in the playoffs against Canadian teams looks like. https://t.co/3yflizu2ij
— Filipe Dimas (@FilipeDimas) October 23, 2023
While the Giants’ jerseys looked nice, they didn’t garner any extra love from the referees as the Chiefs were granted five power plays, one more than Vancouver managed to get.
The Giants announced the details of this special night last month. It’s far from the only celebratory night on the schedule this season. The always popular Teddy Bear Toss is planned for December 12.
All of the jerseys worn last night are now up for auction at Elevate Auctions. The bidding ends Tuesday at 12 pm PT. If you do purchase a jersey through the auction, you can request to have it signed by the player.
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