We’re days away from the Heritage Classic at Edmonton’s very own Commonwealth Stadium and Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner has flashed a glimpse of his gear ahead of the game.
On Monday, Skinner took the ice for practice with a different look than usual; instead of boasting his classic white pads with orange and blue stripes on the bottom, he was looking a little more retro, vintage perhaps.
All geared up for the #HeritageClassic 🤩 pic.twitter.com/eFCPNorSwi
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 23, 2023
The full white pads were overtaken by a thick orange stripe running directly up and down the middle of his pads with blue strips running horizontally across the orange, with one particularulary thicker right where his knees sit.
We’ve seen this look before.. it feels oddly familiar, right? There’s a simple answer to it really, the Heritage Classic set up for Skinner pays homage to the iconic setup of legendary Oilers netminder Grant Fuhr had in the late 1980’s early 90’s.
Fuhr wore the iconic look through out his last few years with the Oilers organization, changing up the colour scheme here and there before being traded in 1991 to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Fuhr, is one of the most legendary goaltenders in Oilers history winning four Stanley Cups (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988) with the club throughout the teams dynasty years. He also became a winner of the Vezina Trophy (1987-88) while with the organization. Fuhr totalled 10 years with the Oilers with a record of 226-117-54 with a .883 save percentage and 3.69 goals against average.
As expected, Skinner’s pads are much fresher, hold the newer look of today’s NHL goaltenders, and are yet to be worn down by rubber black puck marks, but the resemblance is solid. The brand of gear is also different as the D&R (Daignault-Rolland) Laser pads Fuhr used to wear are no longer being produced and the brand’s name has since been sold.
It may be overly optimistic, but perhaps Skinner’s Heritage Classic gear is a foreshadow of what’s to come for the Oilers.
The Oilers will play the Calgary Flames on Sunday in a true classic battle of Alberta as the Oilers host the seventh annual Heritage Classic outdoor game sponsored by Tim Hortons.
