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 42. Keep up to date with the series everyday until the start of the 2023-24 NHL season.
Behind the Sweater Number: 42
The First 42s
According to Hockey Reference, 192 players have worn sweater number 42 since the website kept records on sweater numbers since 1950-51. Hockey Reference lists Todd Bergen of the Philadelphia Flyers are the first to don the digits. This was during the 1984-85 season where he also wore 19. Future Flyers player Don Nachbaur would be the next to take number. However, he’d keep it until the end of his career in the 1989-90 season.
Three other players would join Nachbuar in wearing 42 in the 1986-87 season. One of them was former Minnesota Wild general manager Paul Fenton. Steve Dykstra and Bob Sweeney would also don the digits in that campaign. Steven Fletcher of the Montreal Canadiens was listed as 42 on the internal roster, but never made it to the ice that season.
Cameos
There are always a number of players that wore sweater number 42 that would go onto have decent to good careers. However, these were with other numbers. Professional pain-in-the-butt Sean Avery started off as 42 with the Detroit Red Wings for two seasons. Faceoff king Bob Corkum was 42 for a brief spell with the Buffalo Sabres. Mattias Ekholm started his Nashville Predators career as 42, but would move to his more known 14 later on. Current Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe wore 42 in the 2001-02 season with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Current Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Marchessault was also 42 for the Lightning before finding his familiar 81 down the road. Chris Stewart started off as a 42 with the Colorado Avalanche while Doug Weight and Blake Wheeler as carried the number for a bit. Former NHL coach Dan Bylsma was also a former 42 with the Los Angeles Kings. Hall of Famer Bernie Federko finished out his career with Detroit as 42 after wearing 24 for many years.
David Backes
Backes is one of the best players to wear sweater number 42 in recent times. The Minneapolis native broke into the league with the St. Louis Blues in the 2006-07 season. Backes would become one of the better defensive centres in the league. He would earn Selke votes and even finish runner-up in the 2011-12.
The veteran centre would play in 965 games and score 248 goals. He was assigned sweater number 42 at his first training camp in St. Louis. Backes had 25 in the minors and 18 in college, but also wore five in juniors and college. He would take on the number 21 in his final stop with the Anaheim Ducks before retiring in 2020-21.
Other 42s and the Future
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Russian great Sergei Makarov with the Calgary Flames. His North American career wasn’t long, but he did become a hockey Hall of Famer. Joel Ward took on the number 42 carved a long career and wore 42 to honour baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson. Tyler Bozak also wore 42 for a number of years with the Maple Leafs.
AHL owner Robert Esche was a former NHL goalie that wore sweater number 42 for a number of years. Defencemen Josh Manson and Richard Šmehlík played for a number of seasons with 24 on their respective backs.
Gustav Forsling has played 318 games in his NHL career and hopes to lead the next crop of 42s. Martin Fehérváry has also played two solid seasons with the Washington Capitals and just signed a new deal.
Main photo by: Rocky W. Widner/NHL/Getty Images
