The Edmonton Oilers revealed their 2023 Heritage Classic jersey earlier this week, bringing a strong reaction on social media from not just Oilers fans but from around the hockey world.
The reactions were generally positive with only a few fans who voiced their displeasure with the Edmonton Mercurys throwback jersey.

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Zogabogga chimes in and takes a shot at those criticizing the jersey. This is the first time the Oilers will honour the Mercurys in this type of fashion. A great tribute to one of Edmonton’s legendary hockey clubs.
Wayne Glensky understands the meaning behind it but wishes the team brought back the copper and blue jerseys worn between 1996-2007. We saw the club bring back the Todd MacFarlane-inspired jerseys as reverse retros last season, it’s only a matter of time before dark blues return.
Amanda, who’s fortunate enough to be 5’1 can give herself a little discount by purchasing a child’s jersey. Nonetheless, the jersey has been in high demand since the moment it dropped.
Handsome Rob with an honest review. The one complaint fans have had with the uniform is the pants and gloves, how the brown and vibrant colours simply do not match. However, it is meant to give off a vintage, heritage vibe. I’m personally not a fan of the pants either, however, I’ll reserve my full judgment for when they hit the ice on October 29th.

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Over on the Oilersnation Instagram page, I counted 30 comments with the fire emoji, safe to say nearly everyone was delighted when the jerseys were shared on social media.
“Jerseys sick. Brown pants and gloves are overdone and look fake.” – tylr3
Once again, the pants and gloves are what put a stain on the uniform. It would be interesting to see how it would all look with orange pants however, once again it’s all about the retro, old-school look.
“At least it isn’t as ugly as the retro from last year. Still barf though.” – matty_outdoors
See, personally, I’m more of a fan of the reverse retros from last season. Hopefully the Oilers end up having a better record with the Heritage Classic jersey and fortunately for those who don’t like the look, it’s only going to be worn once and it’ll look better with the team celebrating a win.
“I might want these full-time. If they could make the pants/gloves that copper color, then for sure I would. The brown is a little washed out for my liking.” – therd_floor
What’s great about this jersey is that it’s very unique to what the Oilers have done throughout their history. They’ve only worn one other logo on the uniforms and that’s the Oilers’ McFarlane jersey. Not sure if it be suitable for a full season but it’s different than we’re used to.
Ryan Smyth looks for a pass in the Oilers third jersey designed by Todd McFarlane.

Facebook

Onto the Facebook comments we received, one person thought they could’ve had a better idea.
“I’m sure they could’ve come up with something better than that.”- Dustin
This is true but that can be said about any jersey. However, for once the Oilers are stepping out of their comfort zone and decided to experiment with a new design altogether. I give them credit for their creativity and paying homage to the history of Edmonton hockey, giving a small lesson on the Mercurys.
“This is a retroish design, they are paying homage to the Edmonton Mercurys. This is nearly identical to their jersey! I think it’s great to do this.” – Cory
Well said by Cory. This jersey is more about shining a light on the Edmonton Mercurys and not forgetting that they existed. It’s a blast from the past and the fact the Oilers stayed as identical as they could is a nice touch.

Wrap Up

When cruising the comment sections it felt like 90 per cent of people were fans of the new threads. Of course, you can’t please everyone. Particularly Flames’ fans where I saw one person on TikTok mention that it’s the worst jersey of all time.
Right now, I’m just itching to see these under the bright lights of Commonwealth Stadium.