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 37 Keep up to date with the series everyday until the start of the 2023-24 NHL season.
Behind the Sweater Number: 37
The First 37s
According to Hockey Reference, 237 players have worn sweater number 37 since since jersey records were kept in the 1950-51 season. Hockey Reference lists Al Hill of the Philadelphia Flyers as the first player to don the digits. Hill took the number in the 1976-77 season for nine games. The Nanaimo, British Columbia native would wear 15, 28 and 36 in his 221-game NHL career.
Sweater number 37 wouldn’t return to the ice until the 1983-84 season. George McPhee had the number for the New York Rangers, but would be more known for his career in the front office. Montreal Canadiens goalie Steve Penney had the number for four games during that same season. However, Penny would put together a 26-18-8 record the next season. Don Biggs would also wear 37 during the 1984-85 season.
Cameos
There are always a number of players that wore sweater number 37 that would go onto have decent to good careers. However, these were with other numbers. Chris Drury started off with number 37 with the Colorado Avalanche and had another tenure with the Calgary Flames with the number. Longtime defenceman Bill Houlder started life as a 37 with the Buffalo Sabres, but switched numbers. Kasperi Kapanen started his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs with 37 before switching to 28, 24 and eventually 42.
Miikka Kiprusoff was with the San Jose Sharks before hitting it big with the Flames in the 34 sweater. Josh Norris started life with the Ottawa Senators with the number, but moved to nine. Michael Nylander while the number with the Chicago Blackhawks while Ryan O’Reilly had 37 with Colorado. Martin Ručinský had 37 with the Quebec Nordiques as did Tomas Vokoun with the Habs.
Mr. Selke
The player most feel is the best to wear 37 is the recently retired Patrice Bergeron. He broke into the league in the 2003-04 season and netted 16 goals. The Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec native would eventually turn into one of the NHL’s best defensive forwards of all-time. Bergeron would win a record-breaking eight Selke Trophies and would anchor the Boston Bruins‘ Stanley Cup-winning team in 2010-11. He scored 14 goals and added 20 assists in that playoff-winning campaign.
Bergeron said he took the number for a simple reason. He was playing in the QMJHL with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and there weren’t a lot of numbers left. Bergeron said that 37 was one of the nicer-looking ones and picked that. He was initially assigned 56 when he arrived in Boston. Bergeron wasn’t going to complain according to a piece in The Athletic. However, Martin Lapointe eventually got it out of Bergeron that he wanted to keep 37. Lapointe said he would help the rookie and the rest is history.
Other 37s and the Future
There have been plenty of players that have made 37 a big part of their careers. Eric Desjardins would 37 with the Flyers after years as 28 with Canadiens. Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets has become one of the best goalies in the league. Curtis Brown carved out a nice career with the sweater number 37. J.T. Compher earned a nice contract with the Detroit Red Wings after good seasons in Colorado.
Olaf Kolzig was one of the first great German players in the league and wore 37. The number will always be special to Bruins fans and it will likely get raised to the rafters some day.
Main photo by: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
