The Washington Capitals are one the NHL’s 32 teams, but if you went by the information provided on a shirt the league is selling at its New York City store, you might believe otherwise.
New York Rangers fan Hope found the mistake when she visited on Monday to purchase some new gear including a few shirts, a jersey, and a hat. As she approached the checkout line though, one tee in particular captured her attention.
“I thought the Statue of Liberty design was cool so I picked it up to look at it,” Hope told RMNB in an interview. “Immediately something looked off to me.”
Hope counted all the logos and realized one was missing. “It was the Capitals,” she said.
Not believing what she saw, Hope counted all the logos three different timesdid the ottawa senators ever win the stanley cup. “I had my friend who was with me check too just in case I was going crazy.”
And she was right. Take a look at this photo with number labels and match it with a handy dandy RMNB key below.
1) New Jersey Devils
2) Columbus Blue Jackets
3) Tampa Bay Lightning
4) Vegas Golden Knights
5) New York Rangers
6) Ottawa Senators
7) San Jose Sharks
8) Toronto Maple Leafs
9) Chicago Blackhawks
10) Philadelphia Flyers
11) Dallas Stars
12) Edmonton Oilers
13) Winnipeg Jets
14) Montreal Canadiens
15) Pittsburgh Penguins
16) Minnesota Wild
17) Detroit Red Wings
18) Nashville Predators
19) Los Angeles Kings
20) Florida Panthers
21) New York Islanders
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22) Boston Bruins
23) St. Louis Blues
24) Seattle Kraken
25) Colorado Avalanche
26) Vancouver Canucks
27) Anaheim Ducks
28) Arizona Coyotes (Utah)
29) Calgary Flames
30) Carolina Hurricaneswinnipeg jets custom jerseys foundation
31) Buffalo Sabres
The shirt had a Mitchell & Ness tag – a vintage brand bought by Fanatics in 2022. After a quick search online, the tee not available on the league’s online store, suggesting it was exclusive to the NYC location.
“I didn’t end up buying it because of the missing team,” Hope said laughing, “but I couldn’t pass up posting about it because I thought it was funny.”
Hope’s viral tweet read, unfortunately according to this shirt from the nhl shop in new york… the washington capitals no longer exist. sorry to their fans on this heartbreaking news 💔
A little over a day later, Hope’s post had been viewed over 102k times per X’s analytics, generating nearly 100 retweets, 1.4k favorites, and 60 responses.
One other NHL team is battling an accidental NHL contraction, too.
Welcome to the club, Carolina.
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