Did Canada's Olympic Jersey Leak?
Photo from Getty Images
Photo seems to show new Canadian team jersey
We may have gotten our first look at Team Canada's 2014 Olympics jersey on Thursday night. The above photo appears to show Jonathan Toews posing for a photo wearing a never-before-seen Canadian sweater. Since the United States and Russia unveiled their jerseys last week, it makes sense that Canada won't be far off.
Screen shot from Getty Images websiteThe photo was first distributed by Getty Images, described in the caption as follows.
NEWARK, NJ - SEPTEMBER 5: Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks poses for a photo shoot at the 2013 NHL Player Media Tour at the Prudential Center on September 5, 2013 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Melynda Pilon/NHLI via Getty Images)
The photo was available for some time on Friday before being taken down by Getty. I grabbed the screen shot to the right before that happened.
This alone is decent evidence we're looking at an unreleased jersey — or something that somebody didn't want the world to see yet.
But there are other indications that it's the Olympic jersey. We can match up some of the details seen previously on the American and Russian sweaters designed by Nike.
First, you have the Nike swoosh near the right shoulder. Take a closer look and you'll notice the faux laces below the collar. That's definitely a new feature of Nike hockey jerseys — and not a welcome one if you've read the many tweets and blog comments.
Add to that all that the glossy shapes around the shoulders which I would assume are maple leaves — not unlike the stars seen on the American jerseys.
I made the case earlier on Twitter that the IOC doesn't allow corporate logos (such as Hockey Canada's) on jerseys anymore and made reference to the type element on the front. Then @Univers47 reminded me that it was featured on the 2010 jerseys as well.
All the evidence — and the timing — tells us that this is probably the Canadian Olympic jersey that will be used in Sochi this winter. It's just not confirmed yet.
Still, I know that won't stop anyone from assuming it is, so feel free to sound off in the comments. What do you think of this Nike-made Canadian jersey? Specifically, how do you feel about the asymmetry of the giant white stripe found only on the left sleeve?
Chris
Hockey Canada has put out a statement regarding their Olympic jerseys. From their press release:
Hockey Canada will unveil and launch the jerseys that its men's, women's and sledge hockey teams will wear at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi on October 8.
We look forward to telling the story and innovation behind the jerseys at that time.
They will be officially unveiled on Tues., Oct. 8. Mark your calendars!
Reader Comments (74)
It looks amateurish.
Good god
LOoks like the worst they ever wear !
I don't understand why every Olympic the jersey should change, the 2010 one was very the most beautiful one catching all the essence of Canadian hockey jersey throughout the years.
And Americans...you thought your's was bad :(
Sorry guys, but that's awful and makes me glad I'm Australian. (We never get to endure the embarrassment of poorly-designed Olympic hockey jerseys.)
look at his face...it's like he can't believe he's wearing that monstrosity.
I think the chest design is very creative and has a nice retro feel to it. However, I'm not a fan of the sleeves not matching. It's a promising start, but still looks unfinished.
At first glance I honestly thought that this wasn't a hockey jersey but one of those normal Canada shirts that you would find in The Bay somewhere. I'm not a big fan of the international jerseys we've seen so far, though I feel like this one isn't exactly terrible. It just feels like it doesn't belong as a hockey jersey, but neither have any of the others we've seen already. I guess Nike is trying to revamp every country's look in more modern styles, which is kind of a shame because a lot of the uniforms we saw in 2010 were absolutely beautiful. I know I have a bias being Canadian, but I've always felt that the Team Canada jerseys from four years ago were damn near godly. It makes me wonder what's going to happen to the World Juniors/World Championships jerseys, because those are pretty much identical in every way, except for the logo, and even that was pretty close.
I bet Russia is paying top $$$ to Nike to make their jerseys look cool, and leaving the rest of the world look like crap...
This is just bad as the USA, both are hideous! What's up with one sleeve with white band and one without? Every time I keep looking at the USA and Canada jerseys, it doesn't look like jerseys at all.
I think that left sleeve is terrible! At least put it on both arms! I guess this look isn't bad for the Olympics, it wouldn't work for the NHL in my book though. This will help the hurricanes stand apart from team Canada now lol! I'm very interested to see what the pants and socks will look like, not to mention the ever increasingly intisipated white jersey, I hope it has ared yoke!
