For Michael Jordan, it was 23. For Babe Ruth, it was 3. For Jimmy Brown, it was 32. These were jersey numbers made famous by Hall of Fame athletes who didn’t play hockey, athletes instantly recognizable by just their numbers.
Hockey’s was Number Nine… once upon a time.
For ancient sports fans who grew up on the Prairies when replays were “instant” and not “distant,” Number Nine was that special… the only special number if you lived just about anywhere north of the 49th parallel. In kids’ hockey, the best players on the worst teams were somehow better just by wearing sweater Number Nine, like it was a gift of skills passed down from the gods of the game. Sometimes, it was a sweater purposely reserved for the best players. Every kid wanted to be Number Nine.
All fans knew who made it famous, and why. The National Hockey League players whose signature was Number Nine were Montreal’s Rocket Richard and Detroit’s Gordie Howe. In the 11 seasons they were serious rivals their teams won 10 Stanley Cups. They were the NHL’s two biggest stars.
After I grew up and became a hockey writer in Vancouver, the number lost some its lustre when I looked down and saw it being worn by a likeable right-winger from Lebanon who was largely unknown. Nothing against right-wingers (or even left-wingers) who were largely unknown, but how many Lebanese-born hockey players became stars? When his 47-game career ended, Ed Hatoum remained largely unknown.
In my world, Hatoum was the first of the undeserving Number Nines. Today, players named Alexandre Texier and Noah Gregor and Zach Benson wear this hallowed number. Seven teams don’t have a Number Nine — Tampa doesn’t even own a single-digit sweater. Surely there are No. 23s in basketball, No. 3s in baseball and No. 32s in football who are far from measuring up to each number’s Greatest Of All Time.
However, here’s how special Number Nine is.
It became the root for 99, as worn by Wayne Gretzky, who would have loved to wear the number of his hockey hero, Howe, but it belonged to a a junior teammate in Sault Ste. Marie. So Gretzky took the advice of Soo Greyhounds coach Muzz MacPherson and doubled it. Voila, 99.
Today, nobody in the NHL is allowed to wear it.
Michael Jordan picked 23 because it was half the number (45) his older brother wore, plus one. Babe Ruth’s 3 was simply because he batted third in the batting order with the New York Yankees. Jim Brown picked 32 when he joined the Cleveland Browns and didn’t tell anybody why. When Brown never answered a question, only rarely would anybody press for a reason.
Howe? He said Number Nine was offered to him after his rookie season, and he accepted because for whatever reason it meant he’d get a lower berth on the trains the teams used for travel.
Richard? After his rookie season in which he broke his leg, he wanted to change his luck… and his number. So he requested Number Nine, to match the birth weight of his first child, Huguette.
Hockey’s special number is more than the best. It’s also the most interesting.
