habsfan1 Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Most of the time, this is the number they use. I'm wondering how many of them chose their number in honor of a favorite goalie and how many just follow along with everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockey week Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 it was based on the bunks in sleeper cars on trains. Back in the day, teams traveled exclusively by train, and usually far enough that they had sleeping cars.The best bunk went to the most important man on the team, the goalie. The goalie was #1 on the list and got the #1 jersey. Then the most important was the top defenseman, who wore #2. Beyond that gets a bit subjective by team. It seems that most American teams would keep their defensemen at the top of that list, with #4 going to an important defenseman, while in Quebec, #4 became attached to the top forward.When backup goalies were finally added, they were at the bottom of the list, below even scratched players, usually taking the #30 spot on the roster. I'll respect any opinion that you can defend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigEd76 Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 #33 too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockey week Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 This is from a really old issue of GOAL magazine (do they still publish that? It was a pretty decent publication), but it was linked to uniwatchblog WAAAAAAY back in the day. It's a really great read if you take the time. Click to enlarge I'll respect any opinion that you can defend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benpc21 Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 ^ Great article, I'd love to see them update it as there has been an explosion of numbers in the last 30 years or so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBTV Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 it was based on the bunks in sleeper cars on trains. Back in the day, teams traveled exclusively by train, and usually far enough that they had sleeping cars. The best bunk went to the most important man on the team, the goalie. The goalie was #1 on the list and got the #1 jersey. Then the most important was the top defenseman, who wore #2. Beyond that gets a bit subjective by team. It seems that most American teams would keep their defensemen at the top of that list, with #4 going to an important defenseman, while in Quebec, #4 became attached to the top forward. When backup goalies were finally added, they were at the bottom of the list, below even scratched players, usually taking the #30 spot on the roster. When I used to be really in to hockey it seemed that (at least on the Flyers), 2-6 were always defensemen, 7-20 forwards, and then it was a free-for-all after that. You never saw position players with 30, 31, 33, or 35 though. For some reason, 32 was popular with position players but not goalie - not sure how that worked out. "The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sterling84v2.0 Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 I'm partial to 29 and 37 myself. Like a freight train with stickum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lahaye7 Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 not a huge hockey fan, but this is pretty cool history. I am sore,wounded, but not slainI will lay down and bleed a whileAnd then rise up to fight again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben in LA Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Good read.Whenever I created a player (myself) on a video game, I chose numbers 30, 38, or 46. 46 is kinda special to me: no team in the four major sports have retired it. When I get my Kings jersey I'll probably have 46 on it...just like my Chargers jersey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WBGMike Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 I have recently switched to 48, audio tie in with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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