NHL Sweater Switch 2013

Sweater Switch was an annual tradition on Icethetics going back to 2009 — until I accidentally skipped it last year. No one asked for it and I quite simply forgot about it. Not this year.

Now that we're several days into NHL free agency, teams are starting to hold press conferences to introduce their newest members. So I'm gathering up photos to give us all a first glimpse at a handful of big names who will be sporting new sweaters in the fall. Enjoy.

Photos from Philadelphia Flyers (via Instagram)

Flyers add Lecavalier, Streit and Emery

This has got to be the most bizarre one of them all. And I'm not just speaking as a Lightning fan here. Vincent Lecavalier wearing anything but the bolt is just not right. Even if he is on the downswing of his career. Trading blue for orange. Four for forty. And temperate Tampa for chilly Philly. Just bizarre.

Lecavalier was forced to dump the No. 4 jersey he wore for many years in Tampa since it was retired by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1975 for Barry Ashbee. But here's a fun fact: Lecavalier wasn't always No. 4. After being drafted by Tampa Bay in 1998, he actually wore No. 8 since his Jean Beliveau-inspired jersey was taken by previous Lightning draftee Cory Cross. However, the following season, Cross was traded for Fredrik Modin, freeing up the number we all associate with Vinny. I'm hoping he's the last Bolt to wear it.

Mark Streit also had retired-number problems. His standard No. 2 was raised to the rafters in Philly just last year for Mark Howe. For Ray Emery, on the other hand, Tuesday's media event was all very deja vu. He held up that same No. 29 Flyers jersey for pictures when he was signed four years ago.

By the way, the Courier-Post has a neat shot of the trio wearing their new threads.

Photo from Dallas Stars (via Facebook)

Stars welcome Seguin and Horcoff

Also on Tuesday, two new Dallas Stars players got to model two new Dallas Stars jerseys. Shawn Horcoff, in green, will wear No. 10 next season as he has for nearly all his years in Edmonton. (I believe he had No. 36 briefly as a rookie.)

Meanwhile, Tyler Seguin, donning white for the media, was forced to swap digits as his No. 19 was retired by the North Stars for Bill Masterton in 1987. They still honor Minnesota's retired numbers in Dallas. He'll now wear No. 91 in Dallas.

By the way, don't forget that this franchise will be retiring another number next season. On March 8, 2014, No. 9 goes up for Mike Modano, a fact made public last month when the Stars unveiled these new uniforms.

Photos from Columbus Blue Jackets

Nathan Horton joins Blue Jackets

The Columbus Blue Jackets wasted no time getting their biggest free agent signee in front of the media. Nathan Horton met the cameras on July 5, the first day of free agency and the day he signed his new deal. As you can see, he'll take on No. 8 with R.J. Umberger occupying No. 18.

But this is the last time we'll see Horton in a Blue Jackets jersey for a while. He's about to undergo shoulder surgery, which will put him out of commission for four to six months. Meaning we probably won't get to see him in action until November or December.

By the way, speaking of Horton and Seguin, I was amused by this photo from 2010, depicting the pair showing off their new Bruins jerseys. Just goes to show how futile these things can be sometimes.

Anyway, I'll leave it here for now. There will be more of these press conferences as the summer goes on, so I'll just keep adding updates to this post.

By the way, I know the the Minnesota Wild already introduced Keith Ballard, but I understand they're doing Matt Cooke on Wednesday, so I'll post their pictures together once that happens.

Update on Friday · Jul 12 · 2013 | 12:55 AM PDT by Chris

Photos from Minnesota Wild (via Instagram)

Wild sign Ballard and Cooke

The Minnesota Wild jumped on the free agent train last week, adding Keith Ballard and Matt Cooke. On July 5, Ballard — a Minnesota native — met with local press. The team confirmed he will wear No. 2 next season. He most recently wore No. 4 in Vancouver but previously used No. 2 in Florida and Phoenix.

