April 25, 2024 | SPORTS | By Lily Asano
Almost three hours before puck drop, the Colorado College Tigers arrive at Ed Robson Arena in sports coats, dress shoes and pressed trousers. From October through March, the walk to the arena is a fashion show, and its models finished No. 15 in Division 1 national polls for the year.
According to an article by The Athletic, the Canadian tradition of wearing suits to games shows respect for the players, officials, staff and the game itself. Freshman Tyler Dunbar and sophomore Ethan Straky recalled being asked to wear a suit for the first time at 14, seemingly the first step toward a college or professional hockey career.
“There’s a process of preparation, and I think that’s part of putting on the suit,” Kris Mayotte, the Tigers’ coach, said. “Even as a coach, you feel that way. Once you put the suit on, it just clicks for you.”
As one of the top programs in the country, Mayotte expects his players to represent themselves and the team at all times. While some schools, including the Air Force Academy, have opted for team-issued polos for home campaigns since the pandemic, Mayotte believes the suits are a vital aspect of pregame routines.
Nicklas Andrews ‘24 was 16 when he first wore a suit before a game. For teenage Andrews, wearing a suit was a step closer to his goal of playing professional hockey. Dunbar and Straky similarly realized hockey was becoming more than just a sport.
“When you’re young, you want to be just like [professional players],” Andrews said. “You want to make it as far as they’ve made it. It was a pretty exciting feeling.”
Both Dunbar and Andrews expressed that dressing up gives them confidence before they hit the ice.
“I think everything just leads to the game in anticipation,” Dunbar said. “Wearing a good outfit kind of inspires confidence and puts you in a good headspace when you’re walking to the rink.”
“I don’t dress for other people. I dress more to look good in my own eyes,” Andrews said. “So to me, if I think I look good, it sometimes gives me a little more confidence leaving my room and walking over to the rink or a building knowing I’m dressed nice.”
Players are expected to arrive at games professionally, their attire and cleanliness reflecting the same. Unlike the NHL, which requires players to wear jackets, ties and dress pants, the NCAA doesn’t enforce a rulebook for collegiate athletes, letting players get creative.
Mayotte, who only has two suits, is a stickler for collared shirts and dress shoes. Each suit — one black, one blue — has two shirt and tie combinations, which are occasionally limited to the less wrinkled combination, and Mayotte rides on a suit’s momentum.
“If [I’m] in black and we keep winning in black, I’ll keep wearing black,” Mayotte said. “If that falls off, I’ll go with the blue.”
Freshman Dunbar has a similar philosophy.
“If something is working, I’ll let it ride out for a little bit, but as soon as it doesn’t work, I’m immediately onto the next,” Dunbar shared.
When it comes to his players, Mayotte has his own opinions about how they should present themselves. He advocates for collared shirts, and says that white sneakers don’t belong with sports coats. Instead, Mayotte suggests dress shoes, specifically brown ones.
Despite other shared ideals, Dunbar and Mayotte’s fashion philosophies clash. Dunbar, who shared that he liked to experiment with outfits with previous teams, has worn T-shirts and turtlenecks under jackets, breaking Mayotte’s fashion guideline.
Like shoes without socks and pants that reveal four inches of ankle, turtlenecks and chain necklaces also fall on Mayotte’s fashion “don’t” list.
“I get it. That may be cool, but that isn’t it for me,” Mayotte said.
Andrews received Mayotte’s superlative for Best Dress Player. With over four years of experience, the senior has perfected his craft of pregame attire and dresses for his own mental preparation.
“It gives me a little confidence, and even if it doesn’t, I still know I look nice,” Andrews said. “I try to wear different things or be a little bit different than what most people wear.”
“I still have fun with it, and the guys sometimes get a laugh out of what I wear. It’s just my own fashion taste. If I like it, I’ll wear it,” Andrews concluded.
Andrews’s favorite game-day outfits include black Ostrich cowboy boots, Lululemon dress pants, a gray peacoat, a plain dress shirt, and occasionally a black tie and cowboy hat to top off the look.
Straky, on the other hand, doesn’t consider himself stylish. His go-to pregame look consists of a repeating black sports jacket and dress pants, alternating between a black and white dress shirt.
His teammates have their own opinions about Straky’s style.
“I get called a waiter by a lot of the boys. It looks like I’m about to show up and bus their table,” Straky said.
The Tigers have nearly six months before their season opener in October, but Straky is already thinking about next year’s red carpet.
“A sneak peek for next year: I might be busting out some pink,” he shared.
While Mayotte and Straky’s game-day outfits may be simpler than some of their Tiger counterparts, they still find ways to add a touch of color to their outfits and represent their mascot on the way to the rink.
“I’m not a stylish person, but I have stylish socks—like a leaping tiger with its claws open—that I’ll wear on game days,” Straky said.
Coach Mayotte agrees with his sophomore defenseman and revealed that he also gets creative with his sock choices. His fashion advice: have fun with your socks.
“Have some style in it, some creativity, some funky stuff with it,” Mayotte said. “Everything else is very basic. The socks, you can get creative with.”
The fashion show will commence when the Tigers return to Ed Robson Arena in mid-October to continue their campaign to the top. The No. 15 Tigers are just getting started, and so is the show.