Vancouver Canucks New “Flying Skate” Uniform Leaks

A new version of the Vancouver Canucks “Flying Skate” jersey was leaked recently, giving us an early look at the NHL team’s future alternate uniform plans.

Thanks to an early shop listing on the international version of the NHL’s online shop, and the quick-working hands of Twitter user @LachInTheCrease, we see the Vancouver Canucks new alternate retro-inspired jersey brings back the black, yellow, and red of the Canucks teams of the 1980s and ’90s.

Here’s a look at the leaked uniform next to the original Canucks sweater of the era:

Before we dive into this, we should keep in mind that the leaked version is a replica Fanatics-branded retail top which typically lacks or simplifies some designs versus their on-ice counterparts from Adidas.

As you can see, there are several changes to the new version…

The sleeve striping is much thicker than before, with the red and yellow stripes now equal in size and now with a thin black line between the two. Within the yellow sleeve stripes, we see a pattern which, to me, appears to be a series of diagonal lines, perhaps to create the shape of a “V” closer to the elbows.

At the collar, there are two changes; the red and yellow stripes are gone leaving a plain black front collar with the NHL shield. The inside back collar has added a new yellow and black mountain range design.

The logo has eliminated all traces of white, replacing the white diagonal stripes within the crest with alternating red and yellow (and removing one of those stripes altogether). Also, the background behind the “CANUCKS” in the logo is now black instead of white.

Vancouver first adopted the “Flying Skate” logo following the 1977-78 season, when they replaced their blue, green, and white colour scheme with the complete opposite palette of red, yellow, and black. The thinking at the time was blue and green were seen as calming colours, whereas black, red, and yellow were extremely aggressive, perfect for intimidating opponents on the ice. Vancouver stuck with the new colours for twenty seasons, right up until 1996-97, when they were replaced with the current orca logo and a navy blue, silver, and dark red look. The Canucks returned to their original blue and green colours in 2007-08.

No official release date for Flying Skate 2.0 is known at this time though it is expected that the Canucks will unveil and wear this uniform during the current 2022-23 season.