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History of goalie numbers


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check out this cool rundown on (hockey) goalie numbers -- from one of my favorite blogs -- Hockey Blog in Canada.

http://hockey-blog-in-canada.blogspot.com/...o-you-wear.html

Edit - The blog has a ton of links to great photos of goalies mentioned in the piece (ala Uniwatch)

Playing on two hockey teams is hard enough. Schedules can conflict and there's a lot of running around to do, but it becomes extremely tough on the body when playoffs arrive. Because of these two co-ed hockey teams, I am bagged. Dead tired. Not interested in the least bit when it comes to blogging. However, thanks to the team currently in the playoffs this weekend, I came up with something that seems very unknown. Our goaltender, Cory, wears #20 in net. His idol? Former NHL goaltender Ed Belfour. While it's easy to see why he wears #20 - Belfour wore #20 during his career - it's not so easy to determine why or how that trend started. Or why goalies wear #1. Or #30. But we'll break down why goalies opt for these numbers in today's examination.

Frank Patrick, one of the men at the top of the legendary Patrick hockey hierarchy, introduced a numbering system in 1911-12 in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association where players were numbered from the goal out: Goaltender #1, Defenceman #2, Defenceman #3, Rover #4, Left Wing #5, Center #6, and Right Wing #7 (teams played six + goalie back then). There were no subs - all players played the full 60 minutes. Many believe that this evolved from soccer.

The reason goaltenders were assigned #1 was that they slept in sleeping bunk #1 (lower bunk, closest to door) on the train. Goaltenders were relied upon heavily to win games, so they were given the best place to sleep in order to maximize their rest. In order to keep things straight, Patrick would assign sleeping car bunks and positions by jersey numbers. This lasted for nearly 50 years when teams saw the need to carry two goaltenders on their expanding rosters. The rosters were up to 19 players in 1960-61 (twelve forwards, six defencemen, one goaltender) when all teams moved forward with carrying a backup goaltender who was assigned #20 most often.

Just as a note, when Gordie Howe made the Detroit Red Wings roster in 1946, he wore #17, not #9. The reason? The veterans got the best sleeping arrangements on the trains, and the rookies were there to round out the rosters. He was expected to bide his time like every other rookie had before moving up the depth chart. However, after establishing himself as a fierce competitor and scoring sensation in the 1946 season, he quickly gained the respect of his teammates. He didn't switch to his iconic #9 until the 1947-48 season after Roy Conacher was traded to the Blackhawks. Initially, Howe had no interest in changing numbers, but when he was informed that his sleeping quarters would change, he jumped at the opportunity. Bobby Hull did the same when he switched from #16 on the Blackhawks to #9. Numbers played a big role in the early NHL.

Internationally, the Soviets, coached by Viktor Tikhonov, were beginning to develop their dominance in the game, and Tikhonov assigned the goaltenders #1 and #2 as designation for sleeping arrangement in trains, and as their order of starting in games. However, there was the occasional Soviet defenceman who wore #2 while playing in Russia, and Tikhonov worked to get those he liked the numbers they regularly wore. When Vyacheslav Fetisov joined the USSR team, he would wear #2 until he left for the NHL. This caused a young goaltender by the name of Vladislav Tretiak to choose #20 as his jersey number when he made the Soviet team. The Soviets only carried twelve forwards, six defencemen, and two goaltenders when traveling to keep costs down, and the backup goaltender was relegated to either #2 or #20.

In 1966-67, the impending expansion of the NHL from six to twelve teams opened up hundreds of jobs for players. The league allowed for additional players to be carried on the roster in order to protect against injuries, thus removing the "regional ownership" over minor teams that some NHL teams enjoyed in the Original Six days. In the 1964-65 season, the Toronto Maple Leafs already had a veteran goaltenders named Johnny Bower who wore #1. However, they acquired Terry Sawchuk who also wore #1 traditionally. Sawchuk, being the younger of the two men, relinquished his #1 so that Leafs' veteran Bower wasn't challenged for his #1. Instead, Sawchuk opted for #25 initially, before settling on #30. Sawchuk reportedly changed his number to #30 since there were more players on the roster after expansion.

Due to Sawchuk's change in numbers, a lot of younger players began wearing #30 as goaltenders thanks to the Leafs' continual appearances on Hockey Night In Canada. While #1 was still popular amongst goaltenders thanks to the likes of Glenn Hall and Johnny Bower, a lot of goaltenders began looking at #30, thanks to Sawchuk, and #35, thanks to a Blackhawks goaltender named Tony Esposito. Those three numbers were primarily the dominant goaltending numbers until the late-1980s. If you'll notice some of the trends, a lot of the American goaltenders wore numbers near #35 (Vanbiesbrouck, Barrasso, and Richter are good examples) as they embarked on their NHL careers in the late-1980s and early-1990s. As a note, Vanbiesbrouck opted for #34 when he broke into the league because teammate Ron Scott wore #35 during the Beezer's rookie season.

