It’s a pretty big year for us Americans. If our Canadian neighbors didn’t realize, it’s sort of our 250th birthday. Technically it’s the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Still it’s a momentous occasion for all of us star spangled patriots stateside.
Sports teams and leagues have jumped onto the “America 250” bandwagon. The Springfield Thunderbirds designed their own 250th celebration jerseys to wear during a special “Semi-Quincentennial Extravaganza” game this upcoming weekend. The Thunderbirds are the AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues. They also have a unique yearly promotional game where they brand themselves from the hometown of “The Simpsons”.
This Springfield in question is Springfield, Massachusetts, one of the thirteen original colonies that declared independence 250 years ago. The jerseys feature the Thunderbirds normal color scheme of mainly navy blue, with yellow and red accents, just like their NHL affiliate. Immediately noticeable is the jersey’s normal logo of the thunderbird wearing a colonial era hat with a “dandy feather” in his hat (a nod to the song “Yankee Doodle Dandy”).
Jersey shoulder patches include a colonial style “S” for Springfield with a quill pen on the right shoulder. On the left if a circle patch with thirteen stars, for the 13 original colonies, with “1776” proudly displayed in the middle. The quill pen and lightning bolt logo used for the thunderbirds both appear on the jerseys front collar above the main logo. The player’s numbers are shown in the same colonial era script as the “S” patch on both arms. Their name will be written in the same font as well.
In the jerseys back collar is the quote “stand your ground”, a reference to a famous quote from General Captain John Parker at Lexington Green. Lexington Green refers to an area of Lexington, Massachusetts where the Battle of Lexington and Concord began, thus officially beginning the Revolutionary War. Those historic sites are roughly 80-90 miles away from the Thunderbirds' home town of Springfield, Massachusetts.
The jerseys will be worn for the Thunderbirds April 11th game against their rival Hartford Wolfpack, AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers. According to the team’s X account the jerseys will be auctioned off post game as part of a live auction. A few jerseys will be saved to be auctioned off online for fans not in attendance. The game’s sponsors are Explore Western Mass and Massachusetts 250, the state’s specific committee to celebrate the 250th anniversary.