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 85. Keep up to date with the series everyday until the start of the 2023-24 NHL season.
Behind the Sweater Number: 85
The First and Best 85
According to Hockey Reference, there have been a total of 13 players that have worn sweater number 85 in NHL history. The first was arguable the best to wear the number in Petr Klima. He defected from his native Czechoslovakia and took the number 85 to mark the yer he made it to North America. Klima was drafted 86th overall of the 1983 NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings. The early 1980s saw teams draft players from then-Communist countries. However, there was no way to formally get releases from contracts. This meant that players would have to defect to North America at great personal risk.
Klima made it to the states to play for the Wings until he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in the 1989-90 season. He’s famously score the triple-overtime winner in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final over the Boston Bruins. He would go onto score 313 goals in 786 career NHL games and always while wearing sweater number 85. Klima sadly passed away at the age of 58 in May 2023. He is gone, but certainly not forgotten.
The Other Decent 85
There was another NHLer that played in over 700 career games that wore sweater number 85. That man was Drummondville, Quebec native Mathieu Perreault. He started his career with the Washington Capitals in the 2009-10 season, but he never got above 20 goals in any season. However, he was a solid depth player that would chip in goal and got 18 twice in his career.
Perreault did wear 22 in his 69-game stint with the Anaheim Ducks. However, he would go back to sweater number 85 with the Winnipeg Jets in the 2014-15 season. He’d keep that number in his seven years with the Jets and one season with the Montreal Canadiens. Not a bad career for a player drafted in the sixth round, 117th overall of the 2006 NHL Draft. He recently retired to joined the TVA sports team.
The Future of 85
There aren’t many current players that have sweater number 85 at this time. Only Ottawa Senators youngster Jake Sanderson wore the number on NHL ice along with Perreault last season. With Perreault’s retirement, Sanderson is the only player wearing 85 at the NHL level. There are a couple players in team systems that 85, but those players haven’t made it to the big time.
Main photo by: Mike Powell /Allsport
