Habs Centennial Jersey Sked

Thanks to everyone who responded to my previous post! The Montreal Canadiens' released Centennial jersey event list via their 2009-10 season pocket schedule. See it here, courtesy of Dante_X.

Five nights during this campaign will be dedicated to old-time Montreal hockey sweaters, and they are scheduled to be worn as follows.

• Saturday, Oct. 31 - vs Toronto (1912-13/striped)
• Tuesday, Nov. 10 - vs Calgary (1910-11/red)
• Saturday, Nov. 21 - vs Detroit (1909-10/blue)
• Saturday, Jan. 23 - vs NY Rangers (1910-11/red)
• Saturday, Feb. 13 - vs Philadelphia (1909-10/blue)

Let me point out the irony is not lost on me that the Habs will don the scary striped jersey on Halloween night. Speaking of which, in case you're not up on your Canadiens history and you don't know your 1909 jersey from your 1910 jersey, here's a quick refresher.

1912-13 centennial jersey

1909-10 centennial jersey

1910-11 centennial jersey

Personally, I can't wait to see the latter two. Not sure which one I like better. They're just so unlike anything else in the NHL these days. Shame we have to look back a century to find quality hockey sweaters.

By the way, Icethetics reader and Habs fan Adam makes a good point. The actually 100th anniversary date — December 4 — isn't listed as a Centennial jersey night. Makes you wonder if they have something else entirely up their sleeve that night as they face the Bruins. (I wish the Bs would sport that Winter Classic sweater a month early.)

Anyway, thanks again to those of you who contributed to this post. I'm adding the special dates to the calendar now.

Sweater Switch '09: Part 5

The long-dormant Sweater Switch series wraps up tonight more than a month after the previous installment. I was holding out, waiting for one more picture to pop up, but no. We will have to settle for just two.

I mentioned these guys in Part 3, but now the Montreal Canadiens have put their new quintet in front of cameras together. Travis Moen, Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, Mike Cammalleri and Paul Mara all donning their bleu, blanc et rouge.

New Habs pose for a group photo

You can find the stories behind their chosen numbers in Part 3. I won't bother to re-hash it here.

The other picture I have shows new Capital Brendan Morrison with his new No. 9 Washington jersey.

Brendan Morrison

Morrison is returning to the No. 9 sweater he wore when he made his NHL debut with the New Jersey Devils in the 1997-98 season. In 2000, he became a Canuck and switched to No. 7 as Brad May had No. 9. Morrison kept that jersey throughout his tenure in Vancouver and even last season when he joined the Ducks. After being claimed by the Stars late in the season, he switched to No. 11.

If I've missed any good Sweater Switch photo ops, let me know and I'll add them to this post.

Sweater Switch '09, Part 3

First, check out Part 1: Pronger, Havlat, Tavares, Hedman, Ashton and Part 2: Bouwmeester, Ohlund, Walker, Cammalleri, Gomez, Smyth.

Our summer blog series continues today with another slew of players who will be wearing new uniforms in the fall. As usual, we start with a big name. After eight seasons with the Minnesota Wild, Marian Gaborik left the team that drafted him and joined the New York Rangers.

Marian GaborikA photo currently on display on the Rangers' web site shows Gaborik posing in the locker room in his new blue sweater. And when he hits the ice in October, he'll be sticking with the same No. 10 he's worn all his career.

It's quite possible the Montreal Canadiens are responsible for signing the most new players this offseason, so it should be no surprise that coverage has spanned two parts of this series. Last time, we looked at Mike Cammalleri and Scott Gomez. Today, we'll look at five other guys.

The image above was created for the Habs' web site for a great article about the sweater numbers selected by the rest of their new free agent signees. I highly suggest reading the article, but if you don't have time for that, I'll summarize.

Lightning draftee Paul Mara will return to the No. 22 jersey he first wore in Tampa 10 years ago. Stanley Cup champ Travis Moen will keep the No. 32 he wore during his four-year stint in Anaheim. He wore No. 24 as he finished out last season with San Jose and, oddly, No. 59 as a rookie with Chicago in 2003.

