Tanner Pearson, 70: 70 was a camp number from the beginning. That’s what they gave me. Then they called me the first year and I stayed with him. I tried changing it once and it didn’t work so I used it again. I had 14 my whole life except in youth leagues, so I tried it and got to 70. I tried 14 in Pittsburgh. It was a quick three months, a cup of coffee there and then they moved me again. Then when I arrived in Vancouver, the [14] It was kind of an honorary number, so it made the decision easier for me. Now that I’ve had it for a long time, I like it. They offered me a trade after we won in Los Angeles, but I didn’t do it. I wanted to stay with the old faithful.
Keegan Kolesar, 55: They didn’t give me any other option. It’s what stayed with me from the beginning. I like it. I wore 28 in youth leagues. It was the number they gave me. I’m not one of those guys who picks his number. As a child I wore the 9. I was the last one to arrive at the tests that day, so I couldn’t choose the 9 either. There weren’t many options for me. It’s a trend that I can’t choose my number.
Brayden McNabb, 3: I always wore number 3. Since I was younger, I liked it. I guess I like the way it looks. In Buffalo he was 81 and 44.
Zach Whitecloud, 2: They gave me 2. I used 3 and 29 when I was a kid. I wore the 32 in college because I had no other option. Every level I went to, I was either the youngest or the last in the alphabet, so I never got to choose. It never worked (youngest and last birth date in the alphabet). I came out of college and joined the Golden Knights in Buffalo and was No. 2. Now that I have it, I don’t like it very much. I don’t know what number I would like to use. I don’t think number 2 is my thing, but oh well.
Bruce Cassidy, 6, 32 y 34: When I was a kid, I wore number 4, I played defense, I love Bobby Orr, that’s as simple as it gets. I was drafted to the Ottawa 67’s and Brad Shaw wore number 4 and was the captain, so they didn’t give me number 4. They gave me number 6, I hated it because I always associated that number with an offensive defenseman. No disrespect to Ken Morrow and the guys, he was a great champion, but he wanted an offensive number. The 6 worked pretty well for me, so no complaints. Then, as a pro, I tried to get back to the 4. When I got to Chicago, I took what they gave me because I wasn’t there very long. I used 3, 34, 32. I thought I might have that one (32) but they traded Steve Thomas. So, I lost 32. I was channeling my future Shane Hnidy, so I took 34. Then they gave me 37. The tallest goalie had 35, so 37 wasn’t really a number you wanted. But I told (Patrice Bergeron) Bergy the whole time that I made him famous and that was it. This is how I chose mine. I didn’t actually choose them. Only when I was a child. I’ll be the third in the group of NHL players to wear 34 between myself, (Shane) Hnidy and Auston Matthews. I’ll let you dictate who is first and second.
Shane Hnidy, 21 and 34: In the NHL I wore 34. The first number I could choose was 21. We didn’t have high numbers in my time in minor hockey. Then, when I played in the Western Hockey League (WHL), I wore number 21. When I played in the American Hockey League (AHL), the IHL, and the East Coast League (ECHL), I wore number 21. When I went to training camps the NHL, they couldn’t get me in the hundreds, but I usually got like 93, 79, 63, they were always high numbers. So it was usually a good indication that I wasn’t at the top of their list at camp. Then my rights were traded to Ottawa when I was 24 years old. I went to that camp, they gave me number 34, and I thought, “Wow, this is the lowest number I’ve ever gotten at a camp.” I made the team with that number (34), I thought, “Well, he must have a little luck,” so that became my NHL number. My son uses the same number. He used 91, for Stamkos, but then switched with some kind of incentive from mom and dad, he had no choice. The number 34 became popular when Auston Matthews came into the league, so I think that helped. I originally chose 21 because it was the highest number Neepawa, Manitoba had. Like you had numbers 2 to 21 and the other guy who was a really good player had 20, so it was like 20 and 21.
