By Hannah Wyman, Retail Reporter
Feb 13, 2025
Growing up in Canada, hockey player Jake Neighbours would often spend time on the bus riding to and from games learning American Sign Language from his friend and youth teammate, Ozzy Wiesblatt.
He wanted to better communicate with Wiesblatt's parents, who are deaf.
Today, Wiesblatt is a prospect with the Nashville Predators. And Neighbours is a Blues left-winger who is quickly becoming a fan favorite. He drew on those early ASL lessons for inspiration when the team asked him to design a line of hats.
The Blues have launched five snapback-style hats designed by 22-year-old Neighbours, a self-proclaimed "hat guy." One has the hockey team’s standard BlueNote logo and two boast the trumpet logo from the mid-90s in different colors.
But the most popular hat is a navy blue corduroy number that features “BLUES” spelled out in American Sign Language. The Blues ordered 288 hats in that style and they sold out within a day. Another popular design has Neighbours's jersey number, 63, stitched on the side in ASL.
“Having the platform to do something that would raise a little awareness to something that’s close to me is what was most important,” Neighbours said. He worked with Colorado-based hat manufacturer CAPX.
For every ASL hat sold, the Blues will donate $3 to the Deaf Empowerment Awareness Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit advocacy and education organization in St. Louis. Each hat costs $37.99
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be around the Wiesblatt family lots and see the struggles of what it’s like when you have someone who is hard of hearing or deaf and it definitely changes the dynamic of life,” said Neighbours, who grew up in Calgary.“It’s always been something that is close to me and I guess something secretive about me that people may not know."
DEAF, Inc. has had a longstanding partnership with the Blues. Last November the two organizations held a Deaf Awareness Day at a Blues game.
“The end goal is to bridge the gap between the Deaf community and the hearing community,” said Sarah Prechtel, DEAF, Inc.'s executive director.
But the ASL hat came as a complete surprise, she said.
“Jake’s initiative with the hat line goes beyond just fashion,” she said. “It’s one thing for us as Deaf people to talk about our experiences, but it’s another for someone who is not deaf but has the exposure and experience to talk so highly of the Deaf community that really has been a powerful step toward normalizing sign language for us in our community.”
St. Louis has a large Deaf and hard-of-hearing community, Prechtel said, and about 300,000 people with hearing loss live in the metro area. At least three local primary schools specifically serve students with hearing loss, including Central Institute for the Deaf in the Central West End, Moog Center for Deaf Education in Town and Country, and St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf in Brentwood.
“There are families that come to St. Louis for educational support and the majority of them end up staying in the area,” Prechtel said.
Proceeds from the Blues hat sales will allow DEAF Inc. to expand its sign language community and private classes. With the additional funding, the nonprofit will be able to offer smaller, more tailored sessions for families with Deaf children or children of Deaf adults.
The Blues’ vice president of brand, retail and creative services Brenda Wilbur said fan response to the hats has been overwhelming.
After selling out of the initial run of Neighbours’s ASL Blues hat, the website had over 700 backorder requests. When it became available again for pre-order, more than 150 new orders were placed.
This isn’t the first time the hockey team has promoted player-designed hats. Former Blues players Ryan O'Reilly and Jaden Schwartz each created hat lines while playing in St. Louis.
Wilbur said the Blues approached Neighbours because of his rising popularity.
“Fans like to see the personality of players. They like to see that side beyond what’s happening on the ice,” Wilbur said.
Neighbours was the Blues’ first-round pick in the 2020 NHL draft and the 26th overall pick. Last fall, the Blues signed him to a two-year contract extension with an average annual value of $3.75 million.
The five hats are available exclusively through STL Authentics store in EnterpriseCenter and at STLAuthentics.com. Three of the designs have since sold out but are available for pre-order that will ship out and be available again in-store in late March.
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