During this past week we took a trip down to LA to watch the Kings open up their 2014-15 season by raising the Stanley Cup, have a chat with our new cousins at The Royal Half and have a chat with Violent Gentlemen. This article is about their cool company and how they have helped me greatly with the Nation Network. 

You have been forewarned in advance. Anyone looking for Corsi/Fenwick6 calculations should skip this piece.

GEAR IS TRICKY BUSINESS

Since NationGear launched in 2013 we have been learning about how to run a clothing line. It isn’t something that we had thought we would be doing in our life time – given my tastes in clothing usually extends to rapper tee shirts, Oilers stuff and jeans. But in an era where revenues are hard to grind out, we want to make a wicked clothing line that sets the bar for design and quality and stands the test of time.

There aren’t exactly 10,000 companies vying for business in the Edmonton Fashion District* so we made contact with what we consider to be the best hockey related clothing line – Violent Gentlemen out of California. The guys were super nice and we arranged a meet and greet for last week at their facility in Orange County.

VIOLENT GENTLEMEN IS SO SICK

No exaggeration: Violent Gentlemen is the best independent sports & lifestyle brand I have seen. I heard of them because one of their partners is George Parros of moustachioed pugilistic fame and have followed them on social media for a couple of years. All of their designs are super fresh, their marketing is funny and celebrity-filled and they just do a great overall job.

So colour me terrified when we rolled into their meetings and there were both partners – tattooed from here to next Thursday, beards to the floor and muscles for days. And right in the centre of the room – The Mayor himself, George Parros. Thank heavens I had brought my pal Brian Sutherby. In case things went sideways we had a plan where he would throw me out the window and slug his way out of the room.

Instead, the Violent Gentlemen were heavy on the Gentlemen and avoided the Violence altogether. We discussed a great many ideas, they walked me through how they operate and toured me around their warehouse and Fantasy Factory-esque offices. It was very kind of them to take time right before their fall launch to talk to some posse of clowns from Canada.

FALL LINE IS DROPPING

As a thank you for spending time advising me on how to make superior NationGear, I said I would pump the fact that the new Violent Gentlemen 2014 line is dropping this week. The VG dudes were immediately all “hell no Wanye. We don’t do advertising and this will make us look lame.”

Did I mention that they were covered in tats and George Parros was staring at me with his terrifying glare? Who the hell am I to argue with them? 

I’ll tell you who I am. A fake-named rapping/hockey blogger named Wanye. 

So news flash: their line is dropping for the new season and it is the best there is.

ENTER TO WIN

Go take a look at their sweet gear here. As a thanks for checking out their site your ol’ pal Wanye will buy the first 10 people 1 item of their choosing. ****UPDATE**** We’ve reached the first 10 people. 

That ought to buy me some time when the fellas realized I pumped their line against their wishes and come hunting for me.

*No such district exists