Wade Belak spent parts of 14 seasons in the league while playing for Colorado, Calgary, Toronto, Florida, and finally Nashville.
Belak’s final three seasons were in navy and gold and he added to the “Smashville” legacy by tallying 22 fights and 130 penalty minutes in just 92 games. He also added 4 assists to his tally.
Those 22 fights rank the Canadian tenth all-time on the Nashville Predators Loyalty List, which compiles the players who have dropped the gloves the most in franchise history.
Wade Belak was a beloved figure around the league and in the cities he played. He appeared set for a burgeoning media career but tragically took his own life in the summer following the 2010-2011 season.
The Nashville Predators wore their Navy Set 1 jerseys in three preseason games and from October 9th, 2010 until January 11th, 2011. They were worn for a 14 regular season games along with being worn in the three preseason contests.
Wade Belak appears to have worn this Navy Set 1 gamer in five regular season games and at least one of the three preseason games. It is unclear if he wore it in the other two preseason games as those stats and lineups are hard to track down.
Belak fought twice in this sweater.
The first time was on September 25th against Grant McNeill of the Washington Capitals. The second was on December 28th against Krys Barch of the Dallas Stars.
His fight against Grant McNeill appears to have resulted in the popped collar and potentially also the repaired neckline that can be seen on Belak’s jersey. Those popped threads show up in a photo of Wade Belak from the Predators opening night matchup against the Anaheim Ducks.
There is not much wear on the gamer beyond the neckline damage.
One interesting note on Wade Belak’s Navy Set 1 jersey is that he wore two of them. It is unclear if this was due to Belak liking to swap jerseys at intermission, or because of fight damage, or some other reason.
