OVER THE EDGE
October 24 - November 7, 2007

shorts |
Northern Sport Centre Opens for Service —

TyLer CLARKE,
PRODUCTION
CoORDINATOR
-Three deer visit
the Charles Jago
Northern Sport
Centre October
.ge, 19, during the first
sea functioning week
of the facilities.

New Uniforms, Who Cares?

Canucks unveiled their new RBK tight-fit jerseys, wnich have received a mixed reaction from fans

Kyte Lescisin

THe Peak (Simon FRASER University)

VANCOUVER (CUP) -- Another NHL season is creeping
up on us and everyone in Vancouver is anticipating another
exciting effort by the boys in blue. . . and green and white. Yup
they’ve done it again.

The Vancouver Canucks have given their fans something
new to talk about; it’s nothing to do with Todd Bertuzzi,
Markus Naslund or even their savior Roberto Luongo. Rather,
it is the new sweaters that the team will be wearing for the
2007-2008 campaign.

A few members of the Canucks team, including Captain
Markus Naslund and fan-favorite defenseman Kevin Bieksa
unveiled the team’s new sweaters, on August 29 at General
Motors Place.

The design of the new jersey is a mixture of past and present.
The vintage green, white and blue color scheme has stayed
the same, but the name ‘Vancouver’ is splashed above an orca
whale.

Reaction to the new look of the team was mixed, both at the
unveiling and around the city, since last week.

For the sake of taking a side, I prefer the Canucks’ blue,
white and green vintage jersey with the hockey stick in the
middle of the ice; it was a very crisp, fresh look.

The new sweater, however, appears to be somewhat cramped
with ‘Vancouver’ on top of the orca. I understand that the or-
ganization wants to achieve a retro look, but they may have
tried to incorporate too many details.

Two points of interest are, 1. the front looks like the back
because the word Vancouver looks like a name bar, and 2. the
new uniforms somewhat resemble the style of NBA jerseys, as
it is customary in basketball to have simply the team name in
the centre of the stomach (like the Lakers or Magic).

Nevertheless, I’m sure that the players and fans alike will
grow to love the new-look threads.

Ultimately — and unfortunately, in today’s NHL — every-
thing revolves around the almighty dollar. And whether or not
any team is willing to admit it, they will do anything to make a
quick buck. It is simply the nature of the business.

A good example of this took place in the 1995-1996 season

when the ‘russian rocket,’ Pavel Bure, changed his number
from 10 to 96 and then back to 10. At the time, Bure was the
Canucks’ franchise player, and you could be sure that every-
one was going to follow anything he did, like changing his
number.

This is one easy way to make money, and you can be sure
that the team is making a tidy revenue with the introduction of
the new uniforms to the public.

As interesting as the team’s sweater situation may be, I am
one person who feels that the Canucks brass should perhaps
be focusing on the upcoming training camp and new season,
rather than cashing in on a new design for the club. After all,
when it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter what the team’s
crest looks like; what matters is how well they perform on the
ice.

But if the organisation feels that a fashion statement is what
will get them to the big dance, then perhaps they should con-
sider stitching a webbed foot on their shirts and following in
the footsteps of the Anaheim Ducks.