Number (sports) - Ice Hockey

Ice Hockey

Ice hockey does not have any formalized uniform numbering rules. Historically, in the National Hockey League, starting goaltenders wore Number 1, the backup goalie wore Number 30, and the other players (the "skaters") wore low numbers (generally Number 2 to Number 29). It is still traditional for goaltenders to wear either Number 1 or numbers near Number 30 (in a range from approximately Number 29 to Number 50). Some well-known goalies with non-traditional numbers include José Théodore (Number 60), Kevin Weekes (Number 80), and Ron Hextall (Number 27; Number 72 when Number 27 was unavailable). Evgeni Nabokov and Ed Belfour have both worn Number 20 in honor of their mentor (and in Belfour's case, a position coach at one time in his career), legendary Russian goalie Vladislav Tretiak. Tretiak wore number 20 because in Soviet Union it was a tradition that starting goalie wore number 1, all skaters wore numbers 2–19 and back-up goalie wore the biggest number, 20, in Soviet system.

In recent years, it has become more common for players to wear numbers in the 30s and above. This is due in part to many teams having retired lower numbers. The Montreal Canadiens, for example, have only two single-digit numbers left un-retired (6 and 8) and the Boston Bruins also have two single-digit numbers left un-retired (1 and 6).

A number of players have worn higher numbers up through Number 99 (though Number 99 itself is now retired league-wide in the NHL to honor Wayne Gretzky). For example, Jaromír Jágr has worn Number 68 through his entire playing career from juniors onward in honor of the year of the Prague Spring and his grandfather's death; Alexander Mogilny wore Number 89 to honor the year he defected to the United States from the Soviet Union; Sidney Crosby wears Number 87 because his birth date is 7 August 1987, written "8/7/87" in the U.S. date format; Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks wears Number 88 because of his birth year, 1988; and Wojtek Wolski chose 86, representing his birth year of 1986, when he joined the Phoenix Coyotes, as the number 8 he wore with Colorado wasn't available.

Doubling of a single-digit number has occasionally been used for players whose numbers were unavailable. For example, Phil Esposito switched to Number 77 when he joined the New York Rangers where Number 7 was worn by Rod Gilbert; and Ray Bourque, who succeeded Esposito in wearing Number 7 for the Boston Bruins, switched to Number 77 to allow the Bruins to retire Esposito's original Number 7. That same season, Paul Coffey switched to Number 77 when he was traded from Edmonton to Pittsburgh. In addition, Gretzky wore Number 99 because Number 9, which he wore in tribute to Gordie Howe, was taken on his junior team. Going the other way, Todd Bertuzzi, who wore Number 44 for many years, switched to Number 4 when he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in 2007, since Number 44 was already in use by alternate captain Rob Niedermayer. Jordin Tootoo wears number 22, as the numbers "two two" are pronounced the same as his last name. In a similar vein, Mike Commodore attempted to wear number 64, a reference to the famed computer when he was acquired by Detroit, but ended up wearing the more traditional 22, while Steve Heinze wore number 57, referencing the ketchup for the latter part of his career (he was initially denied doing so by the Bruins). Sometimes numbers are even reversed. Scott Gomez wore the number 19 when he played for the NY Rangers (he wore 23 during his tenure with the NJ Devils) until he joined the Montreal Canadiens, who had retired that number in honor of Larry Robinson. Instead of changing to a completely different number, he chose 91 and finally switched to 11 for season 2010–11.

Number 84 was the final number to have never been worn in the NHL, until Canadiens forward Guillaume Latendresse first wore the number on 29 September 2006, although he has reversed the number (48) since joining the Minnesota Wild; Mikhail Grabovski of the Toronto Maple Leafs is currently the lone wearer of Number 84. The least-used number is 69, worn for two games in 2003–04 by Mel Angelstad of the Washington Capitals and currently used by Andrew Desjardins of the San Jose Sharks. The last player to wear a form of zero in the NHL was Martin Biron, who wore Number 00 with the Buffalo Sabres in three games in 1995–96. By the time he returned to the Sabres in 1998, the number zero, single digit or double digit, was not allowed anymore, forcing him to wear Number 43 (which he has worn since). Only three other NHL players have worn number 0 or 00: Paul Bibeault (0), John Davidson (00), and Neil Sheehy (0).