Then on Wednesday it was Cooke's turn in front of the cameras. He will continue sporting that familiar No. 24 jersey as he did with the Penguins, Capitals and Canucks.

Photo composite from New Jersey Devils

Devils turn to Photoshop for new arrivals

Turns out if you don't want to hold a big press event to introduce your new players, you can just Photoshop their heads onto your jersey. At least that's what the New Jersey Devils did. Michael Ryder, Ryane Clowe, Cory Schneider and Rostislav Olesz are currently appearing on the splash page of the Devils' website as seen above.

By the way, when I saw this graphic I had to wonder whether it really counted for this post since these guys aren'tactually wearing the jerseys. I'd like to hear your take on this — if you have one.

I haven't seen anything official regarding sweater numbers yet, so let's make some guesses. First, Cory Schneider should easily keep his No. 35. But the rest of these guys could have number problems. Clowe wore No. 29 during his many years in San Jose but Mark Fayne currently occupies it in New Jersey. Could Clowe claim seniority?

Meanwhile, Ryder (73) and Olesz (85) both wear high numbers, something that seems to be frowned upon in Jersey. Have you ever noticed how almost nobody wears a number much higher than Marty Brodeur's 30? Eric Gelinas is No. 32 and some guy named Alexander Urbom is listed as No. 33 (but he doesn't even have 15 games of NHL experience yet). High numbers are a rarity for the Devils.

So will Ryder and Olesz get to keep their numbers or will they be forced to make a change next season? And what is it with the lack of high numbers on the Devils roster? Anyone know the story?

Let me know if you guys spot any other photos that belong in the Sweater Switch post. I plan to keep updating it throughout the summer.

Update on Saturday · Jul 13 · 2013 | 5:32 PM PDT by Chris

A lot of Sweater Switch news came out yesterday, but I was obviously a little busy with the Buffalo Sabres, so I'm taking care of it now. Let's start on the Island.

Islanders announce numbers for new trio

The New York Islanders didn't hold any press conferences with their newcomers, but they did take to Twitter to reveal their uniform numbers for next season. Cal Clutterbuck will have No. 15 after five seasons in Minnesota with No. 22 — which the Isles retired for Mike Bossy.

Peter Regin will sport No. 16. In Ottawa he used No. 43 and No. 13. Colin McDonald wears No. 13 on the Island. And finally another longtime member of the Wild heads to New York in Pierre-Marc Bouchard. He will continue to wear No. 96.

In a follow-up tweet, the Islanders pointed out that this will be the highest number every worn in club history. The previous record holder? Ryan Smyth had No. 94 for a handful of games in 2007.

Images from Ottawa Senators (via official website & Twitter)

Ryan, MacArthur and Corvo head to Ottawa

The Ottawa Senators grabbed a pair of solid forwards with Bobby Ryan and Clarke MacArthur. On Friday, the team revealed the players' numbers. They also Photoshopped jerseys onto the guys for their website's splash page — just like New Jersey.

After an odd build-up, the Sens "unveiled" Ryan's new number as 6. Then they shared a photo of his red jersey on a mannequin in the team store (above). Early on with Anaheim he wore No. 54, but later changed it to No. 9. In Ottawa, Milan Michalek has No. 9.

MacArthur, meanwhile, is sticking with the No. 16 jersey he wore most recently in Toronto. But in order to keep it, he had to take it from Mark Stone, who will now wear No. 61. (By the way, I liked his Twitter pun about the number switch.) Anyway, prior to his days as a Leaf, MacArthur was No. 41 with the Sabres. Not sure what the significance is of either number.

And lastly for Ottawa, Joe Corvo returns next season. This time he'll wear No. 77. In his last stint with the Senators between 2006 and 2008, he had No. 7. Since the arrival of Kyle Turris, that is no longer available to him. Corvo began his NHL career in 2002 with the Kings and has worn a number of numbers. He started with No. 26 as a rookie in L.A. and switched to No. 27 the following season. Then after the lockout he switched again, this time to No. 6.

