Zach Werenski's injury during the playoffs leads to charitable impact

20-year-old defenseman Zach Werenski isn't just making an impact on the Blue Jackets blue line. He's also leaving his mark on Jackets fans' fashion in the form of a unique t-shirt that benefits the Blue Jackets Foundation.
It all started when Werenski took a puck to the face in the second period of game three of the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The impact was significant enough to drop the Calder Trophy finalist to the ice and, while Werenski returned in the third period, the injury eventually prohibited him from finishing the game and would end his season.
Werenski broke franchise rookie records all season long and led all Jackets defensemen in points (11-36-47), so Columbus fans were clearly very anxious for any status update.
"I was sitting in the hospital," Werenski said. "They told me my season was done and everyone was asking about my face, so I decided to post a tweet not thinking much of it. I figured just Columbus people would see it. Next thing I know, my phone's not even working because it's going so crazy."
Werenski's photo has since received over 33,000 retweets and 83,000-plus favorites.

One of the people who saw it was long-time Jackets fan Jay Shawberry. Shawberry is a software developer at eRetailing Commerce, a company that makes custom garments, and was with his daughter in the sellout crowd for game three.
"When the injury happened, I thought 'oh man, this guy's hurt," Shawberry said. "(Werenski) posted that selfie picture, and I don't know why, but as soon as I saw it, I thought he was out for the rest of the year and I was like 'we're going to the next game and I'm going to make this into a shirt.'"
Shawberry went into the office the next day and printed off the photo onto a dri-fit shirt. On the back, he mimicked a Blue Jackets' jersey with Werenski's name plate and number. As he showed it to his hockey-following colleagues, they all agreed he should wear it to game four as a sign of support.
Shawberry didn't think the shirt would be a big deal. He just wanted to acknowledge his favorite player and the impact Werenski had on his team this season. But as Shawberry and his daughter hung out at fan festivities outside Nationwide Arena ahead of the game, he couldn't go more than ten seconds without someone taking a photo of the shirt.
"I had just hoped maybe Werenski would see it, enjoy it, and understand it was a respect thing," Shawberry said. "I think we ended up in 400 pictures. At that point, I knew it was something much bigger than me paying homage to a guy who is a warrior."
As Shawberry's shirt went viral, one of the people who saw it was Zach Werenski.
"I got a tweet that a guy put my face on a shirt," Werenski said. "It was pretty quick turnaround for him to make the shirt two days later. I was pretty surprised when I saw it. I laughed. With everything that was going on with my face, it was kind of cool to see that. I was pretty down in the moment, so it was a little bit of light there in the dark days."

To thank Shawberry, Werenski sent a signed jersey to him in the middle of the game. Honored by that gift, Shawberry went back to work the next day and the wheels in his mind started turning. Was there something more to be done with the t-shirt concept? He knew his company could produce them, but he also knew the decision wasn't his alone.
"The more we talked about it we realized the only thing we should do is reach out to (Werenski)," Shawberry said. "It's his picture, his face, his injury, his life. We said we should reach out to him and work with him and maybe we could parlay it into a charity effort."
Shawberry contacted the Jackets organization and a series of conversations led to the agreement that the shirts would be mass-produced, and all proceeds would benefit the Blue Jackets Foundation.

Now the shirts have been on sale through
Shirts On Goal
for just over a month. Even though it's the off-season, Shawberry says he has been thrilled with not just the volume of response but the many locations from which orders are coming.
"A diehard St. Louis Blues fan has ordered three," Shawberry said. "People from as far away as Canada to Maine to California to Texas to New York have ordered the shirt. We feel the shirt could become a symbol of not only Zach's toughness, but really the toughness of our entire team.
"The best thing that came out of this is that some money is going to be donated to the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation, and at the end of the day that is the coolest thing about it all."