Sweaters numbers are synonymous with players. Most hockey fans can instantly tell you a great player by the number they wear on their back. There are many different stories about how players became associated with the famous numbers. Many odd and interesting facts surround these numbers as well. As we count down the start of the 2023-24 NHL season, we take a look at the story behind the numbers. Today we continue with sweater number 92. Keep up to date with the series everyday until the start of the 2023-24 NHL season.
Behind the Sweater Number: 92
Early 92s
There have been a total of 31 players to wear sweater number 92 during their respective NHL careers. We’ll get to the first player to take that number in just a bit. However, there are a couple of other 92s to talk about. Michael Nylander first wore the number with the Hartford Whalers in the 1993-94 season after wearing 36 the season before. Nylander, the father of future NHLer William Nylander, took the number with him to the Calgary Flames. The Swedish forward would wear other numbers like eight, nine, 25, 26 and 37. However, he was mostly known for his time with sweater number 93. Nylander would go onto score 209 goals in 920 career games. Alexander Nylander now wears the number that his dad had for a number of years. William decided to go with the number 88.
Bernie Nicholls had that number in his two seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks. Jeff O’Neill broke into the league with the Whalers in 1995 with that number and would wear that with the Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs. The “O-Dog” wore 19 for a bit in Carolina, but played mostly with the 92 on his back. O’Neill racked up 237 NHL goals in 821 games and is now an analyst at TSN and rap god.
The First and Likely Best 92
This look at sweater number 92 wouldn’t be complete without a look at the first and likely best 92. Rick Tocchet had worn 22 for a number of seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers. However, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1991-92 season. His beloved number 22 was taken by Paul Stanton and Tocchet didn’t want to take number. The Scarborough, Ontario native explains that he just took the number of the year he got traded.
Tocchet would alternate between 22 and 92 for the rest of his career, but he would establish himself as one of the era’s best power forwards. He finished his career with 440 goals in 1,144 games. He’s been a coach and an analyst. However, he’s now the bench boss of the Vancouver Canucks.
Other Great 92s
The last decade has been kind to sweater number 92. Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog has a Stanley Cup and a Calder Trophy to his name. However, injuries have thrown his career into doubt at this point. Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov helped the club win it’s first Stanley Cup in 2018. Ryan Johansen wore 92 with the Nashville Predators before being dealt to Colorado. Johansen will take 12 next season for the Avs.
Colorado must have something going on about gathering up other 92s because it traded for Ross Colton from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Colton had 92 in the 2020-21 season before shifting to 79. There’s no word on what number Colton will take with Colorado as of press time.
The Future of 92
Tocchet gets to coach a 92 in Vancouver with Vasily Podkolzin donning the number. Vasiliy Ponomarev is another Vasiliy that will be slated to wear 92 with Carolina. Tomas Nosek has been a role player with the number 92 for the Boston Bruins. A pair of unrelated Clarkes will wear the number as Graeme Clarke has the number for the New Jersey Devils and Brandt Clarke owns the number for the Los Angeles Kings.
The sweater number 92 has a relatively short history in the game, but some good players have donned the number. Let’s see where the future takes us.
Main photo by: Christian Petersen/Getty Images