In 2006 was when he first joined the Senators and as No. 7, he had a fourth number for his fourth NHL season. Amazingly he kept that number when the 2007-08 season began, a career first. But it wouldn't last. He got traded to Carolina before the end of the season and switched to No. 77 (five numbers in five season). Seems like at that point, he finally found a sweater number he liked. Sort of. He kept it when he was traded to Washington two years later.

This story isn't over yet. The next season, in 2010, Corvo went back to the Hurricanes as a free agent, keeping No. 77. But again they traded him. This time he went to Boston where Nos. 7 and 77 were obviously unavailable. So he went with No. 14 (add the 7s together, right?). Then he began a third stint with the Canes last year. This guy's been around. But, you know, mostly to the same places.

By the way, Corvo was born in 1977 so that's probably the significance. Boy, that was a long story.

Photo from Toronto Maple Leafs (via Twitter)

Maple Leafs sign David Clarkson

The Toronto Maple Leafs informed the world that newcomer David Clarkson will be sporting No. 71 in the fall. Wihat's odd is no one has the No. 23 he wore for many years in New Jersey. But there you have it. By the way, here's a fun fact. Clarkson actually wore No. 27 for about seven games during the 2006-07 season. Scott Gomez, who had No. 23, left the following summer after which Clarkson played his first full NHL season as No. 23.

Photo by Sarah McLellan (via Instagram)

Mike Ribeiro introduced by Coyotes

Also on Friday, the Phoenix Coyotes put Mike Ribeiro in front of the local media, a week after his signing and announced he's going back to his trusty No. 63 sweater. Ribeiro wore No. 9 last season in Washington but had No. 63 for six years before that in Dallas. However he was No. 71 in Montreal for the first half of his NHL career going back to 1999.

And I think I've covered it for now. More updates to this post as they come.

Deal Approved for Arizona Coyotes

Late last night, the Glendale City Council approved a deal that will keep the Phoenix Coyotes in town for the foreseeable future — but with a new name. The team will take the ice at Jobing.com Arena this fall as the Arizona Coyotes.

That was part of the agreement with the new buyer, Renaissance Sports and Entertainment. And it's been in the works a while. You can read more about it all here.

As far as logos and jerseys go, I wouldn't expect any major changes before October. Obviously, we'll see a new wordmark — which could be a simple as swapping out Phoenix for Arizona in the existing wordmark. Though there's plenty of time to come up with something entirely new if they wanted.

More interesting is the "PHX" patch on the left shoulder of the home and road jerseys. It's in the shape of Arizona and the design is inspired by the state flag. But will it be changed or removed for next season? My bet is it will. It's pretty late in the calendar for Reebok, but there may still be enough time to get it changed rather than to drop it entirely. One thing's for sure, though. That PHX patch just became a collectible.

I'll keep you apprised of anything I hear as the summer goes on.

And for the record, as a Seattleite, I'm only the slightest bit disappointed by the deal because it means our town will be without the NHL for at least another year. And that's not right. On the other hand, I'm happy for Coyotes fans, who can finally put this mess behind them.

Update on Wednesday · Jul 3 · 2013 | 11:26 PM PDT by Chris

Sounds like the name change may be put off a year. Par for the course, I suppose.

Carl from Five For Howling, @CoyotesDude on Twitter, tweeted earlier today that Anthony Leblanc, head of the new ownership group, said on the radio that it may have to wait until the 2014-15 season.

Given what a name change would mean at this point, it's not surprising. There are so many things to consider even for what seems like such a minor thing. And while you might think the Glendale city council would be eager to see Arizona in the name immediately, you have to remember this is a group comprised of the biggest pushovers the world has ever known — as evidenced by Tuesday night's vote.

I know that last line was a little nasty, but let's call a spade a spade. The approval was great news for Coyotes fans. For residents of Glendale, I'd be worried.

Anyway, I'll be keeping an eye on this whole name change thing. But it sounds like an item for the first edition of NHL JerseyWatch 2014.

