edmonton oilers jersey history
One thing that I always look for in a hockey jersey is consistency in branding. Some teams have such different jerseys from era to era that you can’t even tell that they’re the same organisation. Others, like the Edmonton Oilers, have maintained a solid team identity thanks to their jerseys which are all but cemented into the fabric of the NHL and the city of Edmonton.
This week I want to take a closer look at the evolution of the Edmonton Oilers jerseys.
the wha days
The Oilers’ WHA jerseys were some of the most bold and daring jerseys in the team’s history, but they don’t get the recognition they deserve because the team played in the relatively obscure WHA.
From 1972 to 1975, The Oilers wore a pylon-orange road jersey with blue shoulders. A combo that we wouldn’t see again until 2017, when the Oil reprised the classic tarp to commemorate their final season at the Rexall Centre.
The logo was just as we know it today — that blue outline and lettering with the orange oil drop but this crests was chain stitched like modern Blackhawks crests — but the real attraction was the comic-sans-like font the team used for player name bars that was also done in chain stitching! Even more radical was the fact that the team used FULL NAMES on the back of their ‘73–’74 sweaters.
If Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was playing back then, he’d have have to wear two jerseys to accommodate his name.
In January of 1975, the Oil changed up their bibs to something closer to what we associate with their NHL glory days — a white home jersey with blue shoulders, and a blue roadie with an orange yoke, both with spaced out arm and waist striping. These jerseys we a darker blue, nearly navy and were made by Rawlings. That’s right, the baseball company.
But, the Oilers made another bold move, switching up the colour scheme of their crest. The home jerseys featured an orange logo with blue outline and lettering, and a white oil drop, while the away shirt sported a white logo with orange lettering and outline, and a blue oil drop.
Honestly, those logos were a tad hard on the eyes, and remind me of those old 3D drawings that you need blue and red cardboard glasses to see properly. But, I do love it when teams have road and home variations of their logos, so I give it an “A” for effort.
The Oilers kept this style through 1979, and it would be the first Edmonton uniform worn by Wayne Gretzky and seen in his rookie card.
My go-to hockey jersey: My go to is always “Gretzky 99” in a jersey from his ear, but if you’re not a Gretzky geek, I’d go with Oilers’ captain Paul Shmyr who wore number 6 and, for the 1978-79 season, switched out his captain’s “C” for a cyrillic “K” as a nod to his Ukrainian heritage.
glory days
When the Oilers finally joined the NHL, they kept their sweater design from the previous season, but reverted back to their original logo with the blue lettering and outline, and the orange oil drop.
These jerseys then went through a bunch of minor changes before the jersey Gretzky first hoists the cup in.
1979-80 – First NHL season, the jerseys were made by Maska. These featured the same dark blue that was in the WHA but with smaller back numbers made of terry cloth and cotton twill, vinyl name and a patch commemorating Edmonton’s 75th anniversary. Crest was bigger and the blue outline got slightly thinner.
1980-81 – Oilers switched over to Sandow SK for this season. First set for on ice was made with Durene, an early ultrafil that was shiny and beautiful. The numbers were made of nailhead fabric and became bigger on the back and WAY bigger on the sleeves. So much bigger that they covered the entire top strip. Name was 2 colour twill rounded letters and the shoulder had the Alberta 75th anniversary patch. Alberta was sure partying it up back then.
For the second half of that season the team went from durene to mesh Sandow jerseys. The blue changed to the royal we know and love today. They shrunk the 2 colour sleeve numbers to fit in the stripping, same size/font on the back but the name became a customizers nightmare…Embroidered letters. I only say that because back when I got these jerseys to do when I was in my apartment I didn’t have an embroidery machine. I had to push my consumer sewing machine beyond its capabilities to pull it off, like Scotty on the Enterprise.
1981-82 – Team kept with Sandow mesh jerseys but introduced the 3 colour number and ditched the embroidered names to a more traditional applique style. This is also the first time we see the fabric “Flight nylon” used and it would be used until the end of the 88-89 season. The 3 colours on the numbers would be achieved by using thick embroidery in the jersey colour to hold the top layer of fabric to the bottom layer. The patch for this season was the 1981 International Year of Disabled Persons.
1982-83 – First year of the Nike jerseys. Cresting and customizing would stay the same with the introduction of another fabric, satin twill that was used all over the NHL back then and can be easily recognized by it’s wrinkled look. Nike but their logo on the back right side as you see manufacturing tags often on NHL jerseys, not realising the star player and the reason they wanted Nike on the jersey, tucked that side of his jersey in. Did they wear a patch this season? Funny you should ask because they did! The Universiade 83 patch.
