Tuesday 21 August 2007

Freeing Willy

There has been more speculation and Photoshopping of the Vancouver Canucks new Rbk Edge jerseys than any other team, from what I've seen. People have been hunting for a leaked image somewhere on the old Interweb since the Canucks allowed reporters to visit GM Place for an August 1st press conference. The Canucks, however, placed a gag order on any reporter discussing the new jerseys, let alone posting an image. If you're a hockey writer, you'd never be allowed into GM Place again if you violated this gag order, and that's bad for business. However, The Province, a Vancouver newspaper, decided to talk as much as they can in order to appease Canucks fans' needs.

Jim Jamieson has now given us a preview of what the new Canucks jerseys will look like, and they sound somewhat retro. They aren't the throwbacks that I love so dearly, but they have that feel to them. If you want to read, Mr. Jamieson's full article, you can click here. Otherwise, here are the highlights of Mr. Jamieson's article on the new Canucks jerseys:

- "[t]he Vancouver Canucks will unveil their new jersey design Aug. 29".

- "the new look will retain the Free Willy logo, but with fewer colours and Vancouver spelled in an arc out over the top of it. The same source said the 'hockey-stick-in-rink logo' that is the Canucks' original and adorned the team's retro-jersey will be used as shoulder patches, but with some modifications".

- "[i]t's expected the main colours will be changed to the lighter blue and green of the aforementioned retro-jersey".

I am interested in seeing what the new jerseys look like with this information. I am slightly disappointed that they are modifying the retro logo. That logo is perfect, and needs no modifications. It sounds like the black-gold-red is not coming back, and I'm ok with that. I much prefer the retro colours.

This leads me to needing more correspondants for two more teams. Here are the unveiling dates:

August 22 - Ottawa Senators (correspondant needed)
August 25 - Tampa Bay Lightning (correspondant needed)
August 29 - Vancouver Canucks (correspondant needed)
September 4 - Calgary Flames (correspondant needed)

If anyone is interested, please contact me ASAP! If no one responds, I'll just have to scour the 'Net for some photos, but I'd prefer a first-hand account and reaction to the new jerseys.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

3 comments:

The Dark Ranger said...

Strange that the teams covet the new look and build press around it. I would gather that most hockey fans are not as concerned with the jerseys, as to what their teams are doing to better the roster going into training camp.

I do appreciate your outlining these in great detail, but do the fans see this as a big deal? Am I living in the Dark World?

The Dark Ranger

Sage Confucius said...

If that holds up I'm very disappointed. I'm not a Vancouver fan, but those stick jerseys are wonderful. I loved watching them during the playoffs this past year. This is what I don't get...the fans love them, the players love them; why not make them the jersey choice? Why do we have to deal with the half a whale? I don't have a problem with whales, but it should be a kickass whale like the one the Plymouth Whalers have. That awesome logo is currently adorning my desktop.

Teebz said...

TDR - it's a money grab by Reebok. We all know this. The problem is that fans are concerned with their teams looking like clowns on the ice. How your team looks is just as important as who is on the ice, it seems.

Sage - I agree about the stick-in-rink logo. However, the retro colours are there, so it may not be as bad as it may seem. I guess we'll see on the 29th. And yes, the Plymouth Whalers have an awesome logo. :o)