Turns out the Sweater Switch series isn't quite over just yet. I realized there were some pictures I hadn't yet posted. Since it's been so long, for those of you who don't know, the Sweater Switch series is here to give you a first look at players wearing their new uniforms for 2009-10.

First, obviously, Alex Tanguay. He officially signed with my Tampa Bay Lightning back on September 1 and posed for photos with coach Rick Tocchet and GM Brian Lawton.

Rick Tocchet, Alex Tanguay and Brian Lawton

Tanguay opted for the No. 13 sweater this season, same as he wore last year in Montreal. But as he pointed out in the press conference, Tanguay's preferred number is 18. It's what he wore with the Flames from 2006 to 2008. Adam Hall has that one locked up in Tampa.

However, Tanguay may be best known for his No. 40 jersey, which he donned throughout his tenure with the Calgary Flames and Colorado Avalanche. Another Adam (Deadmarsh) had No. 18 back then.

Mike KomisarekMike Komisarek, one of a handful of new Toronto Maple Leafs has selected No. 8, as you can see in the photo to the right.

No surprises there as it's the same number he wore for six seasons with the Montreal Canadiens. Can't say what its significance is.

The last guy for Part 6 is Mike Knuble, who joined the Washington Capitals this offseason after four years in Philadelphia. As you can see in the picture below, he will keep the No. 22 sweater he wore with the Flyers.

Knuble began his career with No. 22 in Detroit for two seasons followed by two more with the Rangers. He then strayed for five years between 1999 and 2004, wearing the No. 26 jersey in Boston. At the time he joined the Bruins, Mikko Eloranta had No. 22.

Mike Knuble

If you guys can track down any new pictures before the season starts, I may be able to get in one more Sweater Switch post before the highly anticipated Icethetics Season Preview! (Kidding, no one's anticipating it.)

One more note. I have new concept art on the way. Look for it to be posted Tuesday or Wednesday.

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.

First, check out Part 1: Pronger, Havlat, Tavares, Hedman, Ashton, Part 2: Bouwmeester, Ohlund, Walker, Cammalleri, Gomez, Smyth, and Part 3: Gaborik, Mara, Moen, Gionta, Gill, Spacek.

It's been nearly a week since the previous edition, but the summer blog series trudges on with another handful of players who are getting new jerseys this off-season. We'll begin with a picture that's been out there a while.

Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky

Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky were introduced to the Windy City last week after Part 3 was posted and I've been hanging on to this picture ever since. Both players carry over the sweater numbers they used with the previous red Original Six team they played for.

Hossa wore No. 18 for all of the first 10 seasons of his NHL career, which began in 1997, including seven with the Senators, three with the Thrashers and a dozen games with the Penguins. He joined the Red Wings in 2008, but had to swap his digits for veteran Wings winger Kirk Maltby. Hossa will be forced to keep No. 81 in Chicago as his preferred No. 18 has been retired by the Hawks in honor of Denis Savard (a former Bolt!).

Tomas Kopecky played his first NHL game with Detroit in the 2005-06 season, wearing No. 32. The following year saw him in No. 28 for a couple dozen games, and in his first full season he relinquished No. 28 to Brian Rafalski for the opposite, No. 82 — also his birth year — which he's been wearing since. No. 28 is available in Chicago, but Kopecky is opting to keep No. 82.

Enough blocks of text... more pictures!

The Philadelphia Flyers signed a pair of new goalies this summer, and gave them their new sweaters to debut at the announcement of the 2010 Winter Classic at Fenway Park.

Brian Boucher is actually returning to the club that drafted him in 1995 and will return to the No. 33 he first wore as a rookie in 1999. Since leaving for Phoenix in 2002, Boucher has logged a lot of miles. He managed to keep his number there and for three games in Calgary, but lost it in 2006 to Adrian Aucoin in Chicago and then Fredrik Modin in Columbus, where he donned No. 31 and No. 35, respectively. He finally got it back with San Jose two years ago.

Ray Emery made his NHL debut with a few games in the 2002-03 season in Ottawa, wearing the traditional No. 1. He kept it for all of his five season in the capital city before spending a year in the KHL. Now in Philly, Emery has opted for No. 29 since Bernie Parent was honored with the retiring of No. 1 by the Flyers in 1979.