NHL Draft Yields Anniversary Logos

The 2013 NHL Draft was held this afternoon in Newark, N.J. and it treated us to a few new uniform decorations for the 2013-14 season. By that I mean it was positively lousy with special anniversary patches. I'll review those and some other items, team-by-team, in the order it all happened.

Photos from Florida Panthers

With the second overall selection, the Florida Panthers took Aleksander Barkov. They handed him a red jersey featuring the new 20th anniversary patch on the chest. This wasn't our first time seeing the logo, but it was the first time in patch form on a sweater.

Photos from Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes picked fifth, nabbing Elias Lindholm, giving us another opportunity to see the new threads. I'm still not a fan. Where's the originality of days gone by? Not to mention, the poor kid looks pregnant wearing that.

Photos from Yahoo! Sports

With a pair of first round selections, the Dallas Stars decided to get creative with their new sweaters — handing out one of each. At No. 10, Valeri Nichushkin got the green home jersey while Jason Dickinson got the white one at 29th overall. And the uniforms still look amazing.

Photos from Yahoo! Sports

Skipping ahead to the 18th selection, we find the San Jose Sharks avoiding the jersey redesign question by letting Mirco Mueller have the black alternate. Look at his face. He sees what they did there.

While we're on the third jersey subject, the Minnesota Wild also kept to their tradition of making green the first thing their greenhorns get to wear. Pictured above is Dylan Labbe, taken 107th overall. That brings us to the third and final team to hand out a third jersey today.

At No. 26 were the Anaheim Ducks, who are about to mark two decades in existence. They selected Shea Theodore of the Seattle Thunderbirds. His alternate jersey featured the Ducks' new anniversary logo, which got its official unveiling with today's festivities.

Photos from Anaheim Ducks

I won't lie. I'm disappointed. It's a rehash of the Ottawa Senators' 20th anniversary logo from two years ago. It doesn't tie in to any existing Ducks branding — apart from the D stuck on it like a game of pin the tail on the donkey. It's all set in the stale Bank Gothic font every other sports team has used at some point. And it's packed with lazy gradients. My favorite.

The Ducks unveiled the logo via Twitter this afternoon following Theodore's selection. They also posted this press release to their website, detailing plans for their 20th anniversary season. One interesting note is a "Throwback Night" set to take place "near the start of the 2013-14 regular season, paying homage to the inaugural 1993-94 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season."

Does this foreshadow an eggplant-and-jade specialty jersey? One can dream. The release says more details will be announced at a later date.

Photo from Boston Bruins (via Instagram)

The Boston Bruins didn't get their first crack at the draft pool until the end of the second round, 60th overall to be precise. But they did have jerseys on hand for the later picks featuring their 90th anniversary patch. It was revealed via their Instagram account during the draft. (Also a couple of photos on Twitter.)

I've yet to see it in any digital art, but it looks all right. It's the standard giant number above a ribbon with the team's logo tacked on the middle. It resembles the club's 80th anniversary logo more than its 75th — which is a good thing. And while it conforms to the dull conventions of an anniversary logo, it's unique enough to be a solid logo as far as I'm concerned.

(And for the record, I think Icethetics concept artist Justin Nahhas is somewhat psychic. Compare this logo to a design he created almost two years ago.)

One final note. I did a tally of all the jerseys handed out to draftees today. Out of 30 teams, 25 used their dark home jersey, three went with a third jersey (read above) and three used white road sweaters, including Colorado, Winnipeg and double-dipping Dallas.

That's it as far as jerseys are concerned. But there's one more item. We learned at last year's draft that Philadelphia will take on hosting duties in 2014. But we didn't get the full version of the logo until today.

I love the bell shape of the shield for this one. Just outstanding execution of what can be a tired concept. The Liberty Bell is in Philly, we get it. But this is a neat logo!

What do you think of all the new stuff we got to see today? Hit or miss on the anniversary logos?

Update on Sunday · Jun 30 · 2013 | 8:30 PM PDT by Chris

Photos from Yahoo! Sports

Two more things I almost forgot to mention from the draft. Noticeably absent from the Nashville Predators' jersey, including this one given to Seth Jones, was any sign of the 15th anniversary logo we saw earlier in the week.

