The Vancouver Canucks have been through an array of jersey changes over the past forty years. What started as a simple stick in the rink, turned into a sophisticated plate of spaghetti, and finished with a west coast orca whale. Not to mention, the colours have also flipped and switched numerous times as well. With President Trevor Linden suggesting on Vancouver radio a new look for the team for the start of the 2014-15 campaign, rumors are swirling as to what the Canucks’ new look might be. But should the Canucks change their jerseys again? The Flames have their Sea of Red, do we want to have a Sea of Red, Blue, Yellow, Green and White in our stands?
It really depends on who you ask when it comes to the Canucks’ jersey schemes over the years. Some people despise the Canucks’ red and yellow skate jerseys back from the early 90’s, while some people love them. Same goes for the stick in the rink jerseys; some find it artistic and simple while some just stare at the jersey and say, “what’s that supposed to be?” Some Canucks faithful still haven’t clued in that the stick in the rink logo resembles a “C” for crying out loud. And while the orca has a clear image and message, it took me years to figure out that plate of spaghetti actually spelled out “Canucks” and had a skate attached to it. If Trevor Linden decides to switch up the jerseys AGAIN, this new scheme needs to be bold, powerful, and understandable.
The Canucks’ 40th anniversary jerseys used a handful of times back in the 2010-11 season stand out to me. They’re simple, but the jersey layout is bold, powerful and classic. The only piece missing on the 40th anniversary jerseys are name bars, which would be an easy fix. The Canucks current third jerseys (stick in the rink logo with the Johnny Canuck patches) could be used as the new home jersey, but I’d like to see a blue version of the 40th anniversary jerseys before resorting to the current alternate jerseys. Of course, it would be awesome to see the black, red and yellow spaghetti uniforms back in Vancouver, but unfortunately the logo doesn’t resemble the city of Vancouver like the other logos do. The Orca is a fine logo, don’t get me wrong, but the lettering above the logo throws off the visual aspect just a bit. It would be neat if the organization could find a way to modernize the Vancouver Millionaires logo used in the Heritage Classic, but it’s doubtful. The classic 1970’s “stick in the rink” logo with the 40th anniversary layout makes the most sense in my opinion.
The Canucks have gone through a handful of new looks and styles, but Trevor Linden needs to put an end to all this rainbow jersey colours and stick with these new jerseys for good. No more changing back and forth between colours and logos, the next jerseys to come are the last for a very long time. If there’s anyone who knows the city of Vancouver and the aroma of the town, it’s Linden, so hopefully he has a good vision for the new look of his franchise.
For the latest sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @TBennz. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld – and “liking” our Facebook page.
