Disappointed. Hope the blue returns the year after as a third jersey.
From what i read/understand; the whole reason they have to abandon the Blue jersey is because the new jersey contract will only allow for 2 jerseys per team. No team will have a third jersey.
Now, could the Oilers do Orange and Dark Blue? yes. Technically if the league is ok with it (Nashville makes me think you dont specifically need white anymore as the base of the light jerseys. BUT nobody else uses "mustard" color in their jerseys...a point i will get to later).
The old rules of having a white jersey are from the days of Black and White TV in that spotty 10p resolution. You couldnt have 2 dark jerseys of different colors, or two light jerseys playing against eachother.
In todays era of TV i think we can scrap that BUT i think on the ice its less confusing for players peripheral (officials too where your brain sees an infraction in your peripheral and identifies a color...you turn your head and two guys are skating away but with same base colors?). Imagine Oilers Oranges playing the Islanders original....might be some passes to wrong players.
So it makes sense to stay with the trusted Whites versus darks... or darks versus skins, as my buddies and i like to call it. Nashville can get away with it because no other team likes to wear baby vomit.
That leads to the second part of the discussion...
why orange over blue?
I think Nicholson said it loud and clear. The past will be respected (and the Oranges are a salute to the very beginning of the Oilers franchise) but its time to mark the new era. That is what the Orange jerseys do.
My Weight era of Oilers hockey, that i grew up on is unique. That jersey will always be special to me and ended quickly after the 06 run. The pajamas followed.
I like the Oranges and i think it shows a new era quite well. Id love the Whites to use the old "red" logo but with Orange instead of Red. I think the NHL doesnt like the messing with logos though. If people are unfamiliar with it, it was just a rearrangement of the colors in the logo. that logo was a WHA jersey usage that gave a nod to the past OIL KINGS junior teams.
Oilers have, pajamas aside--which were forced by the nhl, a rich history in jerseys (also i eliminate the original mcfarlane third which was simply a cash grab very necessary in that financially crushing day)