1983-89 – Now the Nike logo changes to the left and the Oilers are finished with patches for a while, the jersey is now what we see them in for the next 4 the cups. Funny enough, all Gretzky’s cups were won in Edmonton so they’re all in a white jersey. After Gretzky’s departure, the Oilers used the Nike jerseys for on more season, this time with a 10th anniversary patch.
My go-to hockey jersey: Again, I’ll be going 99 “Gretzky” on any Nike jersey — but you could go with a white “Smith” with number 5. That’s what he was wearing when he banked that own-goal off the back of Grant Fuhr’s leg. It’s also what he was wearing the following year when he hoisted the Cup in a triumphant personal comeback.
1989-96 – The Nike days are over and the CCM era begins. We did a little Instagram story about the CCM crests a few weeks ago!
These jerseys started out as mesh in 1989 but half way through the season, airkint jerseys started making their way into the sets. The airknit was a darker blue than the CCM mesh and the Nike’s. And this is the jersey the Oilers won their last Stanley cup in.
My go-to hockey jersey: I’d go Messier for this era, but other greats you could get on your jersey, Nicholls, Graves or Damphousse. Interesting piece of trivia: The only player in NHL history to lead 3 different Canadian teams in scoring in 3 consecutive seasons? Vincent Damphousse. (Leafs, Oilers, Canadiens)
the underdog days
After a decade of NHL dominance, the Oil Country went through some changes. Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and Paul Coffey had all left town, and as if that wasn’t enough, in 1995 the stripe on the Oilers hockey pants also disappeared.
But they weren’t done there. In 1996, the team switched to navy blue and replaced the orange striping with a bronze coloured stripe with a red outline. The orange yoke on the blue jersey disappeared that year, and the blue yoke took a hike the following year.
This is the shirt worn by Ryan Smyth, Cujo, and that ragtag team of overachievers who gave the Dallas Stars so much trouble in the playoffs for so many years. It’s also what they wore on their unlikely march to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006.
My go-to hockey jersey: Smyth and Cujo are both great choices for an Oilers hockey sweater from this generation, but I’d have to go with a blue version sporting number 26 and Todd Marchant’s name — after all, he scored what may be the most exciting goal in Oilers playoff history.
the dog days
In 2007 the NHL adopted the Reebok Edge jersey, and it was about the only thing worth mentioning about the next decade of Oilers hockey. The waist stripes disappeared, the arm stripes only wrapped around half the arm, and there were new bronze pinstripes running vertically down the front of the jersey.
The very next year, the Oil reintroduced their 1981 blue jersey design as a home alternate, and in 2011 they did the same with the ‘81 white jerseys, using those tarps as their roadies. By 2013 the navy blue and copper experiment had come to an end, and the Oilers seemed poised to recapture their glory days.
My go-to hockey jersey: This is a tough era in Oilers hockey to pay homage to, but I think the most appropriate jersey would be a blue Reebok Edge with “Hemsky 83” customising. Both Hemsky and the Oilers faithful tried their hardest to make Hemsky a star, and it just didn’t work out for them. To me, he’s the unfortunate poster child of Edmonton’s dark days.
the mcdavid days
By the time Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl arrived on the scene, the Oilers had completely returned to their roots, having introduced an orange alternate similar to their WHA style unis, with numbers on the blue yoke and everything.
In 2017, the orange blouse became their go-to homer — but not without some changes. The blue yoke was darkened to navy blue on both jerseys, and the player numbers changed to grey.
The navy blue alternate featuring an orange Oilers logo was a bold addition to the wardrobe in 2019. It’s quite fashionable in its simplicity, in my opinion.
Now, the Oilers are once again back to their 1981-style royal blue and orange outfits — and yes the pants stripe is back, too!
There’s only one thing left to return to Edmonton, now, and that’s the Stanley Cup.
My go-to hockey jersey: It’s gotta be a “McDavid” 97 tarp. Personally, I gravitate to the orange alternate with the royal blue stripes and yoke.
jerseys make the team
As a jersey maker, I know how important a uniform is when it comes to forging a team identity. Even rec league teams feel like better hockey players when their jerseys and socks match.
That’s one of the reasons the Edmonton Oilers have become one of the most important franchises in the National Hockey League’s long history. They’ve been bold yet consistent for over 50 years!
I could nerd-out about this all day — and I do! That’s why I make hockey sweaters, and that’s why I write this newsletter. So, if you want more nerdy meditations on hockey jerseys and hockey culture, sign up for the 4 Shots with Keener newsletter! It’s free and it’s fun.
See you next week!
