Questions for Quinn: It’s called fashion!

This really was an interesting one for me. For a girl who does like clothes and style, I have never been one to really take in and digest the jerseys that the Oilers have played in. That said, I didn’t have to think hard or do any research to tell you the royal blue jerseys they wore from 1981 to 1994. That colour is so good, and then of course the orange stripe on the pants I absolutely love. I’m crushed that we don’t get to see those anymore at home. The orange is warming up to me, simply because it really stands out and there’s more and more in the seats so it’s turning in to a sea of orange which I can appreciate.

Let’s go on a journey of breaking these jerseys down, shall we? Will you take a walk with me?

For starters, any jersey without the three stripes at the bottom is never going to fly for me. So that stretch in the mid 2000’s until my dad retired, never gonna pick those. What is it about three stripes? Whatever it is, absolute game-changer for me.

The navy blue? NOPE! I don’t love that entire stage of the blue and copper. But it’s a strange thing, because so many great memories (for us millennials) come from times when they wore those jerseys.

Wanna know what’s funny? For some reason, when I think of those jerseys one of the first guys I think of is Mike Grier and all the fights my dad and I used to have about him; after the shoulder injury I always told my dad he was too soft. He would always disagree and get annoyed with me (like you’re a bratty teenager Quinn) until one day I flipped him and he saw it. I actually feel bad saying it now, because shoulder injuries, as we’ve found out, are just a nightmare to come back from. (Klef? You there? WE MISS YOU!)

I honestly don’t even know how many jerseys I got over the years. Talk about being spoiled, I’ve probably misplaced more than some people have had in their lifetime. I will never forget when I was a young teenager my parents bought me a jersey for Christmas with Dean McAmmond’s 37 on the back… the problem was it said Phillips, not McAmmond.  Not to be dramatic, but Christmas was OBVIOUSLY RUINED. I was horrified as a young girl and never wanted to wear it. It’s pretty ironic that about 15 years later my dad would retire after 37 years, and as a tribute, the team wore 37 Phillips jerseys for warmup in his last ever game.

And perhaps a little bit of karma for being such a brat when I was younger (although was I really being a brat? I’m sure most of you hate the idea of a player’s number but with your own name) … anyways, I got paid back after my dad’s retirement game because Kevin Lowe gave my brother Devin, Devan Dubnyk’s warm-up jersey with the 37 Phillips, but Duby’s number 40 on the sleeve. I on the other hand…got nothing. It was nice of Kevin, he did it because they shared a name. Sadly no one on the team was named Quinn. Weird.

That’s obviously the jersey in the photo above, and with my brother living in Kingston (and leaving the jersey at my parents) I’ve decided I’m stealing it and now wearing it to games. The next one I’ll be at is this upcoming Saturday against Chicago…so if you see a 37 Phillips jersey you know it’s me and you know the whole story! Say hi!

For the record, I asked Cap’n Rod his favourite and least favourite jerseys over the years. The original, first year they came into the NHL is his number one pick. Makes sense. His least favourite? The reverse retro. Anyone into that one?

Tell me your favourite jerseys.

For a girl who claimed to not really have a strong opinion or digest different uniforms, she just spit out 650 words about it (I mean it was a winding road with some pit stops but we got to the destination).

I’m really hoping some of the randomness that comes from me helps bring up more questions. Keep hitting me up with those questions!