Calgary hockey history fan collected 40 jerseys dating back decades

Have you ever heard about the professional hockey team the Calgary Tigers? Or the Calgary Cowboys?

Well these Calgary hockey teams date back to 1924, and one hockey fan has spent the last several years collecting not only Flames jerseys, but every past professional hockey team in Calgary. 

Chris Wilson is a big fan of the Flames and looking into Calgary's hockey history, which has resulted in the collection of over 40 jerseys.

"I just think it's really cool to to be able to honour and spread knowledge about Calgary's hockey history," he said.

The 27-year-old explained he's obtained his large collection by hunting Facebook pages and Ebay, as well as paying a custom jersey company to photoshop an old Calgary hockey logo.

"A lot of them were replicas that were made a long time ago so they're very hard to find nowadays," he said.

Wilson says he started collecting jerseys in 2007 after his grandmother bought him his first.

"I ended up getting another one because it was on sale and got another one as a gift and it just kind of snowballed from there," he said.

The Flames fan said he then moved into collecting vintage jerseys after attending the 2011 Heritage Classic where Calgary wore a special throwback jersey.

"That was based on design of the Calgary Tigers and that was the first I'd ever really heard of any of these professional hockey teams that existed before the Flames," he said.

This inclined Wilson to start researching other professional Calgary hockey teams — like the Calgary Tigers, Calgary Stampeders and Calgary Cowboys.  

"I just got super interested in the history of hockey and like vintage hockey especially in the City of Calgary," he said.

"I thought it would be really cool to have a jersey to represent each of all the different areas of Calgary hockey."

The hockey fan says he thinks it's important to be aware and acknowledge how the Flames got where they are today.

"When I wear the jerseys it's usually a really good conversation piece … I can kind of spread a little bit of knowledge and help other people know a bit more about Calgary hockey history," he said.

Despite having a piece from every Calgary hockey team, Wilson says he still wants to continue his collection in which never feel truly complete.

"Now that I have a jersey from all the professional men's teams I think it would be cool to get into the some more of the junior teams," he said.

"I also would be interested in going back and getting some jerseys from the women's hockey team that played in Calgary because I think it would be really cool to show some support for them."