Hockey players prove that their the coolest athletes in the world as they wear sunglasses during the 2015 Winter Classic.
I mean, everyone already knew hockey players were cool, now they are proving it.
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In what has become a New Year’s tradition in the NHL, the Winter Classic takes place every year on New Year’s Day. The Winter Classic is played outdoors to celebrate hockey’s roots of playing outside on a frozen pond as a kid. This year, the Washington Capitals are hosting the Chicago Blackhawks at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. Each year, the league tries to improve on certain areas to make the game more enjoyable for the players and fans. Whether that’s doing something different with the ice so that the playing conditions stay consistent for the players, or it’s better in-game entertainment for the fans. This year, it seems that sunglasses are the fad.
Certain players were seen wearing actual Oakley sunglasses under their helmets and visors during the game. Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner is one of the players trying out playing hockey with sunglasses.
FINALLY. Canadians have been waiting. RT @xmasape: 2015: the year hockey got rad http://t.co/IvesO2K2VE
— Megan❤️🔥🧚🏻♀️ (@shegotgame) January 1, 2015
Alzner rocking the shades like a boss. ‘Oh, we’re playing a hockey game now? Whatever’.
As cool as they look, the reason for the shades are not to make a fashion statement. Each player on both the Capitals and the Blackhawks were given their own pair of custom Oakley sunglasses with the team logo on it for the specific reason of using them during the game. This was not a campaign scheme by Oakley to push their sunglasses to be used for advertising purposes either, although it doesn’t hurt. This was the league’s idea to help with the tremendously bad glare they would be facing from the sun shining on the ice during the game. The game was actually postponed for a bit from the original start time of 1 P.M. (ET) to wait out the glare from the sun a bit. So, they knew the glare was going to be a significant issue coming into this game, as it usually is for outdoor hockey games.
Also, as the game goes on and it gets later, the sun will get lower and the players will have the sun shining directly in their eyes at times. The sunglasses were brought in to help with that situation as well. You would normally see players just using eye black under their eyes to help with the glare, and some players have tried using tinted visors for these outdoor games. The sunglasses are a new one this year.
It doesn’t seem like many players liked wearing the sunglasses while playing though, as Alzner is only one of few that decided to wear them during the game.
I would imagine it can’t be too comfortable to play hockey with sunglasses on, no matter how cool it may look.
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