Hockey

Canada's hockey teams will have a local flair as they gun for gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics next February.

After five attempts at designing a new logo, Hockey Canada officially unveiled its Olympic jerseys Monday at a news conference at UBC Thunderbird Arena.

The jerseys are red and white with stripes across the arms and bottom. A red maple leaf embossed with traditional Musqueam art replaces the previous logo of a hockey player's silhouette skating through a black and red maple leaf.

The men's and women's sweaters have the Canadian Olympic Committee and VANOC logos on them, and the sledge hockey team has the VANOC Paraylmpic and Canadian Paralympic logos.  

Inside the crest, there are smaller Maple Leafs depicting the number of gold medals won by Canadian men's, women's and sledge hockey teams; the thunderbird and eagle, two First Nations symbols; and a hockey player and stick.

"Hockey will be front and centre in February and it will be felt right down to the grassroots of hockey in Canada," said Hockey Canada chairman Ken Corbett, before gigantic replicas of the jersey were hoisted at the arena, a hockey venue for the 2010 Games.

The new sweater was designed by Debra Sparrow, an artist of the Musqueam First Nation, and Nike Canada after the International Olympic Committee forbade national sports federations from displaying their logo at the Games.

"I think that it's going to be a great jersey that every Canadian can be proud of, but most importantly, that our men's, women's and sledge team players will wear with pride," said Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson, who reiterated the organization's goal of winning triple gold in the men's, women's and sledge hockey Olympic tournament.

Jayna Hefford, one of 26 players currently in Calgary to battle for a spot on the women's Olympic roster, was pleased to see that the design on the 2010 jerseys don't stray far from past models.

"I think they look great and it would be an honour to wear it," she said in an interview with CTV. "We take a lot of pride in the jersey each time we put it on and to have one that is familiar and comfortable and that looks fairly similar to the traditional Hockey Canada logo is important."

The past logo, which Hockey Canada will still use corporately, was in use on its jerseys since 1994, but the IOC started cracking down on nations at the Summer Olympics.

Nicholson explained that outside of the 2010 Olympics, Canadian national hockey teams will continue to wear the traditional Hockey Canada logo. This would include teams at world championship and world junior competitions. That said, Nicholson said he also expects the new jerseys to play a big role at the Vancouver Games.

"We're very fortunate that this artist did a great job with the renderings within the logo," Nicholson said, "I think this will be the jersey that not only hockey players wear but that all Canadians and all Canadian athletes will be proud of. This might become the jersey for not just hockey but for all sports."

At the announcement Monday, John Furlong, Vancouver Organizing Committee president, recalled a recent conversation he had with Pat Quinn, coach of the gold-medal winning men's squad in 2002.

Quinn told Furlong that there has never been a Canadian team that has more expectations than the Canadian Olympians who will be competing on home soil next February.

"This jersey will be the most sought after, most inspiring jersey that any of us have ever worn," said Furlong, who used the occasion to also announce Nike Canada as an official supplier for the Games.

In addition to the jerseys, Nike will supply the organizing committee with other high-performance sporting goods.

In exchange, they'll get the right to market and brand some of their products as officially Olympic.

With six months to go until the Games, the deal could be the final domestic partnership for 2010 organizers.

But they are still hopeful the International Olympic Committee will sign up two more international sponsors for the Games.

Without them, the committee is facing a $30-million hole in its budget creating major pressure on their $1.75 billion bottom line.

Nicholson does not expect the change to hurt the Hockey Canada brand. "I think the key in all of this is that the jerseys ... will have our traditional mark on the sleeve," said Nicholson. "So that will still be the jersey that all young girls and boys will wear and (they will) hopefully keep their dreams alive to play for Canada not just at the Olympics but at all tournaments in the future."

The announcement coincided with the commercial release for the 2010 jersey: a replica jersey is available now with a suggested retail price of $134.95 and an authentic jersey, available in October, will be $399.95.

With a report from The Canadian Press