The Vancouver Canucks played by far the best game of their season as they beat the Calgary Flames 7-1. What made the win even more impressive is that it ended the Flames’ ten-game winning streak.
Thatcher Demko was brilliant as always, J.T. Miller got himself a four-point night which moved him into the top ten in the NHL in scoring and Elias Pettersson’s three points gave him 13 in his last seven games.
One thing that made the game even more fun for fans was that the Canucks were wearing the popular black skate jerseys for the first time this season and for the first time since 2019-20.
The skate jerseys have been synonymous with the Canucks run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1994. The “flying skate” was the Canucks primary logo with the black, red and yellow colours from 1985-1997. They brought back the popular jerseys for a game on February 13, 2016, against the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of the 20th-anniversary celebrations of Rogers Arena. (The Canucks lost that game 5-2.) They were also brought back four times in the 2019-20 season as part of the club’s 50th-anniversary celebrations.
Wearing the black skate jerseys, the Canucks are 4-2. (The other loss was against the Colorado Avalanche on November 16, 2019 by a score of 5-4 in overtime.)
The skate jerseys are really popular among the fans.
https://twitter.com/ahadwingolf/status/1497052861552738307
I will not stop propagating for the Canucks to go to the skate full time until it happens.
— Jordan Savage 🦁 (@jrdnsvge) February 25, 2022
However, it is not just the fans who love the skate, the players love it too.
Miller spoke about the jerseys after the win over Calgary with Sportsnet’s Dan Murphy.
“I was talking to Garly before the game, yeah, we love ’em!” said Miller. “When I was young watching hockey, it’s very old school and I like that. I would love to wear these at home every single time! These are probably the best jersey”
Conor Garland also said he loves the black jerseys on a post-game interview with Sportsnet 650.
“I said this should be our jerseys all the time,” said Garland. “These are beautiful.”
Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau also was asked about the skate jerseys.
“If we keep getting results like that, I’ll wear them to bed,” said Boudreau per Sportsnet 650’s Brendan Batchelor.
It looks like, Thursday’s game will be the only time the skate will be worn this season. The fans love it and so do the players and they should be worn more often.
In my opinion, the blue and green colours are fine and so is the orca logo but there is just something about the black skate that makes it so eye-catching.
Is it the colour scheme? The logo? The nostalgia? Or is it all three?
There seems to be excitement among the fans and players when the skate jersey is worn. Plus, the games where they are worn are usually pretty exciting. They should probably be the permanent third jerseys.
Or maybe the Canucks should bring back the skate as the full-time jersey? At this point, why not?
The players seem to really love them and they seem to play well wearing them. Among the fans, the skate is more popular than the orca and is probably the most popular Canucks jersey among the fans.
Some of you might argue that what makes the skate jersey great is that it is rarely worn and if they are permanent, they will lose the hype. I kind of get that argument.
However, whether they are permanent jerseys or just the third jerseys, the skate should be worn more often than just once or twice a season.
If you want my opinion, I do like the current Canucks jerseys but I feel like the skate would work better full time. Having it as the third wouldn’t be so bad either.
Free the skate.
Let us know in the comments section below, Facebook comments or on Twitter if the black skate jerseys should return as thirds or full time.