When the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks take on the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 25, they won’t be hitting the ice in their usual blue and green.
Instead, the franchise is unveiling an all-new jersey to commemorate the upcoming Year of the Tiger, swapping blue and green for red and gold, with the team’s orc logo reimagined as a tiger running across the river. water.
Players will don the new kit to warm up for the fourth annual Lunar New Year game at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
Presentation of 2022 #Canucks Lunar New Year Shirt!
Designed by artist Trevor Lai (@UPStudiosWorld), the jersey will be worn by the team during warm-ups as part of our Lunar New Year celebration later this season. pic.twitter.com/F62hyZlMiE
—Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) January 12, 2022
According to CBC, the jersey was designed by Chinese-Canadian Trevor Lai, a Vancouver-born artist who is now based in Shanghai. Although Lunar New Year jerseys aren’t new to the Canucks, Lai claims to be the first person to redesign the team’s 25-year-old orca logo.
“I came up with the idea of a tiger jumping out of the water because normally the killer whale breaks the ice,” Lai told CBC, adding, “I thought what we’re trying to convey as a message , that’s the change.”
The news comes amid growing violence and anti-Asian sentiments in Canada and around the world since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Greater Vancouver has one of the highest proportions of Asian residents in Canada, and Vancouver has earned the unfortunate title of North American Anti-Asian Hate Crime Capital in 2020. Although there are a debate About the claim, it is based on data from the Vancouver Police Department which noted a 717% increase over the previous year.
The Canucks for Kids Fund said a portion of the proceeds from the sale of jerseys will go to Eliminat8Hate, a non-profit organization that champions racial equity for Asian Canadians.
Along with the new logo design, the shoulder patches feature the famous “Millennium Gate” which sits at the entrance to historic Chinatown just east of downtown Vancouver.
The Canucks’ Chinese name is Jiaren dui (加人队), and Lai placed the figures between the gate pillars in his design.
“The tiger leaping out of the water is a symbol of power, leadership and change. By transforming the Canucks’ orca into a tiger, it’s imagining that we can become anything we want to be, including a better ally as we celebrate the Chinese community.”
-Artist Trevor Lai https://t.co/XUFkZZ1GD4 pic.twitter.com/Uk7b6txuVb
—Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) January 12, 2022
Lai shared his thoughts on the jersey in a series of tweets posted to the Canucks team page: “The words at the top of the millennium gate say ‘remember the past and look to the future’ and I really wanted to include this in the patch.
“We all want to look to the future, but we have to learn from our past to improve together,” he added.
Cover image via Twitter
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