Terrible terrible terrible. Whoever at Nike designed these and whoever signed off on them for both the US and Canada should be fired. There is really nothing to like about any of these, at least the red is correct for Canada, the blue they are using for the US isn't even the blue in the flag. I can't beleive the center crests aren't even sewn on patches, these are bush league, something you see in in-line hockey.
Oh bloody hell!!! After last weeks unveilings of USA and Russia's jerseys I was praying to god that Nike wouldn't F*** up Team Canada's jerseys, and they did exactly that by the looks of it. F*** you Nike. Even Jonathan Toews has a look on his face that's like "seriously? this is our new jersey, WTF" This will undoubtedly by the worst ever Winter Olympics for hockey jerseys.
I can't even begin to explain just how ugly the jerseys featured in the past two posts are. First the Sabres jersey, and now... this... Has there been some sort of chemical leak tainting the water supply or something?...
It's not the horrible beast other people are suggesting, but it's kind of "meh". I don't mind the single stripe on the one arm because I think the white jerseys will have a red stripe and really don't mind something being non-symmetrical. The rest of the jersey is pretty minimalist as well, so the stripe doesn't take anything away. I really miss waist stripes though. I dislike the USA jersey for it, and I dislike this one for it. Otherwise it's a big "eh".
I have a Toews jersey from when he played last time (and was arguably the best player in the tournament), and a Lemieux jersey from earlier. I'll be okay without this one.
God damn it. After seeing the American ones, I thought, it's impossible for Canada's to be any worse. I was wrong.
I think this is the best of the bunch so far. Not saying it's great, but I think it is much better than the first two.
What is with that fake "lace" thing at the chest?! Horrible. BUT, I don't think the rest of it is as bad as the Team USA sweater.
Chris, I know you often say "Good for them for trying to think outside the box". I often agree with that statement, however, sites like yours should help these designers know what fan want to see. Yes, obviously team and player input is extremely important, but these are made mostly for sales. Why won't they just pay attention to people?
The Wild got it right. Sabres, USA, Canada = Fail. I'm still holding out hope that Sabres "leak" is a hoax.
One of the ugliest jerseys I've ever seen.
oh look, its another warm up / practice jersey design......like the logo design, but thats it. fake laces.....whats the point??
So many things to dislike:
- The Nike 2014 curse - shiny bits and fake laces just aren't good
- The horizontal white bar with a red maple leaf makes me think of a kid who's attempted to draw the Canadian flag and drawn the panels horizontal rather than vertical by mistake
- I am really struggling to understand the asymmetric stripe. I can't see a purpose for it (unless there's something on the other sleeve that we've not seen yet)
- The random Canadian flag on said stripe just looks like bumper sticker, and I'm really hoping it's me eyes/poor lighting in the photo, but I'm not 100% convinced it's the same red)
- It looks more like a t-shirt than a hockey jersey
- Despite the Petrocanada feel, I could possibly warm to the idea of the middle stripe in the sense of being kind of creative, but it's really not working for me right now
After what I think were largely a really classy set of jerseys in 2010, this is all looking rather disappointing so far (and the fact that the fake laces seem to be universal doesn't bode well for the remainder of the reveals) I had held out hope that this one would be slightly better than the USA and Russia sweaters, but unfortunately, I don't think it's the case
In all honesty, here's my thoughts on potential positives of this jersey:
1) Canada has worn alternate colours (blue, black) that are not even on their flag as part of their international jerseys. This design keeps it red and white, just like the flag.
2) I like the way the logo was placed in the front to actually make the jersey look like the flag. It's probably reasonable to expect that the other jersey will just be a flip of the colours.
3) Like the Canadiens home jersey or the Senators heritage jersey, this one looks like it'll feature the large strip to go around the entire uniform. It's a design that we see replicated on this site in concepts for many different teams.
4) Along with other jerseys, it may look better on the ice in action than it does in a photo shoot.
5) It's nowhere as bad as the Russian "Eagle" jersey that they'll be wearing on their own home ice this year.
BARF!
Seriously??? That's it?? How much did the designer get paid to create this jersey in Microsoft paint?? If this is the jersey then all indications point to 'Giant Tiger' becoming the official outfitter for the Sochi Olympics!! Is Bi-way back in business??
Fake lacing sucks and looks cheap, but I think the asymmetry is awesome!!
Hideous, hideous, hideous. Rock bottom and worse than the US version. Did I say it was hideous?
disgusting, why even change? who is running the show, canada hockey or nike????
