(December 1, 2022. Nanaimo, B.C.) The Nanaimo Clippers are proud to announce that Clippers forward Rylan Yates is heading to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto… sort of.
Following the Clippers' November 11th, 2022 home game vs. the Alberni Valley Bulldogs it was requested that a game-worn jersey and socks from the game be sent to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
“Your [teams] contribution helps us to preserve and display a wonderful collection of hockey artifacts to over 300,000 guests annually” stated a Hockey Hall of Fame Archivist in an email to the team. “The contents of our showcases are rotated every year. This is done for conservation purposes and as an attempt to provide a thoroughly new experience for any guest who visits annually. If an artifact is off display at any given time it will be available for one of our highly regarded travelling exhibits. Otherwise, all artifacts are preserved in their proper climate-controlled archives for preservation and research purposes.”
The game-worn grey, blue, and navy Nanaimo Clippers Remembrance Day specialty jersey was worn by #29 Rylan Yates. In this game, Nanaimo defeated Alberni Valley 4-1; Yates recorded 1 goal and 1 assist; he scored the 3-0 goal of the game at 6:48 in the third period, assisted by #18 Mike Murtagh and #61 Jeremie Payant; Yates was named the 2nd Star of the Game.
The Remembrance Day specialty jersey was designed by Lieutenant Tristan Robertson, a Combat Information Divisional Officer, Navy Fleet School Pacific, in the Royal Canadian Navy. The logo replaces the traditional 3-mast Clippers ship, with a depiction of the K101 HMCS Nanaimo, a Flower-class corvette that served with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War; the ship served both coasts during WWII; the jersey’s colour scheme is based off the Royal Canadian Navy’s Admiralty Camouflage from WWII, and recently seen on HMCS Regina from the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic.
“Being able to involve the Navy in designing our specialty jersey this season made the event so much more meaningful, Lieutenant Robertson did an amazing job” said Clippers Director of Business Operations Robb Hunter. “The team also had the opportunity this week to tour the current HMCS Nanaimo and the crew with an autographed jersey.”
The rest of the game-worn Nanaimo Clippers Remembrance Day jerseys were being auctioned off on the Clippers website at www.nanaimoclippers.com. The bidding wrapped up on December 4th.
