Edmonton Oilers : Ixs

The Edmonton Oilers is a a professional ice hockeyof the great strength and the unbeatable
team located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Theyperformances of the Oilers during this period, The
enjoy playing in the National Hockey League (NHL).Experts concluded the Oilers as one of the best
The Oilers efficiently supervised the 2006-07 NHL (Sports Team both in the history of NHL and in the
season as the defending Western Conferencehistory of other Sports. This statement is witnessed
Champions.by a Sporting News poll recently in February 2006
Alberta Oilers was the founding Member who unitedwhen the 1987-88 Oilers were listed as one of the
the World Hockey Association in 1972 and Bill Huntertop-five teams from the last 120 years.
was the real Owner of the Team. Hunter was alsoRegarding the Uniform of Edmonton Oilers, The
the Owner of Edmonton Oil Kings. He endeavoured indesign consisted on the conventional colors of blue
getting professional Hockey to Edmonton but all hisand orange in 1972. Later on, the change in the
efforts ended in smoke after the rejection by NHL.design of the Uniform was observed. However, The
Edmonton Oilers was named Albera Oilers in theOrange remained the dominant color and blue used
beginning. The reason of this naming was their plan tofor the trimming. In the season of 1972 season for at
split their home games between Edmonton andleast first few games, the word 'ALBERTA' was
Calgary after the Calgary Broncos folded. However,written on the uniform instead of player names.
For diverse reasons, most probably financial orWhen it was evident that the team would play
maybe the possibility of letting easier expansion ofexclusively in Edmonton, the player names replaced
either the NHL or WHA to Calgary, Edmonton Oilersthe word "ALBERTA" Whereas the jerseys featured
played all of its games in Edmonton, thus changedthe player numbers high on the shoulders instead of
their name to imitate this the following year.on the upper sleeve.
The Team could not produce the high performancesIn 1975-1976 , the change in the jersey's design was
in their early games. Even though, the team playersalso observed. The bluer base was replaced with
starting getting popularity and were much welcomedorange trim with some minor differences. The logo
by their fans. Amongst the early star players werethat presented on programs and promotional material
defenseman and team captain Al Hamilton, starcontinued to be the same; but the logo that featured
goaltender Dave Dryden, and forwards Blair McDonaldon the home jersey had a white oil drop, on a dark
and Bill Flett. There was a great improvementorange field, along with the team name written in
observed in 1978, when the new owner Peterdeep blue. The jersey design which had the orange
Pocklington decided and carried out one of theprinted logo led to the misconception of attributing it
greatest trades in hockey history, getting anto the entire history of the WHA Oilers. In almost all
already-aspiring superstar Wayne Gretzky plusother sides, the jerseys were similar to the
goaltender Eddie Mio and forward Peter Driscoll, fromdynasty-era form that it is known throughout the
the Indianapolis Racers for a token sum. Gretzky'shockey world.
first and only WHA season, 1978-79, saw the OilersThe most popular look of Jersey was seen in 1979
accelerated to the top of the WHA standings,when Edmonton Oilers rushed to the NHL. In the new
stamping a league-best 48-30-2 record. It is importantLook of Jersey,the substitute logos were removed.
to mention here that that Edmonton's regular seasonThe basic design stayed untouched till 1996, when
victory did not interpret into a championship, as theythe blue and orange were replaced by midnight blue
fell to the rival Winnipeg Jets in the Avco Worldand copper. Besides this other changes done to the
Trophy Final. Young Oilers enforcer Dave Semenkojersey at that time were the deletion of the orange
gained the last goal in WHA history late in the thirdshoulder bar and cuffs from the away jersey, plus
period of the final game.the addition of the "rigger" alternate logo to the end
The team moved on its progress and it joined theof the shoulder bar on the home jersey, and also the
NHL for the 1979-80 seasons along with fellow WHAequivalent position on the road jersey. After a year,
teams Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and thethe shoulder bars were discarded from the home
Jets. Out of all these four teams, Edmontonjersey too, making the Oilers' sweater a modern look.
continued with its name and location whereas theThere was a controversy over the introduction of
Nordiques changed their name to the Coloradothe third jersey containing a logo designed by Spawn
Avalanche in 1995, the Jets became the Phoenixcreator and Oilers co-owner, Todd McFarlane. This
Coyotes in 1996, and the Whalers became themove created negative reactions to other teams'
Carolina Hurricanes in 1997.designs in 2001. Both the "rigger" logo and McFarlane's
The Edmonton Oilers enjoyed the peak of their"Blades" logo were always seen with contempt
performances as a mighty team when the greatbecause it seemed to meant to symbolize elements
players like Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri,of the Oilers' past, whereas the navy, silver, and
Paul Coffey, Glenn Anderson, Grant Fuhr, and Kevinwhite design is usually considered a success, there
Lowe were the part of the team. This team isare no inclinations for it to become the basis for the
believed to be the strongest team in the hockeyteam's primary jerseys, as it has been done formally
history and they successfully showed their dominationby the Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks.
of the NHL towards the mid-to-late 1980s. In the light