Oilers, Flames unveil Heritage Classic jerseys: Whats behind the designs? How do we rate them?

The jerseys for next month’s Heritage Classic in Edmonton have been unveiled.

The Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames will face off in an outdoor Battle of Alberta on Oct. 29 at Commonwealth Stadium, the site of the first Heritage Classic game 20 years ago when the Montreal Canadiens visited.

The game marks the third stadium game for each Alberta team but their first one as opponents. It’ll also be the first time these bitter rivals have played against each other since Dec. 27, a 2-1 Edmonton win.

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Significance of the jerseys? 

Nugent-Bowman: Before Mario Lemieux’s wizardry and Joe Sakic’s breakaway magic in the 2002 men’s Olympic final, the last Canadian hockey team to win gold at the five-ring circus was a group from Edmonton 50 years prior. The Oilers are paying homage to that squad, the 1952 Mercurys, with their threads next month.

The Oilers have flipped the blue from the Mercurys sweaters, using it as the base rather than on their shoulders. The red the Mercs wore on their chests has been replaced by Oilers orange.

Having the team name written on top of a script as part of the crest is a take on what the Mercurys did. The oil drop with each player’s number is swapped in on the Heritage Classic jerseys from a maple leaf with “Olympics” and “52” front and centre.

Oil Drip. 💧

Here's what the @EdmontonOilers will be rockin' at the 2023 @TimHortons #HeritageClassic 🤌 pic.twitter.com/huYZ61yK5J

— NHL (@NHL) September 26, 2023

McKenzie: The Calgary Stampeders are the city’s team in the Canadian Football League. But the Flames’ jerseys are actually inspired by the Calgary Stampeders hockey teams from the 1950s and 1960s. 

The Stampeders were the first Alberta team to win the Allan Cup — a trophy given to the best amateur senior league team in Canada — capturing the Cup in 1946 with a win over the Hamilton Tigers. The Stampeders also played in a handful of leagues during their existence, including the Western Hockey League — a senior league that preceded the current major junior league — and won a league championship in 1954. 

That same year, the Stampeders beat the Quebec Aces to win the Edinburgh Trophy in a best-of-nine series for the honour of best minor professional team in Canada. 

The Stampeders jerseys saw some variation in their history. But the obvious connections between their jerseys and the Flames’ Heritage Classic homage are the circular logo and the red and white colours.

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What do we think of them?

Nugent-Bowman: I’m all for the idea of paying respect to a team of gold medallists on such a big stage. Kudos there. Overall, the jerseys are clean and sharp. I like them.

There are three things I would have been intrigued to see done differently, though.

Making the base orange and shoulders blue would more closely mimic the 1952 Mercurys. However, the Oilers wore jerseys with orange as the main colour the last time they were outdoors, so I understand the reason for the switch.

I get that this goes against my previous point a bit, but I’m not a fan of Connor McDavid’s “C” being sewn on top of the piping on the shoulders. There’s tons of space for it to be placed underneath the piping and against the blue backdrop. But the Oilers are replicating the Mercurys here, so I can’t really hold that against them.

Lastly, the oil drop in the crest seems too plain. I admittedly don’t have the perfect solution here, but it could use a little jazzing up or a pop of colour.

Otherwise, this is a solid showing.

Inspired by the past, brought to life today 🔥

Our 2023 @TimHortons #HeritageClassic jerseys pay tribute to the Calgary Stampeders hockey club from the 50’s and 60’s, bringing our city’s rich history to life ahead of this incredible edition of the Battle Of Alberta! pic.twitter.com/98CLcZlPfn

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) September 26, 2023

McKenzie: I love the colours and style of the Flames jersey. It captures the vintage feel of decades past while incorporating present-day elements. 

The red meshing with the vintage white is a great mix. The red shoulder combined with the way the numbers look atop it is almost near-perfect. Also, I’m a big fan of string necks on jerseys. So seeing the Flames have one is a delight. The red piping on the sleeves is a subtle, but clean touch. But my favourite part of the jersey is the Flames logo surrounded by an old-style “Calgary Flames” written around it. 

The red piping at the bottom of the jersey looks great when you see it matched up with the corresponding pants and socks. 

My lone criticism is that there could have perhaps been more creativity with the jersey names on the back to make them stand out more. But keeping them red is more than fine — and helpful for my play-by-play/commentary friends who will call the game from up above at Commonwealth Stadium. 

How do they compare to past Heritage Classic jerseys?

Nugent-Bowman: This jersey represents the most drastic change compared to what the Oilers wore the last two times they played outdoors.

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In 2003, the Oilers simply donned white classic throwbacks. The logo went unchanged.

In 2016, they travelled to Winnipeg and merely added a patch to the alternate orange home jerseys that were new to their repertoire.

Points for thinking outside the box with this design.

McKenzie: Let’s rank them and give each jersey a medal.

The 2011 edition with the brown and yellow mix gets bronze. The colour combination screams outdoor, old-timey hockey. But it isn’t nearly as appealing as some of the jerseys in their history. The beige pants do not help its case. At all. 

The 2023 Heritage Classic edition gets second place for the reasons mentioned above. It’s an improvement on the 2011 edition. 

But it’s not an improvement on our gold medal winner, the 2019 Heritage Classic throwbacks. It’s difficult to argue against them. The jerseys were so nice that they’ve since become the Flames’ home and away jerseys and are objectively among the best uniforms in the league. 

(Top photos courtesy of Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers)

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