On Friday afternoon in Winnipeg on Portage and Main before thousands of fans the Jets and the Oilers had a formal press conference to unveil the jerseys that the teams will be wearing for the Heritage Classic in October, as well as the rosters for the alumni game.
The Oilers haven’t been in an outdoor game since the original Heritage Classic back in 2003 at Commonwealth and it was an absolute blast. The alumni game the day before vs the Montreal Canadiens alumni allowed so many of us who were not alive yet to watch guys like Gretzky, Messier and Kurri in the dynasty days lace up again and play as members of the Edmonton Oilers.
The format for this year’s Heritage Classic is no different. To no one’s surprise the roster for is 80s heavy.
The Roster
-Wayne Gretzky
-Mark Messier
-Ryan Smyth
-Jari Kurri
-Craig Simpson
-Craig MacTavish
-Dave Semenko
-Ken Linseman
-BJ MacDonald
-Glenn Anderson
-Esa Tikkanen
-Kelly Buchberger
-Kevin Lowe
-Paul Coffey
-Randy Gregg
-Charlie Huddy
-Marty McSorley
-Grant Fuhr
-Bill Ranford
-Dwayne Roloson
The 90s and 2000s do get some love on the squad, in the form of Ryan Smyth and Dwayne Roloson being named to the team.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love the make up of the roster – it includes Hall of Famers and dudes who put up thousands of more points than I’ll ever be able to dream of doing in my sleep or on NHL 17, but how nice would it have been to have had a few more guys from the late 90s and 2000s?
Were the 1980s the most successful era of this franchise? Without a doubt it was, but a whole new generation of fans came of age watching Curtis Joseph, Todd Marchant, Doug Weight, Mike Grier and Jason Arnott. Yet another set of fans wanted to be like Fernando Pisani and Jason Smith. Maybe some of those guys were asked but couldn’t commit to being in Winnipeg for it, but their absence from the roster is noticeable.
Seeing Ryan Smyth and Roloson on the roster is great and does give a nod to the last Cup final appearance that the franchise has had. Saying out loud that 2005-06 is now 11 seasons ago makes me want to curl up into a ball and cry.
On paper vs the Winnipeg roster – yes, I know it’s an alumni game where guys won’t be going full speed- I’d still give a tremendous edge to the Oilers alumni. The Jets have players like Teemu Selanne, Dale Hawerchuck, Thomas Steen and Teppo Numminen suiting up for them but the Oilers still have just too much fire power some 25 years later for a Winnipeg squad to handle.
Hopefully for Winnipeg we hear about more goalies being named to the roster, because right now their only netminder is Bob Essensa who could have doubled as a member of the Oilers alumni; four goalies for one team would have been unfair. Maybe after the first period the lights will dim at Investors Group Field and Pokey Reddick will emerge to relieve Essensa. That would send the place into a frenzy, I know that much.
The potential line combos also for the Oilers are the stuff of dreams. TSN projected the first line to be Semenko-Gretzky-Kurri but what about Ryan Smyth on the wing with the Great One and Kurri? We can dream can’t we?? As for who goes in net you really can’t miss with either Fuhr, Ranford or Roloson starting but I’d assume that the only Hockey Hall of Famer in the bunch in the form of Fuhr gets the nod to start in between the pipes.
Win or lose this is going to be a fun event, but hopefully in the end the Oilers alumni keep their 10+ year long unbeaten streak in tact vs Winnipeg this fall.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
