History of WHA Celebrated in Jets, Oilers Heritage Classic Uniforms

The World Hockey Association will be have the eyes of the hockey world on it once again this fall, outdoors at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg.

Thirty-seven years after the league played its final game, the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers (the two teams who played in that final WHA game) will suit up wearing uniforms which both debuted during the WHA era. The Jets wearing the uniform their namesake wore during that final game on May 20, 1979 and the Oilers wearing their orange uniform from the club’s first seasons in Edmonton – it just also happens to be their current alternate jersey.

Jets and Oilers Uniforms — From left to right: Oilers alumni, Oilers Heritage, Jets heritage, Jets alumni jerseys

The Jets jersey is white with the logo the original team wore from 1973-1991 on the chest, shoulders are blue with a red and blue collar. Three red/blue/red stripes on each arm and at the waist, pants are red with a great retro Jets logo patch on the side.

A close-up look at that pants patch:

As if this old set couldn’t get any better, the logo patch on the chest features old-school chain-stitching on the logo:

And the back of the jersey which also shows the Heritage Classic patch on the shoulder:

While the Oilers are just recycling their alternate orange uniform which was introduced last season:

As we mentioned earlier, both jerseys are based off of uniforms worn by the original Jets and the Edmonton Oilers during the WHA. Here’s the Winnipeg Jets celebrating their 1979 AVCO Cup championship following the final WHA game in those uniforms:

And NHL legend Jacques Plante wearing the orange Oilers uniform during his brief stint with Edmonton in the early 1970s:

The Jets also announced that the team would wear their Heritage Classic uniforms twice more in 2016-17, first on January 9th and again on March 19th. We’re holding out hope they wear ’em a lot more than that in the years to come.

To answer some frequently asked questions… the modern Winnipeg Jets do indeed own the rights to the original Jets logos and uniforms, although the history of that club (in terms of records, etc.) is still officially tied with the Arizona Coyotes. As we all know, the current version of the Winnipeg Jets are in fact the former Atlanta Thrashers who began play in 1999.