Ian Laperriere with GM Paul Holmgren

The Flyers also added winger Ian Laperriere who's known more for penalty minutes than anything else. Though it's not clear in this picture, Laperriere will wear No. 14. He debuted with the St. Louis Blues in 1994 with No. 22 on his back, keeping it during a brief stint with the Rangers in 1995 and during his nine-season tenure with the Kings. Following the lockout, Laperriere joined the Avalanche where No. 22 belonged to Steve Konowalchuk. He's worn No. 14 since then.

That brings us to one of the most recent free agent additions of the summer. The Ottawa Senators swiped Alex Kovalev from the Montreal Canadiens and they've already put him in front of the cameras with his No. 27 sweater — all three of them, in fact.

Alex Kovalev

From his rookie year with the Rangers, Kovalev has worn No. 27 throughout his 17-season NHL career. He has since played for the Penguins before a brief return to Manhattan, and more recently, he was a member of the Canadiens. No surprise to see him keep the same number.

That's all I've got for Part 4 and I'm a little concerned it may be the last one for a while. We'll see if any other teams get their new signees into new uniforms anytime soon. August may be a slow month. But we've got the return of the IceHL to follow as well as any third jersey-related developments.

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 . 16 July 2009 . 2:07 PM 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.

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 . 14 July 2009 . 11:47 PM 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.

I've gotten a lot of great suggestions from you guys about new features for Icethetics. Obviously, I haven't lost sight of our other unfinished projects (IceHL, logo tourneys, etc.). They'll be back soon enough. In the meantime, Evan writes in with an idea that's much closer to the heart of Icethetics than the Summer Moves Tracker.

We're all about jerseys here, right? Tonight marks the first edition of Sweater Switch '09, a summer series taking a look at players wearing new uniforms — and sometimes new numbers. As teams hold press conferences to introduce blockbuster free agent signees and other new players to their local media, I'll start gathering photos to share.

This should come as no shock, but I'm kicking things off with my team. Today, the Lightning introduced first round draft picks Victor Hedman and Carter Ashton to the public.

Carter Ashton (seated, left) and VIctor Hedman

Hedman opted for the No. 77 jersey because he "always looked up to Ray Bourque," according to the Lightning's Facebook page. Meanwhile, Ashton has declared he will not choose a number until he actually makes the NHL. Wise.

John TavaresDrafted first overall by the New York Islanders was John Tavares.

He was also introduced to fans and media on Long Island at the Nassau Veterns Memorial Coliseum. He donned his No. 91 sweater. No surprise there.

Tavares wore the same number through juniors and while I haven't been able to track down his reasoning, I can tell you it's not his birth year. He was born in 1990.

If anyone knows, drop me a line and I'll update this post. UPDATE: Scroll down to the comments and look for Jacob's extended explanation of Tavares' choice.

Sticking with the draft day theme, it was then that Chris Pronger was told he'd be joining a new team.

Chris ProngerOn Monday afternoon, Philadelphia media got their first look at him in his new orange Flyers jersey.

Pronger will wear the No. 20 sweater this season to honor his father who wore it in a senior hockey league.

He previously wore No. 25 with the Ducks, now worn by teammate Matt Carle. And earlier in his career Pronger was No. 44 during his long tenure with the St. Louis Blues. Kimmo Timonen wears that one in the black and orange.

We'll end Part 1 with new Minnesota Wild member, Martin Havlat, seen below.

Martin HavlatI haven't been able to track down much on Havlat's intro to the local media, aside from this picture and the fact that it took place last Friday, July 3. According to the team's web site, he's got the No. 14 jersey, though you can't tell here.

Last year in Chicago, Havlat wore No. 24, but Derek Boogaard already has that one tied up in Minnesota.

And that wraps things up for this edition of Sweater Switch '09. As ever, if you've got any pictures or links to share, you have my email address. Part 2 will be about as soon as I have another handful of players to talk about. I can tell you that Mattias Ohlund and Matt Walker arrive in Tampa on Thursday. When pictures from their presser surface, I'll have them.

One more thing. Thanks again to Evan for the idea of this series!