The Canucks will be wearing their retro skate logo jerseys against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, and people are loving it.
I can understand why. The jerseys look good. They’re retro. They remind us of a better time…
Image: Vancouver Canucks
They’re going to look sharp. Everyone is going to love them. And that will spark up the daily debate about changing the jersey (again).
The problem with the Skate jersey coming back for one game is once I see it on ice again, I'll never want it to leave. #FreeTheSkate
— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) January 4, 2016
“Ditch the whale” they’ll say. “It’s a corporate logo” they’ll say.
Some people want the skate logo. Others want Johnny Canuck. There’s even some people that like the Flying V.
I say this: leave it alone.
Do whatever you want with the third jersey, but keep the home and away consistent.
The Canucks’ look in the 80s and 90s was not largely celebrated. Yet 20 years later, it has become trendy.
Trends change. And our love for the skate jersey will change too.
Ten years ago, the stick and rink jersey was all the rage.
The Canucks have had four drastic drastic jersey changes in the 46-year history of the franchise. That’s a lot.
If this franchise wants to have some semblance of tradition, doesn’t it make sense to keep their brand consistent?
The team wore blue and green from 1970 to 1978. In 1978 they switched to arguably the ugliest jerseys in professional sports history, the Flying V. They tinkered with the orange/red, yellow, and black look every few of years until 1997 when they switched to the orca.
Image: Reddit
The Messier-era orcas were a mix of blue, navy, silver, and burgundy. Ugh.
The current Canucks jerseys are a throwback to the blue and green originals, as far as colour scheme. I think that makes sense.
Nobody else in the league is wearing blue and green, and it’s a pretty timeless look. People may have issues with the orca on the front, or Vancouver splashed on it, and I get that. But that’s also a logo that Pavel Bure, Trevor Linden, Markus Naslund, Roberto Luongo, Henrik Sedin, and Daniel Sedin have worn. That’s tradition.
I know “Orca Bay” was the company that owned the Canucks when they changed logos. Who cares? Orca Bay no longer exists, and I doubt John McCaw is watching anyway.
Tinker with the logo a little if you want, but no drastic changes please. And definitely don’t change the colours.
I want Canucks fans to hang out in a group and look like they’re cheering for the same team.
Image: The Hockey Writers
I want Rogers Arena to be filled with blue and green, not a mixture of black, yellow, orange, red, burgundy, silver, navy, and whatever they come up with next.