Any Number you shouldn't be?

[trisgale]

I'm gonna play beginner adult league and we get to choose our numbers. Are you singled out if you pick a very popular/elite players number. I see some with 87, 99, 66, 88, 68. Is that ok in the rec league hockey culture? Or if you wear those numbers should you have some mad skillz...

I know there are some elite players with common numbers like 19, 9, 11, but those are used by many so it doesn't stand out as much.

I was gonna use the number because of the year I was born but don't want to be singled out.

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[Superstar Treatment]

66, 99, 87, 69, 8(if you couple it with some mirrored visor or skate laces on your pants) pretty much should be avoided in beer leagues.

 

[pfloyd75]

Nobody pays any attention to numbers in the leagues I have played in. Pick a number you like.

 

[DJnet65]

People in rec leagues don't care which number you wear.

 

[Gunnar Stahl 30]

99 and 66 you will get crap for, 87 you will get crap for but in a different way. everything else is probably fine and will just go unnoticed

 

[GuitarAwesome]

Any time I see someone wearing 99, I get angry. No one, even in beer league, should wear 99. It's sacred. 66 as well, but I have actually never seen a 66, and only one 99. All other numbers are fair game. Saw a goalie with 111 once, and a player with 1/2 once, those were interesting.

 

[Felonious Python]

Your choice of number can definitely get you under the radar, if that's what you want. Evgeni Artyuhkin probably drew as many penalties as he did with Tampa because he's enormous and wore 76, which was a surprisingly jarring sight.

I wouldn't see a problem with a player wearing 87, assuming that's the year they were actually born. Or they're eight years old.

It also largely depends on where you live, if your nearest team has a prominent player who wears/wore that number, it'll bring him to mind. Good or bad.

18 is actually the most common number in NHL history from the samples I've used to research the subject.

26 is a really underrated number, a lot of good players, especially forwards, have worn it, yet it's not considered a "star" number.

Marty St. Louis, Thomas Vanek, Erik Cole, Patrick Elias, Michal Handzus, Jere Lehtinen, Sami Pahlsson, Steve Sullivan and Paul Stastny wear it now, while it was formerly worn by JM Liles, Mats Naslund, Jiri Hudler, Dave Maloney, Brian Propp, Martin Rucinsky, and Peter Stastny.

It also has the versatility to be used as a defenseman and not look out of place.

But yeah, wear whatever number you want. I'd still suggest staying away from 69. People will draw certain conclusions about you from that.

 

[Harv]

Never ever should you wear 66 or 99.

 

[SJGoalie32]

I would definitely stay away from 99 and 66. And like the previous poster said, I would stay away from 87 unless you're prepared to deal with a lot of grief.

There's a guy in our beginner rec league that wears #69. He's a large, slow guy.....so it's just kinda funny. There's also another guy on that team that has "Kaiser Soze" on the back of his jersey. Unfortunately, only about 1/3 of my teammates get that reference.

I'd advise you stay away from #1, or any number 30-35. Theses are the most common goalie numbers and it may be a headache if you end up on a team with a goalie (or even a sub goalie for the games he misses) who is wearing your number. The goalies aren't going to change their numbers, so that might mean a full season of hockey tape on the back of your jersey trying to make a 3 look like an 8.

I'd also advise staying away from 0 or 00. Lots of times a player, or more often a sub player, will have a jersey with no number on the back. The scorekeepers usually deem these guys either 0 or 00. If you already have that number on the back of your jersey, that will only make things more difficult for everyone.

The more unique your number is (35+) the less likely you are going to find yourself on a team with another player. On the flip side, the more unique your number is, the more you stand out. From a goaltender or a defenseman's point of view, the opposing players who are the best often like to wear equipment that stands out (#99, a different colored jersey from the rest of the team, blue helmet, yellow visor, pink gloves, etc.). This puts a giant target on your back. In an otherwise uniform lineup, I find it more helpful to the opposition when the best players stand out like a sore thumb. Obviously the most skilled players are going to stand out anyway just based on their play. But when I'm the goalie battling through a 5-on-3 PK, and I'm trying to process all the angles and track where everybody is, it makes my job a lot easier when the most dangerous opposition threat has something flashy that I can easily spot out of the corner of my eye--like a blue helmet, or the number 91--and thus make it easier to anticipate where the play is going.

Of course, if you aren't all that good, being differently attired doesn't affect you all that much, but it does also help the other team to ignore you.

 

[CuteHockeyBunny]

I pick #99 just to see the closet hockey nerds rage.

 

[noobman]

26 is a really underrated number, a lot of good players, especially forwards, have worn it, yet it's not considered a "star" number.

Marty St. Louis, Thomas Vanek, Erik Cole, Patrick Elias, Michal Handzus, Jere Lehtinen, Sami Pahlsson, Steve Sullivan and Paul Stastny wear it now, while it was formerly worn by JM Liles, Mats Naslund, Jiri Hudler, Dave Maloney, Brian Propp, Martin Rucinsky, and Peter Stastny.

