by Tanner Pearson, 70: 70 was a stock number from the start. This is what I was given. Then I got drafted my first year and joined. I tried changing it once but it didn’t really work so I tried again. I’ve been 14 my whole life except in the junior leagues, so I tried that out and turned 70. I tried in Pittsburgh when I was 14. It was a quick three months, one cup of coffee, and then I was traded again. Then when I arrived in Vancouver [14] was a kind of honorary number, which made the decision easier. Now that I’ve had it for a long time, I like it. After we won in LA I was offered a move but I didn’t do it. I wanted to stay with the old believers.
Keegan Kolesar, 55: I was given no other option. I stuck to that from the beginning. I like it. As a junior I wore size 28. It was the number I was given. I’m not one of those people who gets to choose their number. I wore 9 as a child. I was the last one to come to the tryout that day, so I couldn’t pick 9 either. There weren’t many options for me. It’s an ongoing trend that I don’t get to choose my number.
Brayden McNabb, 3: I always wore number 3. I liked it when I was younger. I just like the look of it, I guess. In Buffalo I was 81 and 44.
Zach Whitecloud, 2: They (VGK) gave me 2. As a child I wore sizes 3 and 29. I wore a size 32 in college because I had no choice. At every level I reached, I was the youngest or the last in the alphabet, so I could never choose. It never worked out (youngest birthday and last in the alphabet). I opted out of college and joined the Golden Knights in Buffalo, where I was the No. 2 pick. Now that I have it, I don’t really like it. I don’t know what number I want to wear. I don’t think number 2 is my thing, but oh well.
Bruce Cassidy, 6 & 32 & 34: I wore number 4 as a kid, I played defense, I love Bobby Orr, it’s as simple as it gets. I was drafted to the Ottawa 67’s and Brad Shaw wore number 4 and he was the captain so I didn’t get a 4. They gave me number 6, I hated it because I always equated the number with an offensive defenseman. No disrespect to Ken Morrow and the guys, he was a great champion, but I wanted an offensive number. 6 worked pretty well for me, so no complaints here. As a professional, I then tried to get back to fourth place. When I got to Chicago, I took everything they gave me because I hadn’t been there that long. I wore 3, 34, 32. I thought I might have the (32), but they traded it for Steve Thomas. So I lost 32. I was channeling my future Shane Hnidy so I took 34. Then they gave me 37. The highest goalkeeper was 35, so 37 really wasn’t a number you wanted. But I told (Patrice Bergeron) Bergy all the time that I made it famous and that was it. Here’s how I chose mine. I didn’t really choose her. Just when I was a child. I’ll be third in the group of NHL players who wore 34 between me, (Shane) Hnidy and Auston Matthews. I’ll let you decide who is first and second.
Shane Hnidy, 21 & 34: In the NHL I wore number 34. The first number I was allowed to choose was 21. When I was in minor hockey, we didn’t have high numbers. Then when I played in the Western Hockey League (WHL), I wore number 21. When I played in the American Hockey League (AHL), the IHL and the East Coast League (ECHL), I wore number 21. When I went to NHL camps, they couldn’t get me in the hundreds, but I usually got 93, 79, 63, they were always high numbers. So usually it was a pretty good sign that I wasn’t at the top of their list at camp. Then my rights were transferred to Ottawa when I was 24 years old. I went to this camp, they gave me the number 34 and I thought, “Wow, that’s the lowest number I’ve ever gotten in a camp.” I made the team with that number (34) and I was like : “Well, I have to be a little lucky,” so that became my NHL number. My son wears the same number. He completed 91 for Stamkos, but then switched at the encouragement of his father and mother, he had no other choice. Number 34 became cool when Auston Matthews came into the league, so I think that helped. I originally chose 21 because it was the highest number available in Neepawa, Manitoba. Like you had numbers 2-21 and the other guy who was a really good player had 20, so it was 20 and 21.
