Canucks have worst "image" in sports

Uniforms and logos are how we indentify with our favorite teams. Sure, traditional philosophies - think of the Steelers and their aggressive defense and stubborn running philosophy, or the Lakers and Bulls with the Phil Jackson-led triangle - make up an identity, but I'm talking about what pops into our mind when we think of our team.

Think of the Steelers, and you see that Black helmet and those school bus yellow pants.Think Lakers and you see that gaudy but familiar yellow and purple. (The white home jerseys just didn't look natural. While possibly aesthetically more pleasing, the Lakers should be in deep yellow at home.)

It's this visual "image" of a team that is established in our minds. And it is what convinces me that the Vancouver Canucks have the worst uniform and logo image in pro-sports.

This is a team that came into the National Hockey League in 1970. In fourty years, the franchise has had modest success, with several deep runs in the playoffs. They have memorable, legendary players identified with their franchise: Trevor Linden, Pavel Bure, Dave Babich, Geoff Courtnall, Markus Naslund, the Sedins are on their way...

But there is no automatic image that pops into your head when you think of this team. Historically, they have had some of the worst uniforms. From the awful color choices of ordinary blue and John Deere green to the hideous mustard, red and dark brown flying V.

This team hasn't had a consistent logo. They had the skate with Canucks as the blade, the too-basic square-circular vertical hockey stick that is supposed to look like both a whale head and a "c", the total misuse of the only good color choice - dark blue, gray and red - with the awful shark head "C" made famous by the Messier potato chip commercials where he ran down the hall in his skates. No consistency whatsoever, and a 1-4 success rate on uniforms even looking decent.

I didn't mind the circle-skate logo worn during the Bure-led run to the finals against the Rangers in '94. I think a deep nave blue, a sharp forest green and grey color scheme with the circled skate logo with Canucks scripted as the blades. Okay, enough of this...

Getting back to my point. Shouldn't a team with a 40-year history that has had memorable players and a legendary 7-game final with the Rangers and Mark Messier's whole involvement with both franchises have an established "image"? It just seems like something a franchise gets as a no-brainer. What does your team visually look like? Bam! Auto-matic image should hit their fan base. Yet, here are the Canucks. And they've never gotten this concept.