It wasn't until a young Francophone goaltender named Patrick Roy came along that some of the "weirder" goaltender numbers began appearing. In being called up before the 1986 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Roy needed to chose a number with the Canadiens. He had worn #30 all throughout his junior career, but Chris Nilan already wore #30. #35 was being worn by Mike McPhee, so that number was out as well. Instead, Roy settled on a happy medium and chose #33 - the number directly between #30 and #35.

With the change in numbers, lots of goaltenders began to choose less traditional numbers while defending the blue paint. #1, #30, and #35 are still used today, but we've seen lots of other numbers used as well.

John Davidson was the first goaltender to wear #00. Incidentally, he also wore #30 and #35.

Martin Biron was the last goaltender (and player) to wear #00. He did it with the Sabres. The NHL outlawed #00 in 1998.

Kevin Weekes wanted to wear #00 as he said it "looked balanced". However, he settled on #80 as the NHL prohibits players from wearing #00 now.

Ron Hextall wore #27 throughout his career in Philadelphia and in Quebec, but swapped the numbers to #72 when he joined the Islanders in 1993-94. Why? Derek King wore #27 for the Isles. However, he went back to #27 the following season in Philly.

John Grahame wore #47 since his days in college.

George Hainsworth, a very successful goaltender in the early NHL days, wore both #10 and #12 during his stint with the Montreal Canadiens.

Both Ed Belfour and Evgeni Nabokov wear #20 in honour of Vladislav Tretiak. Belfour, however, started his NHL career as #30.

There are a lot more goaltenders who wear odd numbers. This was just a sampling of some of the weirder numbers seen on goalies. As you can see, though, jersey numbers played a very big role in determining traditional numbers for the masked men in the NHL. Hopefully, this will help any future goalies choose a traditional number. Or a weird number. Either way, make it important to you!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

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I always thought 50 would make a nice goaltender number.

Interesting article, glad you posted it.

Why is 19 such a popular number for stoic captains? Yzerman, Sakic, and now Toews. Who inspired Yzerman?

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

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I always thought 50 would make a nice goaltender number.

Interesting article, glad you posted it.

Why is 19 such a popular number for stoic captains? Yzerman, Sakic, and now Toews. Who inspired Yzerman?

IIRC, former US Olympic goalie Ray LeBlanc wore 50 when he was called up briefly for the Blackhawks.

"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."

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I always thought 50 would make a nice goaltender number.

Interesting article, glad you posted it.

Why is 19 such a popular number for stoic captains? Yzerman, Sakic, and now Toews. Who inspired Yzerman?

IIRC, former US Olympic goalie Ray LeBlanc wore 50 when he was called up briefly for the Blackhawks.

And Steve Mason currently wears it for the Blues.

I wish the NHL hadn't put the rule in place banning "0" and "00." Otherwise, I'd totally have bought a Kevin Weekes jersey by now.

On 1/25/2013 at 1:53 PM, 'Atom said:

For all the bird de lis haters I think the bird de lis isnt supposed to be a pelican and a fleur de lis I think its just a fleur de lis with a pelicans head. Thats what it looks like to me. Also the flair around the tip of the beak is just flair that fleur de lis have sometimes source I am from NOLA.

PotD: 10/19/07, 08/25/08, 07/22/10, 08/13/10, 04/15/11, 05/19/11, 01/02/12, and 01/05/12.

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I don't think anyone is wearing double-zero anywhere these days, unfortunately. I think the NBA is the only league left that allows it.

I'm not a big fan of these teams that don't believe in retiring numbers. "Ring of honor," my foot.

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

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I don't think anyone is wearing double-zero anywhere these days, unfortunately. I think the NBA is the only league left that allows it.

I'm not a big fan of these teams that don't believe in retiring numbers. "Ring of honor," my foot.

I'm pretty sure MLB allows it; Tony Clark wore #00 a few years ago for the Mets, but gave it up because kids were upset he took Mr. Met's number. Before that, Rey Ordonez was #0 before switching to #10. I'm not sure if anyone in the league is wearing either one now, though.

My favorite was Benito Santiago's #09 for Flordia. I thought David Wells should've gone with #03 when he wanted to wear Babe Ruth's #3 with the Yankees but they wouldn't un-retire it for him.

Back on topic...cool article.

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What is the logic in the NHL banning 00? I don't get that.

Supposedly that rule was instituted when the NHL launched a new stat-tracking system that couldn't handle a player wearing what was essentially no number. Rather than fix the software, they changed the number rule.

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What is the logic in the NHL banning 00? I don't get that.

Supposedly that rule was instituted when the NHL launched a new stat-tracking system that couldn't handle a player wearing what was essentially no number. Rather than fix the software, they changed the number rule.

