Quote:
Originally Posted by getbak
Except for Staal, they're all numbers the player has worn in the NHL and Staal was just a reverse of his NYR and Detroit number because 18 was already taken by Hyman.
Middleton wore 67 when he broke into the league, but switched to 21 prior to last season. The Oilers didn't have a player wearing 21 last season, so I'm not sure why they would have done his jersey with 67 and not 21.
They were likely playing the odds that the player would want to keep the same number after the trade that he was wearing before (or reverse the digits in Staal's case).
The only explanation that makes any sense for why those jerseys exist is the Oilers were in the market for a d-man at the deadline and those players were the most-likely candidates (plus Kulak, who they actually acquired). They were on a short road trip at the trade deadline, so they probably had the equipment staff prepare road jerseys for each of the players just in case they were acquired and to save the equipment staff from the hassle of preparing the jersey while on the road. Funnily enough, Kulak was the player they acquired, and he didn't join the team until after that short trip was over anyway.
There is a logical reason for them to exist, what's crazy is the decision to sell them to the public 6 months later.
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Zero explanation. This isn't 1981 anymore. Teams travel with spare jerseys and name and numbers, and my guess is also extra letters. Teams have been on the road for decades during trade deadlines and have been able to get jerseys done up for newly acquired players.
Just a mix of ego and hubris and borderline tampering to do those jerseys up assuming they will get any of those players. My guess is it was part of Lowe and his sales pitch to the player over Zoom, saying we are ready for you to join us and want you so bad, we already have a jersey for you done up, we are that confident in you...or something similarly hokey that Lowe truly believe works because it worked on Ken Linseman back in 1983 when Slats did it.
Unsurprisingly, also a lack of professionalism and incompetance to leave them as is more than 1 day post deadline, let alone sell them to the public months later.