Is this Canucks jersey the first leak of 2019-20?
/Apparent leak of Vancouver Canucks 2019-20 home uniform compared to current design
A couple of Reddit posts came and went on Tuesday afternoon that purportedly showed a leaked image of the new home uniform for the Vancouver Canucks. Both have since been deleted but relied on the same image, captured above.
The first poster shared the image while the second claimed to have confirmation of the image’s legitimacy. Below is a screen grab of the latter post before it was deleted.
Regarding the source of the image, neither post was clear, but it has crop marks that suggest it’s a proof from a large format printing company. If I had to guess, I’d say this design is on its way to being a banner, possibly to hang inside Rogers Arena alongside other player banners. It also means the Canucks are probably taking a hard look at the companies to which they outsource their printing needs. I can’t imagine they’re thrilled this is out there.
If you want my take on the veracity of this image, I’ll just say it lacks any of the telltale signs of image manipulation. But that being said, people get better at faking stuff all the time. My gut says it’s probably accurate, though we won’t know for sure until the Canucks say so. And they’re not saying anything just yet.
As to the content of the image, the first thing you notice is the shoulder patches. The Canucks have never used a white version of that secondary logo since the modern design was implemented in 2007. But the original Canucks stick-in-rink logo on which it’s based, was white on the blue jersey. And that particular throwback design was most recently worn by the Canucks as a third jersey during the 2006-07 season — right before Reebok took over the NHL.
Along with the shoulder patches, which are the same as the logo on the pants, the only other difference from the existing Canucks jersey seems to be the removal of the word “VANCOUVER” arced above the orca logo on the chest. That was rumored to be one of the changes for the new set. The collar and striping elements seem to be staying the same.
So when will the new design be made official? To my knowledge, the Canucks have not yet set an unveiling date — or even publicly said new primary sweaters are coming — but I’d be surprised if we didn’t see something next month at the draft, considering they are hosting.
Update (5/29): Just wanted to circle back and add a couple of mock-ups of what the new Canucks jerseys will probably look like in 2019-20 if the leak does indeed prove to be accurate.
The changes, though minor, do improve the look of the overall uniform set.