Brian Gionta will switch from No. 14, which he'd worn in New Jersey since 2001, to No. 21. Tomas Plekanec currently dons the No. 14 for the Canadiens. The article mentions that Gionta will be the 46th player in the 100-year team history to wear No. 21. Only No. 20 has been more popular with 55 players having skated with it.

The No. 75 sweater you see above actually belongs to Hal Gill this season, selected for his birth year. Gill previously wore No. 2 with Pittsburgh, but it's been retired in Montreal. During the first 10 years of his career, Gill donned the No. 25 in Boston and Toronto. Mathieu Dandenault, currently an unsigned free agent, wore it last year for the Habs.

That leaves us with only Jaroslav Spacek, who will stick with No. 6. Spacek began his career 10 years ago with the Panthers, wearing No. 8 and later wore No. 3 with the Blackhawks and Blue Jackets. It was when he made his return to Chicago in 2005 that Spacek began using No. 6, and has done so ever since, including the past three years with the Sabres.

I'll finish off this part of the Sweater Switch series with what I think has been the most interesting jersey number story of the summer. I imagine fans always wonder how players handle it when their preferred number is in use on their new team.

I know we already covered Martin Havlat with a photo in Part 1, but via his Twitter account on Tuesday, the new Wild member updated inquiring fans, since Derek Boogaard has the No. 24 he wore in Chicago.

"For everyone asking, I will be wearing number 14 with the Wild," Havlat tweeted, "I got into an arm wrestling match with Boogie over 24 and lost!"

That's it for another edition. I'll keep following these number stories throughout the summer.

Update on Thursday · Jul 16 · 2009 | 11:07 AM PDT by Chris

Marian GaborikI have some clarifications to make in response to some of the comments. As Tom D mentioned, Marian Gaborik hasn't exactly worn No. 10 for his entire NHL career.

In fact, as this picture (left) clearly shows, Gaborik wore No. 82 for a short time at the beginning of his rookie year with the Wild. (Miss those green jerseys, by the way.) He was born in 1982 so we can safely assume that to be the significance.

Tom D and another commenter, Aaron, also point out that Hal Gill originally wore his birth year, No. 75, for a short time at the start of his career with the Bruins.

I've been unable to find any photos or roster archives to support this claim, but I'm sure if it's out there, someone will send in a link and we can set things straight here.

And finally, as Dan notes, I forgot to mention that the Blackhawks will be introducing Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky to local media this afternoon. Let's hope they'll be wearing their actual jerseys so I can offer up pictures in Part 4.

The Lightning held a press conference yesterday with Ohlund and Walker but the team handed them each No. 09 "draft day" jerseys, which is incredibly odd.

Either the pair had yet to choose their new numbers or the team was too lazy to actually make them real jerseys. Whatever the case, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the Hawks.

Sweater Switch '09, Part 2

First, check out Part 1: Pronger, Havlat, Tavares, Hedman, Ashton

Jay BouwmeesterTonight, we start with the Calgary Flames and their recent addition of blue-liner Jay Bouwmeester. Great picture to the left, by the way.

He was traded by the Florida Panthers in exchange for Jordan Leopold on June 27. Both players were set to become free agents on July 1 but both have since signed deals with the teams they were traded to.

Bouwmeester donned a Flames sweater when he was introduced at a team press conference. His name stretches from shoulder to shoulder across the back of his No. 4 jersey — the same number he wore during his six seasons with the Panthers.

Unfortunately, the article (linked above) doesn't address his reasoning for wearing the number. If anyone can find an explanation, email or comment. I know lots of folks are enjoying the stories behind the sweater numbers.

We continue with the Flames' opponent in their most recent attempt at a Stanley Cup run. The Tampa Bay Lightning added Mattias Ohlund and Matt Walker this summer, both of whom were on hand to meet fans tonight at the Young Guns Camp.

Matt Walker and Mattias Ohlund

They're not wearing their new Bolts sweaters here, as they speak to TV announcer Rick Peckham. However, fan giveaways included a No. 2 Ohlund sweater, seen below.

