How Hockey ChangedBodies
In 2022-23, Four NHL Players Wore a Number in the 90s for Every One in No. 9
The count was 53 to 13, and the incomplete 2025-26 rosters show the same split, 51 to 12. Wayne Gretzky wore 99 because he couldn’t have Gordie Howe’s 9. The league took a decade to follow him, and by the time it did, a big number no longer meant a big scorer.
By Edgehalla ResearchPublished 12 min read
In the fall of 1977 a 16-year-old named Wayne Gretzky arrived in Sault Ste. Marie wanting No. 9, Gordie Howe’s number. The Greyhounds had already given it to a veteran, Brian Gualazzi. “I wouldn’t have given it up to him,” Gualazzi said years later.
Gretzky tried 19, then 14. On Nov. 18, in a junior game against the Niagara Falls Flyers, he pulled on 99 and scored the Greyhounds’ first goal.
That season nobody in the NHL wore a number in the 90s. In 2022-23, 53 players did. Thirteen wore 9.
On this page
In 1977-78 the biggest number in the NHL was Ken Hodge’s 88
So how did the 90s, a range of numbers nobody but Gretzky would touch, come to outnumber Howe’s 9 by four to one? It starts in one dressing room. The 1977-78 New York Rangers had the two highest numbers in the league: Ken Hodge in 88 and Phil Esposito in 77. Esposito had left Boston for New York and found his 7 taken, so he doubled it. Their goalie, John Davidson, played 34 games in 00. He had switched from 30 “at the suggestion of team captain Phil Esposito,” NHL.com’s Dave Stubbs wrote, and fans on the road asked him whether the number was his IQ.
Everywhere else, the numbers were small. Only two men in that season’s records wore anything above 40, and both were Rangers. The 439 players in that season’s game logs shared just 36 different numbers, and the average skater wore about 15. The third-highest number in the league was Al Hill’s 37 in Philadelphia.
Getting each player’s number right meant going to the games themselves. Ray Bourque shows why. He wore 7 for Boston in 1985-86 and switched to 77 later in his career. The NHL’s season roster lists on its website show only that later number, so they put him in 77 for 1985-86. The official game log for that season printed 7 beside all 34 of his penalties. So this story takes every number from the games.
From 1977-78 to 1996-97 we use the number printed next to each penalty. From 1997-98 we use the roster sheet the league kept for every game, which also exists for 1996-97. In that one season with both, the two records matched on all 13,889 penalties we could tie to a player. From 2007-08 we use the season roster lists again; by 2006-07 they already matched the game sheets for about four players in five.
The average skater’s number more than doubled, and the league used nearly every number
Average sweater number of NHL skaters, and how many different numbers players wore, each regular season since 1977-78
Show data
| Season | Average skater number | Average skater number (2023-26, partial rosters) | Different numbers in use | Different numbers in use (2023-26, partial rosters) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977-78 | 15 | – | 36 | – |
| 1978-79 | 16 | – | 36 | – |
| 1979-80 | 16 | – | 36 | – |
| 1980-81 | 17 | – | 41 | – |
| 1981-82 | 17 | – | 44 | – |
| 1982-83 | 17 | – | 43 | – |
| 1983-84 | 17 | – | 44 | – |
| 1984-85 | 19 | – | 49 | – |
| 1985-86 | 19 | – | 45 | – |
| 1986-87 | 19 | – | 51 | – |
| 1987-88 | 20 | – | 53 | – |
| 1988-89 | 21 | – | 59 | – |
| 1989-90 | 21 | – | 57 | – |
| 1990-91 | 22 | – | 62 | – |
| 1991-92 | 23 | – | 69 | – |
| 1992-93 | 22 | – | 68 | – |
| 1993-94 | 23 | – | 73 | – |
| 1994-95 | 23 | – | 70 | – |
| 1995-96 | 24 | – | 76 | – |
| 1996-97 | 25 | – | 76 | – |
| 1997-98 | 24 | – | 81 | – |
