The Hockey News website is featuring an ongoing series, analyzing and ranking NHL logos. They started at the bottom of the pack with the Carolina Hurricanes at No. 30 and have worked their way up to No. 17 so far—the Edmonton Oilers.
I wasn't too surprised to see the Canucks' logo near the bottom of the list, at No. 27.
Click here for Rory Boylen's critique of the current logo and a walk down memory lane through Vancouver's other looks over the years.
I think Boylen makes a couple of good points:
• The Orca was brought in during the ownership years of John McCaw and Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment. Those days are long gone: the Aquilinis' official ownership company is Canucks Sports and Entertainment. The association between the Orca and the hockey team is now somewhat tenuous.
• The original stick-in-rink design is a beauty. Simple, historical, yet with some subtle elements that make it more than first meets the eye. This is my favourite Canucks logo of all time.
The subject of logos also came up during Trevor Linden's radio appearance earlier in the week. Harrison Mooney of
Pass It To Bulis reports that Linden suggested that the Orca could be replaced by the Johnny Canuck logo.
Mooney goes on to do a detailed analysis of the two different variations of Johnny Canuck and share a few peoples' opinions.
There seems to be some concern that Johnny might be too cartoonish for the NHL level—suitable as, say, a shoulder patch, or for a minor-league team, but not as a primary NHL logo.
I like Johnny well enough. Again, he has a real connection to the team's history and lines up well with the "meat and potatoes" approach of the new regime.
In my mind, the black mark against stick-in-rink is that the logo was originally used when the Canucks were absolutely terrible. I also associate the orca most closely with the disastrous Messier-Keenan years of the late '90s, moreso than the West Coast Express period or even the Presidents' Trophy period.
For that reason, I can get behind the idea of Johnny Canuck. A completely fresh start could be a smart symbolic move for a team that's looking to start a new chapter in its history.
What say you?
If you have an alternate suggestion or an idea for a new logo, feel free to share it in the comments.
The Hockey News is also inviting readers to submit alternate logo ideas for all 30 franchises. Send your designs to
[email protected].
End of the Line for Alberts?
A player note from News1130 this morning on concussion-plagued defenseman Andrew Alberts.
Alberts' injury came about three weeks before the infamous line brawl/dressing room incident that's widely believed to have kicked off the Canucks' downward spiral. Though it hasn't been discussed much, this elbow from Brian McGrattan certainly could have been another ingredient in the stew that boiled over on January 18th.
I'm on board with the idea that fighting should be eliminated from the game based on what we now know about head injuries. As the rules currently stand, though, it could be argued that this is an example of "fighting done right." Tom Sestito immediately stepped in to avenge a dirty hit on his teammate.
In my opinion, the incident was also called correctly on the ice. McGrattan received an elbowing major and a game misconduct. He and Sestito were also given fighting majors. However, I expected that the incident would be reviewed for potential supplementary discipline, but it was not.
Alberts was a fringe NHLer when the incident happened. At 33, it's looking more and more like McGrattan's elbow has ended the big defenseman's career.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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