A fan holds up her Ohlund jersey

This means either Lukas Krajicek will be getting a new number this year, or this is a placeholder for Ohlund. But Ohlund has seniority.

Interestingly, Krajicek and Ohlund played together in Vancouver during the 2007-08 season. For the record, Krajicek wore No. 5 then, which is currently available in Tampa.

Regarding Walker, I believe he wore No. 8 last season in Chicago and No. 28 prior to that in St. Louis. Neither is being used by Lightning players at the moment.

Side note: Am I starting to take jersey numbers to seriously? Really, there's not much else to talk about at this point and I want to keep updating the blog.

Either way, the Montreal Canadiens have an entire article up on their web site dedicated to the jersey numbers of two of their newest members. Mike Cammalleri has worn No. 13 his entire career, with both the Kings and Flames (and even before that), and will continue to do so with the Habs.

Scott Gomez has a longer story. Since normal numbers are getting harder to come by for the NHL's most storied franchise, Gomez could use neither of his previous numbers. He began his career in New Jersey with No. 23 and switched to No. 19 when he joined the Rangers. As the article points out, his current GM and former coach have had those numbers retired. Instead, Gomez will do a reversal and wear No. 91 in Montreal.

The article also mentions that he is the first player in team history to do so, leaving a mere 11 numbers still yet to be used. Sadly, there are not yet pictures of either player in his bleu, blanc et rouge. (Though if you want to see Gomez in red, white and blue, he was just with the Rangers.)

Ryan SmythWe'll finish off Part 2 with new L.A. King Ryan Smyth. Smyth recently posed for pictures with his his new jersey. It doesn't appear to have a number on it, but there should be nothing stopping him from keeping the No. 94 he's worn throughout his career as he heads to Los Angeles.

Smyth actually wore No. 10 for the three games he played for the Edmonton Oilers in the abbreviated 1995 season. Ever since then, he's stuck with the No. 94, including his brief stint with the Islanders prior to joining the Avalanche.

And all that useless information should wrap things up for Part 2 of Sweater Switch '09. I hope to have a Part 3 soon but that will all depend on the speed at which pictures of new free agent signees pop up.

As always, if you see anything, please drop me a line. My email address can be found at the top of the page.

Update on Tuesday · Jul 14 · 2009 | 8:47 PM PDT by Chris

Ryan SmythSeveral people have sent in this photo of Ryan Smyth holding his new No. 94 Los Angeles Kings jersey. I finally got around to posting it tonight.

I'm also finally getting around to possibly having enough content for Part 3 of this series, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

A couple of things to note about this jersey. First, I can't quite tell if it's an authentic or premier, but it does appear to be the real deal. If that is in fact the case, the Kings have made a minor change.

The numbers on the back feature heavier borders than they did last year. It makes the purple look like a lighter shade and gives the appearance that the overall numbers are larger.

Of course this is pure conjecture because who knows who made this one Smyth's holding. Since he's standing in an L.A. Kings office area, I'm assuming it's official in some way, but we'll have to wait for October to know for sure. Just thought it might be worth a mention. 

For reference with regard to the numbers, check out Michal Handzus in the following photo.

It's even possible the same thing has been done to the numbers on the sleeves. I'm anticipating Part 3 to debut on Wednesday or Thursdsay.

Alternate Expectations

The most important events of the off-season calendar are behind us. The Stanley Cup has been awarded. The prospects drafted. And now the biggest day of free agency is at an end with players like Mattias Ohlund, Nikolai Khabibulin, Marian Hossa, Dwayne Roloson and Marian Gaborik finding new teams.

Now more than three months away from the new season's debut in Europe, what does that leave us to look forward to this summer? New third jerseys, of course. I have to be honest and up front when I say that this post isn't so much about disseminating new information as it is creating a reference for what's to coming in the next several months.

Ever since the revival of Icethetics, I get emails every day from folks asking if a certain team will be getting a new third jersey this year. This post will contain all the information I have and any predictions or expectations I'm willing to share — presented alphabetically.

