Hockey club "Edmonton Oilers": composition and form

"Edmonton Oilers" is one of the old-timers of the National Hockey League. For its forty-year history, the team experienced ups and downs. In its ranks played such famous players as Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier.

History of the club

The Edmonton Oilers ice hockey club first announced itself in the year of the opening of the World Hockey Association. Then the team was introduced to the audience under the name "Alberta Oilers". By its original name the club was indebted to the provincial Canadian city. The management of the Oilers assumed that the team would divide all their home matches between the hockey grounds of Edmonton and Calgary. But this was not destined to come true, therefore already in the next season of 1973/1974 the team received a new name, under which it still stands.

For the entire time of participation in the VHL team did not achieve particularly great success. The only achievement of the Oilers was the participation in the finals of the playoffs in 1979, where the club lost to Winnipeg.

"Edmonton Oilers": the composition that brought victory

The next season was a new milestone in the history of the team. Edmonton's management signed one of the largest contracts with the famous Wayne Gretzky. Just before the start of the new hockey year, already in the National Hockey League, the club made another rather significant acquisition. In the ranks of the oil industry, Mark Messier, who has never been known to anyone else, appeared.

In the first season of the NHL "Edmonton Oilers" declared itself as a team, ready to fight for the highest positions in the championship. Despite the defeat in the first round, the club was able to establish several significant records thanks to the same unbeaten Wayne. Also a significant contribution to the successful performances of the team made such players as Messier, Coffey and Curry.

Owners of Stanley

A few years later already well-played hockey players begin to receive points. For six consecutive years (since 1981), oilmen annually gain more than 100 points in the national championship. Also the team has four times won the main overseas trophy - the Stanley Cup. In the finals of 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988, hockey players from the Boston Philadelphia Club and the New York Islanders were defeated.

In those gold years for the fans of Edmonton, the team was led by Glen Sater. The latter managed to instill in his team a real team spirit and infect them with the desire to win. One of the main roles in the successful performances of the club also played the first black goalkeeper of the National Hockey League Grant Fyur, who defended in those years the gate of the Oilers.

Farewell, Wayne!

August 9, 1988 was a fateful date for the Canadian club. Gretzky, who was the main strike force of the team, left the ranks of the oil industry and moved to the Los Angeles Kings. With the departure of Wayne from the arsenal of the team, the sweater with the number 99 disappeared forever, under which the hockey player acted. Without his central scorer, the Edmonton team began to suffer one defeat after another in the first season. The club left the playoffs at the initial stage, losing all the same "Los Angeles Kings", which now shone the former player of the team.

Risen from the ashes

In 1990, at the helm of the team, John McClair was placed. By his efforts the club was able to overcome its crisis and for the fifth time to become the owner of an honorable trophy. The victim of oil workers was again the Boston club, which was defeated in five games. After this victorious season, "Edmonton Oilers" left many already aged players, including Mark Messier.

However, three years later the team again overtook the crisis. This time the oilmen had financial difficulties. "Oilrose" four times in a row leaves the playoffs. Club director Peter Pocklington, to the great displeasure of the fans, decides to transport Edmonton to another city because of the high cost of hockey field rent, where the team conducted training.

Thick average NHL

Only in the season 1996/1997 the oil industry manages to show a more or less decent game in many ways thanks to the efforts of Curtis Joseph, who stood at the gates of the club, as well as the extraordinary tactics of the game invented by the new coach Ron Lowe. The NHL "Edmonton Oilers" managed not only to densely settle in the middle of the standings, but for the first time in many years to enter the playoff series. In the first game, the oil industry manages to create a miracle, defeating the notorious favorite of the match - "Dallas". However, in the next game the club was defeated by Colorado.

The following year HC "Edmonton Oilers" again surprised all fans of hockey. In the first series of the playoffs, the team outplayed Colorado. But in the next game defeated last season, "Dallas" was able to take revenge against the opponent.

And again the crisis

Three consecutive seasons the club continued to show good hockey, regularly pleased their fans with outputs in the playoffs. But in 2000 in the era of Edmonton Oilers there is a turning point. The chair of the main manager of the team leaves already become native for the players Glen Sater.

The new leadership faced serious financial difficulties and was forced to part with many leading players. But despite this, the senior coach of the club Craig McTavish managed to create a fully capable team, constantly leaving the playoffs. The most successful team was able to achieve the greatest success in the 2005/2006 season. "Edmonton" reached the Cup final, where in eight games suffered defeat from "Carolina". The most productive players in the oil industry that year were Chris Pronger, standing in the position of defender, forward Fernando Pisani and goalkeeper Duane Roloson.

Form "Edmonton Oilers": all metamorphosis

The personification of any hockey team is not only her game, but also the form in which the club members perform. A hockey player, like any other person, is also met by clothes.

The form of oil industry workers for the years of the team's existence has not undergone significant changes. His first season in the NHL "Edmonton" began in white sweaters with brown and blue stripes. For the away matches, a darker version of the form was ordered - blue sweaters with brown and white stripes. For a long time, the management team did not make any significant adjustments to the design of sweaters. Only after almost twenty years the form has undergone some changes. The colors became darker and duller, and on the shoulders appeared the emblem of Edmonton Oilers, an oilman working with a stick in his hands.

In 2001, the team had a second version of the home form - a dark blue sweater. In its center was a huge flying gear with a drop of oil in the middle. The image became the second logo of the team.

Six years later, Reebok became the general sponsor of the oil industry, so practically all the stripes disappeared from the sweater. In the arsenal of "Edmonton Oilers" there is a form of both new and old samples.