Sweater 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 44. Keep up to date with the series everyday until the start of the 2023-24 NHL season.
Behind the Sweater Number: 44
The First 44s
According to Hockey Reference, 221 players have worn sweater number 44. This is since records on sweater number have been kept since the 1950-51 season. Hockey Reference lists Glen Cochrane of the Philadelphia Flyers as the first 44. He’d have the number for one game in the 1978-79 season. The Cranbrook, British Columbia would wear a number of assorted digits in his 257 games on Broad Street.
Rugged defenceman Dave Babych would be the next to wear the number in the 1980-81 season. He would have the number for a nice 69 games in his rookie campaign with the Winnipeg Jets. Babych would wear 44 for his entire 1,195-game NHL career. The Edmonton native would earn some votes in the NHL’s best to wear 44.
Cameos
There are always a number of players that wore sweater number 44 that would go onto have decent to good careers. However, these were with other numbers. Jason Arnott wore 44 for three different teams in his 1,244 game career. Veteran of 1,129 games Dave Ellett had the number 44 in his tenure with the Boston Bruins. Hall of Famer Viacheslav Fetisov wore 44 as first number with the Detroit Red Wings before switching over to number two.
Vincent Lecavalier played his last 42 games of his career with the Los Angeles Kings. Sandis Ozoliņš played with those digits in his tenure with the Florida Panthers. Sweater number 44 is one of the first higher numbers that has become more common in the league. Darryl Sydor became one of the last St. Louis Blues to wear 44 and we’ll get into why.
Chris Pronger
The player NHL.com went with as the best 44 is Chris Pronger. He would be the second overall draft pick of the 1993 NHL Draft. The Dryden, Ontario native was taken by the Hartford Whalers and made the all-rookie team. However, his tenure in Connecticut would be short and he’d get shipped to the Blues.
Pronger’s career would really take off with the Blues and he’d win his only Norris Trophy in the 1999-2000 season. He’d spend one season with the Edmonton Oilers before taking different number with the Anaheim Ducks (25) and Flyers (20). Pronger’s 44 sweater was retired by the Blues in 2022.
Other 44s
There have been plenty of great players to don sweater number 44. Stephane Richer started off as a 22, but doubled his success with 44. He would win two Stanley Cups in his career. Kimmo Timonen was the 44 that blocked Pronger from wearing the number in Philadelphia, but held up his end of the bargain.
Rob Niedermayer was the reason Pronger didn’t take 44 with the Ducks and won a Stanley Cup. Longtime defencemen Roman Hamrlik and Brooks Orpik carved out pretty good careers as 44s in the league.
The Future
There are players like Morgan Rielly that are having a pretty good career as a young 44. Miles Wood just cashed in with a nice payday with the Colorado Avalanche.
Sweater number 44 already has a great history, but there is still plenty of that to be written. Pronger was a great defender and has left and has left a hefty legacy.
Main photo by: Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images
