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Flames introduce Dougie Hamilton, Michael Frolik; new jersey numbers

We already knew Hamilton and Frolik were on the Flames, but some of these new jersey numbers are… rather high.

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5 years ago

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At long last, we get to see Dougie Hamilton and Michael Frolik in their new Calgary Flames jerseys. The offseason has slowed down, but the Flames made big splashes both on draft day and the first day of free agency by acquiring these two players, and there hasn’t been much need to look at new players since. After all, both players help in the short and long term.

Not interesting: Hamilton will wear #27, the only number he's worn through his NHL career; and Frolik will wear #67, the only number he's worn through his NHL career.

Interesting: Wait… 67 is a high number. We're talking about a team that, last season, changed Raphael Diaz's camp invite number from 36 down to 33 when he made the team: seemingly arbitrary, but apparently, higher numbers were frowned upon.

The highest numbers to have played on the Flames in recent years, training camp numbers aside, have been Chris Butler with #44, and Alex Tanguay with #40. (Butler was originally given #28, Robyn Regehr’s number, but he wisely declined.)

It looks like the apparent “no high numbers” rule has been let go, because Sam Bennett and Brandon Bollig have new numbers, too. Bennett has worn #93 throughout his hockey-playing career in honour of his favourite, Doug Gilmour, and his time in Toronto. Bennett played under Gilmour in Kingston, and getting drafted to a team he played for must have been exciting for him.

Although, boo: it would have been more poetic to have let him wear #39, the number Gilmour wore in Calgary. That said, as long as Bennett's happy, it doesn't matter; and all of your #63 Bennett shirts and jerseys are now vintage.

Bollig only ever wore #52 with the Chicago Blackhawks, but again, in the last few years the Flames weren’t fans of big numbers for some reason, so he ended up with the inverse, #25. He’s going back to #52 now.

In a completely opposite move, Josh Jooris – who doesn’t have a contract yet, and is still headed for arbitration – is moving from his training camp number of 86 down to 16, previously held by the esteemed Brian McGrattan.

It's the offseason, so slow news days are aplenty. But to recap: Hamilton and Frolik are both excited to be a part of the Flames…

… and the ban on high jersey numbers has been lifted. How much do you think Frolik and Bennett had to do with it, and how much was Brian Burke relinquishing control of the team to Brad Treliving? The players' numbers are important to them, after all, and it's good the team is letting them wear what they want and be happy instead of upholding some silly, inane standard; and high numbers probably just aren't a big deal to Treliving at all, nor should they be.

by Ari Yanover

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