Today, the jerseys for the 2017 All-Star Game went on sale. The divisions each get to wear their own color, broken down thus:

Pacific - Black

Atlantic - Gold

Central - Purple

Metro - White

Sizes run from Men’s Small - XXL, and Youth S/M, L/XL.

The internet was already busy fixing the design:

You’ll notice that a certain jersey-buying population is missing from this online shop, although this time (unlike with the Centennial Classic) it’s not all of Canada.

Yep, there are no women’s (and I mean “women” inclusively) cuts of these jerseys. “Why can’t women just wear men’s?” Is a question I anticipate from this statement, and the reason is this:

Imagine that you are an enormous fan of a sport, but they only sold women’s jerseys of it. “Men can just wear the woman’s cut,” someone says. “What do you mean, men have different bodies? Just buy the XXL and if it squeezes your waist and has extra room at the chest, who cares? It’s sports.”

So basically, women have to put up with wearing a jersey that is not made with women’s bodies in mind. I don’t know about you, but I don’t really feel like paying that kind of money for squishing into a rectangular-cut junior jersey, or swimming in a tent-like, square-cut men’s jersey, and that’s before we even get into the aesthetics of these particular jerseys to begin with.

I’ve purchased excellent jerseys before, including a medium Leafs away jersey with Nazem Kadri’s name across the back. It fit perfectly, because it was cut for a woman’s body. Why would the NHL decide not to create women’s jerseys for big events like the All-Star Game?

“Men are where the money is in sports,” I imagine someone saying. Okay, but how about growing your market? Women aren’t going to feel comfortable spending money on an event where they aren’t even thought of as a viable revenue source, but if you create the opportunity, it’s possible we’d spend.

I might’ve purchased a bright gold Auston Matthews jersey. But I don’t like wearing tents, so I’m gonna have to pass.

NHL All Star Game