Calgary Flames. The days of the flaming horse head are clearly behind them, however that very design does indicate a willingness on the Flames' part to experiment with alternate logos. If you remember, last September I wrote about this very subject.

At that time, Flames president Ken King said the sweater design was being finalized and that there would be a departure from the Flaming C. What sort of a departure remains to be seen. He also hints that the jersey will be black, but that's no surprise considering the team already wears red and white.

King was confident fans will embrace the alternate look and I'm sure I speak for most of us here when I say I can't wait to find out.

Chicago Blackhawks. As previously reported, the 'Hawks have said their Winter Classic sweater will be used in games with roofs beginning in 2009-10 as it takes on the new role of third jersey — banishing the old black one.

For the first time, I will have absolutely nothing bad to say about a Blackhawks uniform. I'm sure many of you will appreciate that.

Colorado Avalanche. Icethetics last reported on a future Avs third jersey back in December when a Denver Post writer indicated the team's plans. The article didn't go into detail about the design, but rather expressed a hope that it would include some sort of Quebec connection. Not a bad idea now that the Avalanche are playing more like the Nordiques.

But I digress. I would expect to see a burgundy alternate much like what the Avs wore until the Age of Reebok. However, I'm not sure how well the diagonal text would work after the issues the Rangers had with the EDGE cut. And personally, I'd rather see Colorado go in a different direction. Pun.

Florida Panthers. We have little information on the Panthers, but they are expected to be one of a handful of teams to debut new thirds in the fall. I fully expect more of the same from the Cats. In other words, a red sweater with the logo that features a stick-biting panther.

If the Panthers were to try to exceed my expectations, they might try something completely different. Perhaps a new logo featuring the profile of a big cat on a red jersey with a unique design. But I think we all know not to set our goals too high.

Minnesota Wild. Green will make its glorious return! Gone for just a couple of seasons, it's my understanding that the Wild will use this opportunity to relaunch the green sweaters for their 10th anniversary season.

I imagine design will be much like the current road uniform. And despite that, I hope it doesn't overtake their red one anytime soon. Despite its ubiquitous color, it's got that classic hockey feel that we just don't get to see much of anymore.

Nashville Predators. The Preds officially announced plans to release a third sweater back in March during my leave of absence. So I'm telling you about it now. The article tells us that the old "mustard jersey" it describes as both "revered and reviled" will not be back. (Between us, I think they were playing it fast and loose with the definition of one of those words.)

Then Preds Business Ops President Ed Lang started speaking incoherently. "I don’t want to give too much away," he teases, "but ours will be kind of a mix between a traditional and a retro look." If anyone knows what that means, you know how to get in touch.

It's almost like he said it's going to be cobalt crossed with denim. Why don't we just call it "faded blue"? Speaking of which, that brings up an important question. If mustard is out, what color will this new sweater be? Grey can be done right if done carefully.

We're told to expect the debut of the new threads prior to Christmas. Hint, hint. You can even get one for free if you're willing to shell out for season tickets.

Those are the only teams who have talked officially about bringing third jerseys into the mix this year. I've said it before, but I'm really hoping the Rangers and Capitals get on board. We could use a blue Weagle sweater and Lady Liberty needs to be free again. But that's just my two cents.

However, you may recall the Detroit Red Wings recycled their Winter Classic jerseys for their final game last season against the Chicago Blackhawks. Icethetics reader Bill writes in wondering if this could be an indication from the club that they are in fact open to an alternate sweater.

I sure wouldn't mind seeing it on the ice more. The Wings have said nothing publicly about this so as always, we'll just have to play that wait-and-see game.

What's left? The New Jersey Devils, who have never worn a third jersey, the Anaheim Ducks and Columbus Blue Jackets have announced no sweater-adding plans. The Montreal Canadiens still have a couple more 100th anniversary throwbacks to debut this season.

You are now up to date on what to expect in terms of third jerseys as we press on this summer. And of course, keep checking back for the latest news and updates.

By the way, if you haven't been by lately, check out NHLUniforms.com, which is now called the Hockey Uniform Database. It has recently been given a facelift and is cooler than ever.