Also, the Phoenix Coyotes' picks had me wondering if this could be the last time we ever see this jersey in any official NHL capacity. Depending on what happens Tuesday, the Coyotes could be on their way out of Arizona. Just something to think about.

Update on Sunday · Jun 30 · 2013 | 8:54 PM PDT by Chris

One more update. Looks like the Hurricanes joined the Stars in giving out both of their new sweaters today. Above you saw Elias Lindholm in red. But here's third-round pick Brett Pesce in white.

Photos from Carolina Hurricanes (via Instagram)

I still like the white a little better than the red, but I still don't think it's an improvement on what they used to wear. Who knows. Maybe I'll change my mind in time.

Predators Unveil 15th Anniversary Logo

Nashville celebrates decade-and-a-half with special mark

All right. First, who else is reeling from the revelation that the Nashville Predators have been around for 15 years? Now I think I understand all the folks who couldn't believe last year was the Lightning's 20th. How old am I?

With that out of the way, there's not much to this story. The Preds unveiled the logo on Monday along with plans for marking the anniversary starting in the fall. That link is useful if you want to know more.

Before you ask, I don't anticipate any special jerseys for next season. Certainly no third at least. And 15 years doesn't really feel long enough to break out the "classic sweaters." (That's not to say I wouldn't enjoy seeing Nashville in those old mustard thirds again.)

In their release, the Predators did tease a special 15th anniversary website with stories from the origins of the club. If nothing else, maybe we'll get to relive the stories about how the name and logo came about. And if we're really lucky, maybe they'll share some of the original concept logos they looked at before landing on the final version.

In other anniversary-related news, let's remember the Anaheim Ducks should be marking 20 years this season, having been founded in 1993. (The Stars also moved to Dallas in 1993 yet did their 20th anniversary thing this past season.)

And in case you missed it amid all the Dallas/Carolina excitement, the Florida Panthers unveiled their 20th anniversary logo last month. I don't believe there are any other anniversaries that end in 0 or 5 this year. At least not in the NHL.

Trio of New Jerseys at Q Draft

The 2013 QMJHL Draft was held in Chicoutimi, Quebec on June 8. And those interested in junior hockey jerseys got treated to a few new ones at the event.

Islanders reveal black jersey at draft

Of course we have to begin with the recently rebranded Charlottetown Islanders, previously known as the PEI Rocket. Their new black sweater was on display at the draft and also given to their draftees. I haven't seen the white one so I'm not sure if it's the same style.

This is a bit disappointing. It's not like they knocked it out of the park on the logo, but why go even blander with a black text jersey? Charlottetown could've learned a thing or two from the mistakes of their NHL friends in Dallas. And what is with all the crazy piping?

Tigres switch from yellow to black

The Victoriaville Tigres have apparently dropped their yellow sweaters in favor of black. Seems like an odd move considering the trend in hockey jerseys these days, but these actually look pretty solid.

Photos from Victoriaville Tigres (via Facebook)

The Buffalo Sabres Edge template we're all quite familiar with, but it is an improvement on the Pens/Sens template they used to wear. And overall, it works.

Lastly, the Shawinigan Cataractes apparently have a new alternate jersey. I say "apparently" because they only seemed to give it to one player at the draft. And because almost everything written about all these teams is in French — a language I don't speak.

Photo from Shawinigan Cataractes (via Facebook)

Maybe some of my bilingual readers might have some more information to pass along. Keep an eye on the comments for updates from those in the know.

As for me, I'm taking a step back from the blog for a little while. Not to worry, if there's news to report, it'll be here. But I need some time to get the next IceHL yearbook together and that means making the time for daily blog posts will be difficult.

That said, I'm expecting jersey news from Buffalo, Minnesota, San Jose, Montreal and possibly Calgary over the next few months. So as soon as I know anything, I'll be sure to let you guys know.