If that's true, I can't think of a finer microcosm of how management of the NHL is done at the league level.

On 1/25/2013 at 1:53 PM, 'Atom said:

For all the bird de lis haters I think the bird de lis isnt supposed to be a pelican and a fleur de lis I think its just a fleur de lis with a pelicans head. Thats what it looks like to me. Also the flair around the tip of the beak is just flair that fleur de lis have sometimes source I am from NOLA.

PotD: 10/19/07, 08/25/08, 07/22/10, 08/13/10, 04/15/11, 05/19/11, 01/02/12, and 01/05/12.

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What is the logic in the NHL banning 00? I don't get that.

Supposedly that rule was instituted when the NHL launched a new stat-tracking system that couldn't handle a player wearing what was essentially no number. Rather than fix the software, they changed the number rule.

It's sad to see that a simple TINYINT couldn't be changed to a VARCHAR(2).

Four times IHL Nielson Cup Champions - Montréal Shamrocks (2008-2009 // 2009-2010 // 2012-2013 // 2014-2015)

Five times TNFF Confederation Cup Champions - Yellowknife Eagles (2009 CC VI // 2010 CC VII // 2015 CC XII // 2017 CC XIV // 2018 CC XV)

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What is the logic in the NHL banning 00? I don't get that.

Supposedly that rule was instituted when the NHL launched a new stat-tracking system that couldn't handle a player wearing what was essentially no number. Rather than fix the software, they changed the number rule.

It's sad to see that a simple TINYINT couldn't be changed to a VARCHAR(2).

This is the NHL.

Not coincidentally, that's how I handle 0 and 00 over at HockeySweaterNumbers.com. Then to sort by number you cast it back to int.

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What is the logic in the NHL banning 00? I don't get that.

Supposedly that rule was instituted when the NHL launched a new stat-tracking system that couldn't handle a player wearing what was essentially no number. Rather than fix the software, they changed the number rule.

It's sad to see that a simple TINYINT couldn't be changed to a VARCHAR(2).

This is the NHL.

Not coincidentally, that's how I handle 0 and 00 over at HockeySweaterNumbers.com. Then to sort by number you cast it back to int.

You're too brilliant to work at the NHL, apparently ^_^

Four times IHL Nielson Cup Champions - Montréal Shamrocks (2008-2009 // 2009-2010 // 2012-2013 // 2014-2015)

Five times TNFF Confederation Cup Champions - Yellowknife Eagles (2009 CC VI // 2010 CC VII // 2015 CC XII // 2017 CC XIV // 2018 CC XV)

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You're too brilliant to work at the NHL, apparently ^_^

Doesn't take much.

Doesn't take much brains to make it to the NHL either.

Must be company policy.

Four times IHL Nielson Cup Champions - Montréal Shamrocks (2008-2009 // 2009-2010 // 2012-2013 // 2014-2015)

Five times TNFF Confederation Cup Champions - Yellowknife Eagles (2009 CC VI // 2010 CC VII // 2015 CC XII // 2017 CC XIV // 2018 CC XV)

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check out this cool rundown on (hockey) goalie numbers -- from one of my favorite blogs -- Hockey Blog in Canada.

http://hockey-blog-in-canada.blogspot.com/...o-you-wear.html

Edit - The blog has a ton of links to great photos of goalies mentioned in the piece (ala Uniwatch)

Internationally, the Soviets, coached by Viktor Tikhonov, were beginning to develop their dominance in the game, and Tikhonov assigned the goaltenders #1 and #2 as designation for sleeping arrangement in trains, and as their order of starting in games. However, there was the occasional Soviet defenceman who wore #2 while playing in Russia, and Tikhonov worked to get those he liked the numbers they regularly wore. When Vyacheslav Fetisov joined the USSR team, he would wear #2 until he left for the NHL. This caused a young goaltender by the name of Vladislav Tretiak to choose #20 as his jersey number when he made the Soviet team.

Without checking, I am pretty sure that Tretiak was on the Soviet National Team before Fetisov. However, still a great read.

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Barrasso actually wore #30 when he broke into the NHL with Sabres just out of high school. He wore #35 later when he was traded to the Pens.

Couple off goalie numbers I've always liked:

39 : Hasek wore this is a Sabre / Sen / Redwing but wore 31 and 34 as a Blackhawk. Verification?

27: Steve Penney Montreal

28: Bob Sauve Sabres

29: Dryden of course

didn't someone wear 36 recently, in the past few years?

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Good piece. Can't remember the exact year (early 1960s) when it changed, but before it did, goalies always wore number 1 during games. I remember Don Simmons filling in for an injured Bower and wearing #1. I'm guessing it changed when both goalies started making the road trips. Prior to that, there was always a stand-by -- usually a Jr. A goalie or in the Red Wings' case, one of their trainers...

"Old folks"

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