It also has the versatility to be used as a defenseman and not look out of place.

26 has been my number since I started playing in a league that lets you choose

As a kid in houseleague, the numbers are all ordered. Jersey #1 is the biggest jersey (for the goalie) and I believe they would decrease by one size every 2-3 numbers after that. I spent most of my time wearing #2, #3, and #5 (4 was always popular and I never cared about numbers)




Anyways, I say that you wear whatever number you like, as long as it's not 99. If you want to then fine... but you'll probably be the butt end of your teammates' jokes for the season!

 

[Heat McManus]

99 and 66 are pretty sacred IMO.

68, 88, 87 look stupid to me.

Everything else is up for grabs.

 

[Hobgoblin Steve]

26 has been my number since I started playing in a league that lets you choose

As a kid in houseleague, the numbers are all ordered. Jersey #1 is the biggest jersey (for the goalie) and I believe they would decrease by one size every 2-3 numbers after that. I spent most of my time wearing #2, #3, and #5 (4 was always popular and I never cared about numbers)




Anyways, I say that you wear whatever number you like, as long as it's not 99. If you want to then fine... but you'll probably be the butt end of your teammates' jokes for the season!

me too, but because like stated above, when I really wasn't any good, and my hockey idol was Lemieux, I wore 66. got **** for it everywhere, even as a young'in, so I switched to make it 2(another number I wore in other leagues) 6(half of 66) to make (duh) 26(also my d.o.b. 2.26)

 

[Placebo Effect]

Agreed, 99 and 66 should never be worn

 

[Heat McManus]

I will wear pretty much any number. I have my favorites, but if I join a team and they hand me #52 I'll take it. I don't think I can bring myself to wear 99 or 66.

 

[jbennardo]

When I have a choice, I go with 67. Just something I started doing back in the 90's. I'm a Pens fan but didn't want to wear 66 or 68.

Otherwise? I'll just wear what they give me.

 

[CanadaBacon]

If you get 99 or 69, you are automatically a bender.

66, 87, or 8 will lead to 50% of the guys thinking your a bender.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

I think you should be allowed to wear any number you want. I wear 93 and 13. No number is sacred. The only time you shouldn't be allowed is if the number is retired on a professional team. Some people get too worked up about that.

 

[pfloyd75]

Some of you guys take the number thing a little too seriously imo. Sacred? Really?

 

[CanadaBacon]

I think you should be allowed to wear any number you want. I wear 93 and 13. No number is sacred. The only time you shouldn't be allowed is if the number is retired on a professional team. Some people get too worked up about that.

You are allowed to wear whatever number you want, thats your right. Its also the right of others to think you are a bender based on your selection. This isnt really new, certain numbers have always been off limits. Its not different from wearing a tinted visor or neon laces, its just the culture of the sport.

The only thing worse is when adults wear Crosby jerseys playing

 

[SuicideKings15]

People in rec leagues don't care which number you wear.

********. People rattle cages for wearing 99 and 66. You're gonna get "Gretzky and Lemieux" calls all game, along with a bench full of insults whenever you won't bury on a chance. Couple that with extra slashes and attention, and I wouldn't wear either...

 

[CanadaBacon]

PS Im not saying it is right that this stuff happens, im just saying that it does happen and it wont change.

 

[jsykes]

I'm just getting back into playing after 15 years and going back to the same adult team I played with when I gave it up. I'm going through the same thing with numbers as my old number I wore before is now taken.

So I've decided on 70, the year I was born and figured that was a unique enough number I would hardly ever run into someone else wearing it, its not unique enough or worn by someone special to draw attention and it means something to me as well.

I say go with something you like and if its something you want to continue to wear, year to year, team to team, pick something a little less common and go for it.

 

[Hobgoblin Steve]

You are allowed to wear whatever number you want, thats your right. Its also the right of others to think you are a bender based on your selection. This isnt really new, certain numbers have always been off limits. Its not different from wearing a tinted visor or neon laces, its just the culture of the sport.

The only thing worse is when adults wear Crosby jerseys playing

theres a guy who does this in my weekend pickup games, but we all forgive him because he is easily the best player out there every day. hands like crazy and fast as hell. I dont like it, I dont like Crosby either, but I forgive him for it.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

You are allowed to wear whatever number you want, thats your right. Its also the right of others to think you are a bender based on your selection. This isnt really new, certain numbers have always been off limits. Its not different from wearing a tinted visor or neon laces, its just the culture of the sport.

The only thing worse is when adults wear Crosby jerseys playing

Yeah, well, like I said I wear 93 and 13, but I live in Vancouver so its not an issue, although last year a guy told me after the faceoff to "**** off Sundin!" otherwise I wear black pants, skates, gloves and helmet. I am just speaking for others.

But yeah, adults wearing Crosby's number while playing is kinda sad.