Oilers hope orange is the new tradition
Orange might be Edmonton’s unofficial colour.
The pylons and barricades lining our roads, the safety attire borne by working men and women, the river valley in fall, the political party that ended a dynasty and this newspaper’s new colours are all tangerine-tinted.
But the city’s crush on orange is set to deepen at the Edmonton Oilers home opener Thursday. The Oilers will sport orange sweaters and want fans to follow suit.
Just don’t call it a “Sea of Orange,” said Oilers spokesman Tim Shipton.
“It’s Surge of Orange. I say that because Calgary has the Sea of Red and that’s their thing. We want to do our own thing.”
The team unveiled the alternative jersey at the NHL draft where wunderkind Connor McDavid was the first player to slip one on.
The team has also sent orange jerseys to season-ticket holders.
The Oilers will go orange seven games this season to celebrate team history, pay homage to the old World Hockey Association Oilers and commemorate its last season at Rexall Place, Shipton said.
Season-ticket holders Scott Gauthier and Dave Turner are on board with the Orange Surge. They just won’t be wearing their new jerseys at the home opener, because they dropped them off Wednesday for stitching that will take a few weeks.
Turner said the Oilers appear to be following in Calgary’s footsteps: “And actually every other arena is doing it, too. They’re all picking a colour.”
Gauthier doesn’t think fans will feel obligated to buy an orange jersey to go to a game.
“A jersey’s a jersey. If you’ve got an old one and you wear it to the game, you’re still showing good pride,” he said.
Customers are snapping up the orange Oilers jersey, forking over $209 for a crested one and $139 for plain, said Kelly Hodgson, brand and events manager for United Cycle.
The orange jerseys are outselling their blue and white counterparts by a 10-to-1 margin at the store.
Symbolism and souvenir sales aside, could wearing orange make the Oilers better on the ice?
“There isn’t much evidence for the effects of orange,” said Adam Alter, an associate professor of marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business, and author of Drunk Tank Pink, a book that examines the effect of colour on how people think, feel and behave.
Alter says the team might end up selling more hotdogs.
“The only relevant research I know of shows that people eat more when in the presence of orange. Warmer colours seem to inspire the appetite.”
Another advantage to orange is that some fans will totally rock the look.
“This particular bright shade of orange would look really great on anybody who can wear normally jewel-tone colours: cobalt blue, emerald green,” said Sue Heuman, image consultant with Style on Purpose.
For anyone who finds Oilers orange too much, she recommends wearing a regular jersey.
“And adding a bright orange scarf to punch it up a little and help the home team.”