What's in a Number

This Saturday in Vancouver, the Canucks will retire the number 19, which was made famous in the city by Markus Naslund.  I will be waxing poetic about Naslund tomorrow, but today is focusing on the number(s) 19 and 91.  Why, you ask?  Well, when you think of specific numbers in hockey, you often associate them with a specific player or position, and those two numbers are no different.

Everyone knows that the number 99 is associated with Wayne Gretzky and the number 66 is associated with Mario Lemieux.  There are others, namely the number 9, which all great players seem to wear (Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull come to mind) and the number 4 (Bobby Orr and Jean Beliveau made this number famous), but two numbers that are rapidly coming into the picture are the numbers 19 and 91, for different reasons.

THE NUMBER 19


In the history of the NHL, the number 19 can be seen as a captain's number.  Players such as Steve Yzerman and Joe Sakic brought this number into prominence not just for the fact that both were great players, but also as two of the best captains in the 90's and early 2000's.  Both had lengthy runs as captain with their respective teams, which just so happened to coincide with the team's successes in that time period.  Other players have worn number 19 with similar results, including Bryan Trottier when he was with the New York Islanders, and Markus Naslund in Vancouver.  Not surprisingly, all of those teams will have retired the number 19 by Saturday night.  Among the current players to wear the number 19 and represent it well include Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks, Jason Spezza of the Ottawa Senators, Shane Doan of the Phoenix Coyotes, Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks, and Niklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals.  Of the current batch of players to wear 19, Doan is almost certain to see the 19 retired once he retires.

THE NUMBER 91


Naturally, when the number 19 is retired or is occupied by someone else, there has to be some way to honor your idol, and what better way to do that than to switch up the numbers, meaning that 19 becomes 91.  The most notable player to wear 91?  Sergei Fedorov, who wore that number for Detroit, Anaheim, Columbus, and Washington before leaving to play in the KHL in 2008.  While the trend isn't as prevalent as some of the other numbers, it does have a decent history.  Consider that when Naslund signed with the New York Rangers for the 2008-09 season, he had to wear 91 because the number 19 was occupied by Scott Gomez.  In international play, Sakic had to wear 91 because Yzerman had more years in the league, giving the option to wear 19, not that either were complaining.  The current group of players to wear 91 include Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning and John Tavares of the New York Islanders.  Both were former first overall picks and both have a bright future ahead of them.