The Vancouver Canucks — along with every other NHL team — officially released the design for their second Adidas Reverse Retro jersey Thursday morning.
The jersey features a classic Johnny Canuck crest, based on a uniform first worn in 1962 by the Canucks franchise from the minor professional Western Hockey League. The original uniform’s red, white and blue colour scheme has been replaced by a modern navy jersey with green and white striping to match the present-day team.
The jersey leaked over two months ago, after a quickly-deleted Facebook marketplace listing displayed what looked like a knockoff jersey but was later confirmed by multiple sources to be the Canucks’ real 2022-23 Reverse Retro threads.
In a way, many fans knew this was coming, but that didn’t stop them from voicing their opinions on the jersey.
You can click on the original tweet itself to see the 117 and counting replies, many of which are fans voicing their displeasure.
Not everyone dislikes the new jerseys though!
Our take? If the Canucks get it right with the pants and socks, this uniform has plenty of potential to be great. The throwback NHL shield is also a very nice touch.
It’s no black skate, sure, but it’ll do.
The NHL’s Reverse Retro program was first introduced in the COVID-shortened 2021 season, with every team donning a remixed version of a throwback jersey created by Adidas for a handful of games. The Canucks chose a navy and green version of the Gradient Orca jersey from 2001 and proceeded to lose all four contests in the one-year-only sweater.
The Canucks didn’t win a single game while wearing those jerseys, so fans and the team alike will be hoping that these new Reverse Retros jerseys will yield better results.