Ville Leino depicts third season with Sabres as 'jail' on clothing design
Former NHL forward Ville Leino is into designing clothing these days, and recently he created a look called “Jail” that depicts his third season with the Buffalo Sabres.
Leino signed a six-year, $27 million contract with Buffalo before the 2011-12 season and only played 137 games with the team, notching 10 goals and 36 assists. He was bought out after the 2013-14 season where he didn’t score a goal and notched 15 assists in 58 games.
The Sabres signed Leino to the big contract after he scored 19 goals and 53 points with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010-11.
Thanks to Connor Nielsen for the heads up on the above photo. Here is Leino’s description of the design.
“BILLEBEINO ART SERIES: JAIL (2013). One of my most personal works. I was playing my third year in Buffalo Sabres with long and big contract. Things weren’t working with me and the team. I was getting a lot of pressure and heat and there was no way out of it. I felt trapped and down. All I could do was get up every morning and go to work and try to make it work. This painting reflects those feelings that I was going through on that period of time.”
Leino has since gone on to play in the KHL, Switzerland and Swedish Hockey League. Last season he had 23 points in 44 games with the Växjö Lakers in Sweden.
Leino’s clothing company “Billebeino” is described on Instagram as “Lifestyle clothing brand risen from the Finnish spirit.”
This is from his website:
“Billebeino is attitude, lifestyle and state of mind inspired by sports, music, art and streets. Risen from the Finnish spirit with enthusiasm that never goes out. It all started few years ago with just a two friends and one logo. A logo that was our calling in some sort of a way. We are passionate about what we do, whether it’s happening on a sport arenas, playing music, designing Billebeino or whatever that makes you feel good. We believe that you will recognize that enthusiasm on our products. Are you Billebeino?
Several photos of Finnish hockey players can be found modeling this clothing on the website. These include Patrik Laine, Teemu Selanne and Mikko Koivu amongst others.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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