Before Rogers Place opened its doors, before the era of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and well before the era of Evan Bouchard, there was a long playoff drought. The Decade of Darkness only ensnared one “McDrai” year, but a lot of years before that were ugly. General managers and coaches came and went, with very little success and solely “legacy” moments.
Go back to the year prior to that drought, though, and you have the storied 2006 Stanley Cup Playoff run. This was before the advent of “Let’s Go Oilers” as the recurring playoff motto. Instead, that year, the tagline was “Get Electric.”
Now, in 2026, the aura of that campaign appears to be shining through in the form of the new Hometown Remix (HTR) uniforms. While the story behind the theme isn’t known yet, place it next to 2006’s “Get Electric” campaign and the similarities become hard to ignore. It feels like this was the purpose of the Oilers’ HTR jerseys and outfits, and here’s how.
The logo, and (rumoured) sweater go Blackout like it’s the 2000s
In the mid-2000s, NHL jerseys by and large took on darker hues. For a decade filled with vibrant colour throughout, some things still related more to Britney Spears’s 2007 album, “Blackout.” The Oilers, of course, have never worn a black jersey, but in that famed 2006 era, they had navy blue and midnight blue. Close enough; those “break the ice” into the black-base jerseys (pun wholly intended).
From the glimpses we’ve seen, with players breaking in new equipment ahead of an end-of-month HTR release, the Oilers are committing to black as the base. It appears to be kind of like the 2019–2024 navy alternates were, with only neon orange and grey accenting. One mockup has similar striping to the 2000’s jerseys (and has shoulder patches, too).
The grey might also link this to a proposed alternate jersey during the era of Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle. While never put out on the ice, the jersey had the exact same colours. Only difference was the logo was more steely in appearance, with grey being more prominent.
A further teaser came out earlier this week, as it did for all 32 teams (except the New York Rangers) and their HTR mysteries. Edmonton’s, when matching the numbers with their corresponding alphabet letter, reads “Oil Country after midnight.” This is where the 2000’s tangent comes even more into view.
The Get Electric year shocked the hockey world
If you want to get goosebumps on a random day like today, go watch the CBC’s intro to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2006. The old Northlands Coliseum was absolutely rockin’ for that entire run, and the last playoff game in that building met the moment. Separately, here’s the scoreboard intro video just by itself—right at the end is where you’ll want to pay close attention. (Do be careful viewing, if you have epilepsy or get seizures.)
Notice how the “Get Electric” tagline is displayed in electric blue, on a black background. So, too, is the iconic Oilers roundel. This never made it onto a jersey, or onto much merch altogether if at all. But it gave fans a visual to tie that playoff run to.
Now, put that design of the Oilers logo next to the one revealed in team practices earlier this week. The similarities are striking. And accompanied with the “Oil Country after midnight” message, the whole HTR getup feels very 2006-coded. And given how, even after more than a decade of “McDrai,” than playoff run is still talked about, it makes perfect sense to call back to that run for a true “Hometown” Remix.
If we can’t get the Copper ‘n’ Blues again, this is also very acceptable
That earlier jersey concept matches a lot of what has been described about the upcoming HTR jersey, so we’ll borrow it for this paragraph. Give credit to David, they did a splendid job making this look realistic, even if it still used AI function. Likewise, the jersey itself looks pretty cool in its own right.
This is a far better black-base jersey than what the 2014 concept was, as the minimal use of grey works far better. The logo really lights up on this jersey, even more so than it did on the navy two-tones. And the striping and patches being a subtle, yet distinct, nod to 2006 is both unique, and a slam-dunk.
If this is indeed the finished product, we’ve got a gem of a jersey on our hands. Dare say this observer, it would be one that “electrifies” the fanbase. Not every alternate jersey succeeds, and some turn out downright awful, so it would be nice to know this jersey didn’t fall into the same out of doom. And all because the franchise leaned into modern nostalgia, which it should never stop doing.
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Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
