Oh... Canada?

If the flag to the left looks a little off, you don't need your eyes checked. It simply has been rendered in Canada's hockey colours that they're primarily wear in Beijing at the 2022 Winter Olympics. If that flag's new colours are blasphemous in your view, you're probably like me in asking why Canada needs black in its colour scheme when the red and white colours are so iconic. Canada's Olympic people seem to have no issue with the Great White North going dark, though, so we'll see more black than white at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games.

The first thing that should be mentioned is that none of the teams that play at the Olympics are allowed to use their hockey federations' logos on the front of their jerseys. That means that the Hockey Canada logo is out, replaced with a standard maple leaf since the 2010 Olympics. For countries like Sweden who use the Tre Kronor or the Finns who use a stylized lion, this isn't an issue as they don't use their hockey federations' logos, but it did affect both Canada and the US as they had to move away from their long-used hockey logos.

Because of these rules, Canada seems to recreate their look for each and every Olympiad, and it seems to be getting worse and worse each time. Canada's new look for 2022? It seems very black and red.

I am baffled by these uniforms with respect to the amount of black used, and the all-black uniform is downright un-Canadian in terms of our country's colours. I don't know who green-lit these uniforms or allowed Nike to make them as they did, but I am baffled how Hockey Canada officials would look at these uniforms be proud of representing the country's colours as they are.

Confused at how much black Canada will be wearing while playing for gold, I went looking for the answer to the question, "How can Canada be allowed to wear black when it's not an official colour?"

It turns out that a country doesn't have to use its flag colours if it chooses. Chris Rudge, CEO of the 2010 Canadian Olympic Committee, explained it to the Globe & Mail.

Look, I get Alpine Canada or Speed-Skating Canada not wanting to change their uniforms. It's expensive to outfit a team and, like Rudge stated, people identify their athletes with uniforms they know. If Canadian skiers wear yellow, it's easy to pick them out of a crowd of skiers based on their uniform colour.

Hockey Canada, however, spends more in a month than Alpine Canada likely spends in a decade. As we know, they have new uniforms for each Olympiad, so there is no reason whatsoever why the Canadian Olympic Committee, the IIHF, and the International Olympic Committee can't tell Hockey Canada and Nike to ditch the black uniform and use the country's official colours. There isn't one other country that wears a black alternate uniform at the Olympics, so why does Canada get to be different? Who allowed them to loophole a very reasonable suggestion?

Since you already know my stance on black jerseys as a general rule, my feelings towards Canada's latest entry in the Olympic fashion show follow the same extreme dislike. Canada is always red and white just as the Devils should always be red, white, and green, so there was absolutely no need for a black jersey that eliminates one of Canada's flag colours entirely. That should never be allowed.

This won't be the last time I stand on this hill, but it certainly is the hill I'll die on: stop dressing teams in black if it's not one of their primary colours, and certainly if that colour doesn't appear as a country's flag colour. The Olympics are a two-week tournament, so having an alternate jersey for that timespan is idiotic as it is. But for Canada to have a black uniform at all is pure lunacy.

I'll cheer for Team Canada out of nationalistic pride, but it's hard to cheer for a jersey that you hate. Thankfully, being a proud Canadian means so much more, especially when there's a gold medal hanging around the necks of our hockey heroes.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!