If you need a reason to root for the Chicago Blackhawks over the Philadelphia Flyers in these Stanley Cup finals, here's one: each player in the team wears a little piece of Quebec City on their uniforms.
It's their crest.
For 18 years, the Hawks have relied upon Josee Lemelin and Passion Sport logo's skills to wear the crest proudly on their jerseys.
Lemelin spent 18 months designing the perfect choice of colours, design and technique before her crest was accepted by the NHL franchise in 1992.
"Yes sir, I worked hard for this," said Lemelin.
Eighteen years later, all 18,000 the official Blackhawks crests made annually for both game and practice uniforms are sewn by Lemelin and her team one at a time, adding each specific detail with care.
Every crest takes employees from Passion Sport Logo an hour to construct, while tomahawks meant for the shoulders take about 20 minutes.
When finished, they're sent to the official jerseys supplier, a Reebok factory in Ste. Hyacinthe, to create a finished product.
Lemelin wasn't yet born the last time the Blackhawks won the Cup – that was in 1961, and she was born in 1963 – and says she'll be glued to her TV rooting for the team, hoping she'll see it happen for the first time in her life.
"The world is trying to tell me, ‘Josee, you haven't worked for nothing,'" she said.