It's like Nike is trying to make bad jerseys. Can't believe people actually approved of these.
Someone at Nike should admit that when it comes to designing hockey jerseys, they really don't know what they are doing.
Right after almost every team in the NFL dumps Nike's horrible fake neck roll, they introduce another horrible fake accent to a sports jersey. This fake laces thing is completely stupid.
The Olympic jerseys look like s**t so far. As a Swede, I really really REALLY hope they wont ruin our jerseys but the odds look bad. I can imagine twinkeling crowns on the shoulders and other horrific details.
Why do all these olympic jerseys look like training jerseys ? I do not look forward to Nike destroys the Swedish .
Looks like a duty-free bag...
I hope this isn't real... Although it does have a lot of the new Nike elements, it is much more plain than the other Nike jerseys we've seen so far...
Not the worst Olympic jersey I've seen so far, but still terrible. The 2010 Olympic jerseys were great and you don't fix a thing that isn't broken...
I hope the Swedish jerseys will be the same. But seeing this I doubt it.
i like the front. simple but different. not totally sold on the sleeve. i might like it if it was just a stripe, but it looks like they have a canadien flag patch in the middle which, to me, feels like an afterthought. will have to see what that actually looks like on the ice.
(for the record, i am not even going to comment on any of the shiny parts, because we all know it is just plain stupid.)
Showed this to my girlfriend, "that looks like it came out of a cereal box..." I think that pretty much says it all.
More of the Nike god-awfulness. Not so much the center chest part - that's OK - but the overall look of the jersey. Roller-hockey all the way.
Ugly. Would not be bad if the stripe would be on the other sleeve as well. Even better if it went all the way around to the back of the jersey. The arm stripe would be a perfect place for TV numbers instead of on top of the shoulders like Nike likes to do. That won't happen though because the flag patch is in the white stripe.
Hate the faux strings.
Oh please no, for the love of Jeebus! It looks like someone's grandma knitted a sweater.
OMG! It can't be!! If so, moving to Australia! ;)
Loving it! It's been about 24 hours since I first saw it and its grown on me a lot. The maple leaf seems to have a gold trim around it similar to the 2002 Olympic jersey. I believe it looks very modern and classy at the same time. Excited to see a white version of it. Great job hockey Canada/Nike
I don't understand why everyone hates this jersey so much. I actualy like it. I like how only one sleeve has the stripe, its unique, different, and i welcome that. I hate those fake lace up collars that Nike is adding now though. The jersry would be a lot better if it had a real white lace up collar. I sure hope there isnt any shiny maple leafs on the shoulders when its released. Thats just a stupid idea. Other than that though I like it. Its clean, it has a lot of red, which is important, and most importantly, now we don't have to compare team canada to the carolina hurricanes remakes anymore.
Well, I just saved myself some cash! I will stick with the WJHC 2009-present version of Canada's jerseys. Those are still the pinnacle of clean, classic and sharp.
Nike should stick to college football jerseys. I mean, it doesn't really matter what the teams wear at the Olympics, we'll cheer them on regardless. But it's so easy to come up with a good national team jersey(not just for Canada, but any country), I don't see why Nike feels the need to reinvent the wheel.
Honestly this isn't as bad as I thought it could be, but why change it at all? the 2010 unis were perfect.
You got the Freak Out Friday jersey on the main page instead of the concept one. Oh, wait :(
F***ing awful! Their 2010 jerseys were so perfect, so beautiful. This is a nightmare. Nike SERIOUSLY needs to get out of the hockey jersey business.
Could they not afford to have an intern steam the creases out of the jersey? looks like they pulled it right out of the FedEx Envelope and threw it on him.
Awful just awful looks like they took the Petro Canada Logo and reversed it
What we're seeing is the great race between Nike and Reebok to find out once and for all who can design the ugliest hockey jerseys! I was so distracted by the unfinished red-space maple leaf on the chest that it took me a second to notice the mismatched sleeves. I don't mind the shiny stuff on the shoulders the same way I didn't mind it with the US (it might look cool under the lights on the ice, then again is might be flashy and distracting) but I agree that the shiny faux laces are gimmicky and almost cheap looking.
One thing I do like is the crew neck which looks better on fans because there isn't a big sagging collar. Then again, with a design like this, will we ever find a fan that purchases it?
What a shame. I thought the 2012 olympics jerseys were gross but this one just blows that out of the water. Who designs this crap?