NHL team considering using blatant Edmonton Oilers rip-off for third jersey
They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.
With the NHL being made up of 32 teams, it seems pretty easy for teams to come up with their own unique designs that don’t borrow too much from their competitors. Every team is equipped with their own unique logo and, while colour schemes can share similarities, design teams across the NHL have done a pretty good job of keeping each team looking fairly distinct from each other.
The one exception to that rule may be the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning, who wear pretty similar uniforms to one another. Now, it looks like the New York Islanders are considering doing something similar with their upcoming third jersey, but with the Edmonton Oilers instead.
The Islanders opted to let fans design their new third jersey in an unprecedented design contest. On Tuesday, the team revealed the eight finalists in the running, and one of them looks heavily inspired by a previous Oilers design.
The Oilers and Islanders share an orange and blue colour scheme, but this seems a bit close for comfort.
Perry Nelson/USA TODAY Sports | @NYIslanders/X
One of the finalists looks nearly identical to the bright orange Adidas home jerseys that the Oilers wore between the 2017-18 and 2021-22 seasons.
The only differences between these two designs are the logos and that the proposed Islanders concept has navy at the end of the sleeves rather than orange. The New York design also incorporates shoulder patches and would likely use a different font for the numbers and nameplate.
Otherwise, everything, down to the colouring of the numbers, collar, and the striping pattern, is identical. It’s essentially a carbon copy of the Oilers design, which would make this whole design contest seem pretty pointless if they just wanted to copy an Edmonton design from a few years ago.
This isn’t even the only finalist of the eight to use the same striping pattern as the Oilers, though that one at least took on a less familiar colourway.
@NYIslanders/X
The rivalry between the Oilers and Islanders is deep and dates all the way back to a few Stanley Cup Final clashes in the early 1980s. While the history is rich, honouring the team that ended their dynasty by ripping off their look might be taking things a bit too far.
We’ll have to wait and see if Islanders fans opt to embrace their Oilers-inspired design or if they carve out their own way with another of the seven finalists.