With the NHL playoffs in full swing, it's not hard to spot fans donning their favourite team's jerseys.
But can you spot a fake one?
A store in Halifax says it's going to stop selling some jerseys after a CBC Nova Scotia investigation revealed they were selling counterfeit jerseys.nhl hockey jersey sponsor
The store owner says he didn't realize the items were fake.
"A lot of people don't know," said Lorne MacLellan, a licensed apparel buyer for Cleve's Source for Sports in Burnside.
"In identifying counterfeits, the best defence for fans is a good offense," said Tom Prochnow, the NHL's vice president of legal and business affairs.
Here are ways to spot a fake:
MacLellan advising checking to make sure the jersey has the right vendor's name.
For NHL gear it's Reebok; for the NFL, Nike is their vendor; NBA jerseys are made by Adidas.
"They should have those labels on to begin with," he said.
Every licensed NHL jersey is sold with a hologram on the hang tag, says Prochnow.
Make sure the tag switches from NHL to LNH — for La Ligue nationale de hockey — when rotated in the light.
The NHL says beware of ripped tags or irregular markings on apparel.
"You can see threads hanging or the crest isn't on particularly straight, that kind of thing," said MacLellan.
MacLellan says if you flip a real jersey inside out you'll see the crest is sewn directly to the material using thousands of stitches. If the numbers and logos are nylon crests sewn on, then it's a fake.
White or beige fabric on the back of a logo is a good sign it's a fake, according to the Montreal Canadiens counterfeit site.
MacLellan says there will be a difference in the texture of the material between a fake jersey and a real one.
With a counterfeit, the material is "usually a lot thinner," he said.
The NHL recommends shopping at legitimate retailers instead of buying items from street vendors, flea markets, overseas websites or "other questionable sources."will sibley toronto maple leafs
"It's the same premise as everything else. If the deal is too good to be true, then you better watch out for it," said MacLellan.
On the fake jersey bought by CBC, there was a spelling error on the tag.
If you see text such as "Advanced athletic pereormance," that's a good indicator of a counterfeit.
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