Welcome back to WDYTT, the only hockey column on the internet that’s always down to be up.

Speaking of ups and downs, that’s the story of any given hockey season, and the 2025-26 Vancouver Canucks campaign is already no exception. As of this writing, the team is off to a winning record to start, but they’ve also suffered injuries by the bushelful, including at least one that promises to be consequential.

And it’s only been two weeks!

Now, two weeks is not usually a long enough period of time to truly reach any conclusions. But then, that’s not really the case here, because the vast majority of our readers have been following this team for a lot longer than two weeks. We all came into this season with a set of various expectations for the roster as a whole and for its individual components. Every set of expectations is a theory, and those theories are already being put to the test in the early going.

So, we think your initial thoughts, though hasty, are worth recording at this juncture.

We’ll ask you to pick out a thumbs up and a thumbs down, or a star and a wish. Pick out one player on the team who is exceeding your expectations, and one who is not, and let us know who each of them is.

This week, we’re asking:

Let it be known in the comment section.

You answered below!

But of course, it’s the “V.” Sure, guys are gonna’ say the skate, and that is probably going to win this poll, but the “V” never got the love it deserved, IMO. I’m ok with anything that doesn’t include the black fish and the boomerang, and it seems to me the blue and green have become “the colours of losing,” and the team should consider a permanent move to the black, orange, and yellow.

I am certain there will be many opinions on this one.

I grew up with the black skate jersey and watched great players like Linden, Bure, and McLean in that one, so it is my choice. It really pops on TV, as well, where I find the blue and green fairly bland.

I couple changes, though: the current version has yellow and red trim; instead of red, the originals were a bit of a gold with burnt orange. I’d like to go back to that. If I recall, these were difficult colours at the time to replicate on jerseys, so they changed it, but I would like it to go back.

Also, the logo. Never a huge fan of the whale or the skate in the rink. I actually like the modified stick in the rink that is on their shoulder patches. It is simple, yet has a classic look to it.

There you have it… black jerseys with original orange and gold trim and modified stick in rink.

Personally, I’d like to see the continuation of the blue/green colour scheme but applied to the skate-in-rink jersey. Then I’d like the Flying V to be the “retro” jersey. If IP weren’t a concern, I’d want Johnny on the front like Abby.

I would like the NHL to revert back to the mid-‘70s to late-‘90s pre-Bettman era home whites and visiting darks, with the option for alternate jerseys. Teams should be able to have a couple, not just one, alternate. NBA teams have a series of alternative ones, why not the NHL?

The downhill skate because that is the direction of the team, straight downhill.

Something new with a deep forest green. If they insist on going back to black, make it the black Flying V. That thing was gorgeous.

The problem is the team name. What can you do with Canucks? Either use a defunct cartoon character or…??? Maybe they could throw in the towel and just script Canucks from the right shoulder to the left hip like the Rangers and Penguins do.

I would like to see the original rink-and-stick jersey as permanent home jerseys.

I always loved the Orca jersey and I think the vast majority of fans do, too. It’s usually the more hardcore fans that don’t like the jersey.

I also really like the black skate jersey which looks really sharp and is much better than the white skate jersey.

My third favorite jersey is the Johnny Canuck jersey the Canucks have used in recent years.

I like the current situation of primarily using the Orca jerseys, and occasionally playing with the black skate and Johnny Canuck jersey.

It would be nice to see them try some new designs, as well, to see what will stick.

It’s no secret that actual fans prefer the black skate jersey. I assume sales would confirm that. I do like the green and blue orca as well, though.

I love the Black Skate, I grew up with it. But I would love to see a new adaptation of the old “Grizzlies” bear holding a puck instead, and have the “Canucks Skate” underneath with the old Grizzlies colours. This could be the new alternate jersey.

I always liked the old Vancouver Millionaires jerseys, but I guess the Canucks marketing department doesn’t think they’ll sell like hotcakes.

Black skate jersey all the way, would love to see some away games with the white version also. Orca could be our alternative third.

Haha, or a return to the amazing old red/salmon jerseys that made a brief appearance many years ago.

This is a no brainer: go with the skate or stick-in-rink please.

The whale was brought in as part of Orca Bay, but in reality has nothing to do with a Canuck or hockey, at least a skate or hockey stick makes some kind of sense.

