What can we expect from the Calgary Flames’ Heritage Classic jerseys?

At the end of October, the Calgary Flames will be playing the Edmonton Oilers in the Heritage Classic. It’s the Flames’ third trip outdoors and is a third opportunity for the club to wear a snazzy special jersey to commemorate such an occasion.

We’re expecting to see an unveiling of the jersey for the outdoor game sometime in September. But what can we expect the Flames to unveil?

The Flames have appeared in two previous Heritage Classics. In each event, they used a throwback jersey of sorts.

In 2011, when they hosted the Montreal Canadiens at McMahon Stadium, the Flames used a jersey inspired by the 1924 Calgary Tigers, the first Calgary-based team to play in the Stanley Cup Final. The throwback jersey featured a slightly different colour scheme, punctuated with orange stripes and a beige Flaming C. Some folks called it the “Ronald McDonald Flames jersey,” but for a one-off special event sweater, it worked quite well.

In 2019, when the Flames faced the Winnipeg Jets at Mosiac Stadium in Regina, the Flames unveiled a white version of their beloved retro red sweaters. It was both an homage to their 1980s glory days… and a precursor to the Flames’ jersey set going Full Retro in 2020-21.

The “easiest” thing the Flames could do is dust off an old design from their own past. But they’ve already used their best retro uniforms, the old Atlanta Flames jerseys both wouldn’t make sense (and are basically the existing retro set), and they don’t really have any other prominent jerseys from yesteryear that haven’t already been made into Reverse Retros. (Reviving the 2004-era jerseys just doesn’t have an appropriate retro feel, either.)

So let’s head into the Calgary hockey history time machine!

The old Calgary Stampeders are probably the most memorable non-Flames, non-Wranglers, non-Hitmen major hockey club. They played between 1938 and 1972, capturing the Allan Cup in 1946. Not only is it a brand that CSEC already owns the rights to, but it would provide a fun bit of cross-promotion, and the Stampeders share a colour palate with the Flames that could allow for some really slick throwback designs.

(As an aside, if the Flames go with the Stampeders for their throwback, the Oilers could go with the old Edmonton Flyers, who won the Allan Cup in 1948, or the Edmonton Mercurys, who won the gold medal at the 1952 Winter Olympics.)

The other two options would likely be the Calgary Centennials or the Calgary Cowboys. Both teams (as well as the Wranglers) were part of the Corral Series that the Calgary Hitmen hosted in 2019 – featuring the Hitmen hosting a trio of games in the Stampede Corral in retro jerseys paying tribute to past Calgary teams. As a result, there are already well-designed throwbacks for the Centennials and Cowboys that would probably only need to be slightly tweaked.