■ CELEBS SHOW THEIR LOVE,
From Keith Urban to 50 Cent, countless artists have donned the copper-and-blue
As the Oilers show off their new orange jerseys at Thursday’s home opener, there’s no better time to look back at some of the celebrities who have donned the team’s old sweaters.
Vince Gill. The Game. Conan O’Brien. System Of A Down’s guitarist/singer Daron Malakian. Alice Cooper.
All five have sported jerseys during their Edmonton shows. (Cooper wore one at his 1975 concert, when the Oilers were still part of the World Hockey Association.)
There’s even a YouTube video — titled “Rapper in an Oilers Jersey” — from The Game’s 2006 appearance at a West Edmonton Mall club. (I’m not sure we can link to it because the clip also features a flasher.)
“I’ve been a huge Edmonton Oilers fan ever since I was a little kid,” Malakian gushed during System Of A Down’s 2011 reunion show at Rexall Place. (Prior to the gig, the Los Angeles musician took a tour of the team’s locker-room.)
Most of these jerseys are gifts from local promoters, venue managers ... or the Oilers themselves. In 2001, the Backstreet Boys received their gear from defenceman and captain Jason Smith. The singers didn’t actually put on their white jerseys, but Nick Carter did jokingly put his hands around the Oilers captain’s neck when posing for a photo.
Out in the larger world, Oilers wear is nowhere near the popculture powerhouse as New York Yankees caps or even Toronto Blue Jays shirts, but the oil drop has made a few unexpected appearances over the years.
Boyz II Men’s Shawn Stockman wore a blue jersey in the video to rapper LL Cool J’s 1995 single, Hey Lover. Fellow hip-hop star 50 Cent donned a green Oilers cap for a 2007 spread in Rap-Up magazine, then briefly wore a blue one in his Complicated video, released in 2012.
These days, director/actor Kevin Smith wears an Oilers-inspired jersey to promote his podcast venture, SModcast.com.
“I’m an Oilers fan,” he explains in a video on the team’s website.” ... I wear the Oilers colours, I drape myself in it.”
He’ll have to get one of the team’s new orange sweaters — or perhaps steal Keith Urban’s. The Australian country star wore one during his July appearance at Rexall Place.