One thing is for certain, no team in professional sports has as much of an identity crisis as the Canucks. Going to Canucks games now where half the stadium is in black and the other half clashing in blue is the most ridiculous thing to witness for a fan base. They just need to pick one and commit to it. Problem is, they waffled between jersey overhauls every decade in the franchise’s existence, so now when multiple alternates are in vogue for jersey sales, they don’t know what to do . . . To pick one, Black Skate is cool, but it’s busy, so I want the updated ‘Stick in Rink’ from a few years ago. I think it was the Reebok jerseys that minimized the white, amped up the blue and green. Those modernized the logo with some small tweaks, but it is classic, and the most timeless of all the many identities the club has had.

All I know is that the stick-in-rink (any which version) sucks, and I am sick of the green and blue, but mostly green.

Odd you didn’t provide the stick-in-rink jersey as an alternative. The answer is clearly option one. The black sweaters are ugly, the logo is ugly and meaningless, and they weren’t popular when they were brought in – so I find it odd they are apparently popular now. The only positive thing I can say about them is they were an improvement on the Flying V sweater, which they replaced. The team colours are naturally the blue (ocean), green (evergreens) and white (snow caps) that were the original team colours. They should never have been deviated from. Black, red, and yellow are not Vancouver colours. They were dreamed up in California by some consultant who thought they would make the team more aggressive. Why is changing the uniforms always such an issue in Vancouver? I long for the team to have a permanent jersey like Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Boston, and the Rangers. Keep the current blue sweaters and never discuss changing them again. If they want to keep the black jersey to wear OCCASIONALLY, that’s OK, I suppose, but I would prefer they were abolished altogether.

I’ll never understand the obsession with the skate… The logo itself is a chaotic mess, the ketchup and mustard colour scheme is horrid, and it has no connection to the geography or culture of BC. It also harkens back to an era of mostly mediocre teams with short-lived success. It’s great as a retro throw-back third jersey but would get old sooo fast as the primary. The orca isn’t perfect either, but the colours pop, the theme is relevant (who cares about the Orca Bay connection), and it’s associated with the most talented players/team in Canucks history. This team has had an ongoing identity crisis for 50 years – quit messing with the damn brand and stick with the blue and green.

Never been a fan of the Halloween-coloured jerseys, but that being said: the skate logo is ok, but if they could lower it so it’s not going downhill, then tip it back so it looks like it coming at you like a skater stopping, it might look better. Like the updated stick-in-rink logo, I grew up with the original logo, so any play on that would be fine with me and would still be my choice. Or even go further back to the Johnny Canuck logo that they retro’ed a few years back. I understand why they’re sticking with the old corporate Orca logo, but I’ll never buy anything branded with it. It’s my least favourite design.

I have never liked the Orka Bay logo, especially with the maroon and navy colours (drab af) but stopped disliking it so much when they went back to the original blue/green/white combo.

Back when I played peewee hockey in Calgary on outdoor ice in the early ‘70s (all winter outdoors, pre-climate change!) we wore olive green and grey Flying Vees… not a fan.

I liked the flying (dying?) skate, and felt the white popped more than the black, but always felt the colours had no local connection. A consistent colour palette for the entire history should have been the way to go. But that ship sailed long, long ago.

My preference would be permanent original stick-in-rink blue/green/white, but a flying skate in blue and green for the alternate.

As a Canucks fan dating back to 1964, the WHL days, I am partial to the original blue, green, and white colour scheme, with the original stick-in-rink logo. (I understand that many people still do not see the stylized-“C” that it represents.) However, I don’t mind (actually, rather like) the orca-whale logo that came along in the late 1990s, with its version of a stylized-“C”.  I have always thought that the black, orange/red, and yellow/gold colour scheme was hideous – especially the “flying-V” (no other team wears its primary logo on its arm/sleeve)a – although less hideous over time as they made changes to it. I will admit that the most recent version of that colour scheme, with the real red and real yellow colour bands sharing equal billing, looks very sharp, and much better than earlier versions. As for the skate logo, I will admit that it is okay, also (although, if they are going to have the skate tilting forward, they should remove the part that represents the ice under the skate). My preference is that the team keep the current blue, green, and white colour scheme with the orca-whale logo as the primary uniforms, and use the black, red, and yellow colour scheme with the skate logo less often, perhaps for special occasions. And I do not like the updated version of the stick-in-rink logo as anything but an accent/shoulder logo.

Those who support the downhill skate jersey forget how badly the team played wearing that crest. I’d rather they re-worked the whale for an all-new black jersey.