Every NHL team is releasing a Reverse Retro jersey for the 2020-21 season, featuring a jersey design from the past, remixed in different team colours to create something new and never seen before. The Canucks, who have worn seven logo variations and 21 different uniforms over 50 years, opted to redesign the gradient orca jersey, which was worn as an alternate from 2001 to 2006.
When the gradient orca made its debut on October 6, 2001, during the second game of the season against the Detroit Red Wings, the Canucks were coming off their first playoff appearance in five years; that season also featured the introduction of Daniel and Henrik Sedin.
The 2001-02 campaign marked a shift in Canucks hockey and the start of a new era - and the gradient orca was indicative of that change. As the Sedins laid the foundation of becoming arguably the greatest players ever to don Canucks jerseys, the prolific West Coast Express line was just beginning its tenure as the best line in hockey.
Fast-forward to today and the Canucks find themselves in a very similar position having just returned to the playoffs for the first time in five years, led once again by a new era of Canucks hockey and its young stars. Elias Pettersson. Brock Boeser. Quinn Hughes. Bo Horvat. Thatcher Demko. The list goes on and on.