A uniform number can often be a critical part of an athlete’s image. It’s hard not to think of Wayne Gretzky without also thinking of No. 99. The No. 23 is associated with basketball greats Michael Jordan and LeBron James. In the world of international soccer, the No. 10 is the domain of prolific goal scorers like Péle and Diego Maradona.
Some athletes wear numbers that make perfect sense. Veteran NHLer Jordin Tootoo, for instance, wears No. 22 to match his surname.
But many athletes come upon their number by happenstance.
“They gave three options back in the day and my number back in junior was No. 41, so I felt No. 14 was closest to my number in junior,” said Vancouver Canucks forward Alex Burrows.
Two current Canucks used to wear No. 19, but have chosen other numbers.
“In junior some guy was already No. 19. I asked him if I could have No. 19 and he said no,” said Jake Virtanen. “So I was like, I’ll just go with the closest number.
“No. 18 brought me good luck, so I’ve always been No. 18 since junior.”
Jared McCann also wore No. 19 early in his career, but switched to No. 91 when he came to Vancouver since his old number is retired in honour of former Canucks captain Markus Naslund.
IN PHOTOS: Canucks bring back classic skate logo in loss to Maple Leafs
“No. 19 I wore my whole junior career, but Naslund is wearing it right now,” he said. “No. 91 was my choice. I wanted to keep the numbers. I’ve had really good luck with them.”
Defenceman Luca Sbisa says he picked the No. 5 because his former team didn’t seem to like high numbers.
“I’m pretty sure I was actually going to wear No. 47 in Anaheim, but they had a thing where once you made the team they wanted you to wear low numbers. So no one really had numbers higher than, I’d say, 30. I couldn’t wear No. 47, I went to No. 5.”
The Sedins will no doubt have No. 22 and No. 33 raised to the rafters of Rogers Arena, but those weren’t always their numbers.
“Daniel was No. 5 and I was No. 22,” Henrik said. “When we got moved up to an older age group I got No. 20 and Danny got No. 12. But I was No. 22 from the get-go.”
Then-Canucks general manager Brian Burke suggested the Sedins’ current numbers based on their draft order.
“Danny got picked second and I got picked third and that’s what Burkie wanted,” Henrik said.
The most meaningful number on the Canucks might be Bo Horvat’s No. 53. It’s a tribute to goalie Ian Jenkins, who wore No. 35 and died in an accident just before he was set to join Horvat on the London Knights.
“I never really officially got to meet him, just played against him,” Horvat said. “We would have been, I’m sure, great friends, great teammates if he came to London. To do that for him was pretty special for me and, I think, his family as well.”
– With files from Squire Barnes
Comments