| 1998-99 | 25 | – | 84 | – |
| 1999-00 | 25 | – | 82 | – |
| 2000-01 | 25 | – | 84 | – |
| 2001-02 | 25 | – | 86 | – |
| 2002-03 | 26 | – | 90 | – |
| 2003-04 | 27 | – | 92 | – |
| 2004-05 | – | – | – | – |
| 2005-06 | 28 | – | 90 | – |
| 2006-07 | 28 | – | 90 | – |
| 2007-08 | 28 | – | 91 | – |
| 2008-09 | 29 | – | 90 | – |
| 2009-10 | 29 | – | 94 | – |
| 2010-11 | 29 | – | 93 | – |
| 2011-12 | 30 | – | 94 | – |
| 2012-13 | 30 | – | 92 | – |
| 2013-14 | 31 | – | 94 | – |
| 2014-15 | 32 | – | 91 | – |
| 2015-16 | 33 | – | 94 | – |
| 2016-17 | 35 | – | 92 | – |
| 2017-18 | 36 | – | 94 | – |
| 2018-19 | 36 | – | 95 | – |
| 2019-20 | 37 | – | 96 | – |
| 2020-21 | 38 | – | 96 | – |
| 2021-22 | 38 | – | 96 | – |
| 2022-23 | 39 | 39 | 96 | 96 |
| 2023-24 | – | 37 | – | 95 |
| 2024-25 | – | 38 | – | 96 |
| 2025-26 | – | 40 | – | 95 |
- 1979-80: Gretzky’s first NHL season in 99
The lower line is the number on the average skater’s back, climbing from the low teens to the high 30s. The upper line counts the different numbers in use. It hit 96 in 2022-23, so nearly every number from 0 to 98 had a taker.
For a decade the big numbers stayed rare
Gretzky reached the NHL with Edmonton in 1979-80, still in 99. A few players tried the big numbers in those years. Wilf Paiement wore 99 in Toronto from 1979-80 to 1981-82 and scored 97 points in 1980-81. Rick Dudley wore it for 30 games in Winnipeg that season. In Minnesota in 1983-84, Brian Lawton, the first pick in the draft, wore 98 for 58 games that season and into November of the next, when the penalty logs show him switching to 8. Nobody else in our records wore 98 until Mikhail Sergachev and Maxim Mamin in 2017-18.
They were exceptions. Count every skater in every season and the big numbers barely register until about 1990.
For a decade, about one skater in 200 wore a number in the 70s, 80s or 90s
Share of NHL skaters wearing 70 to 99, 1977-78 to 1996-97 (players who took a penalty that season)
The share stayed between 0.2% and 1.1% through 1986-87, then rose to 4.9% by 1996-97.
Each bar is one season. Through 1986-87 the bars barely move: Gretzky, Paiement, Esposito, Hodge and a handful of others, about one skater in 200. In 1987-88 they double, to about one in 100, and from 1990-91 they grow, with a dip or two along the way. By 1995-96, 15 players wore a number from 90 to 98.
Most big numbers got their first wearer between 1987 and 2000
The tables below list the first player in our records to wear each number from 66 to 99, and the best season anyone had in it. Our records start in 1977-78, so Esposito’s 77 and Hodge’s 88 were already on the ice. Before 1997, a player shows up only once he takes a penalty, so a quiet player can appear late: Butch Goring’s 91 first shows in 1981-82, though he joined the Islanders in March 1980.
| No. | First season | First wearer (team) | Best season in the number (points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 66 | 1982-83 | Milan Novy (WSH) | Mario Lemieux PIT 1988-89 199 pts |
| 67 | 1997-98 | Tom Askey (ANA) | Rickard Rakell PIT 2024-25 70 pts |
| 68 | 1990-91 | Jaromir Jagr (PIT) | Jaromir Jagr PIT 1995-96 149 pts |
| 69 | 2003-04 | Melvin Angelstad (WSH) | Melvin Angelstad WSH 2003-04 0 pts |
| 70 | 1999-00 | Kevin Sawyer (PHX) | Tanner Pearson VAN 2019-20 45 pts |
| 71 | 1990-91 | Mike Foligno (TOR); Dennis Vaske (NYI) | Macklin Celebrini SJS 2025-26 115 pts |
| 72 | 1986-87 | Dave Semenko (HFD) | Tage Thompson BUF 2022-23 94 pts |
| 73 | 1993-94 | Alain Cote (QUE) | Tyler Toffoli CGY 2022-23 73 pts |
| 74 | 1994-95 | Steve Larouche (OTT) | John Carlson WSH 2019-20 75 pts |
| 75 | 1988-89 | Walt Poddubny (QUE) | Walt Poddubny QUE 1988-89 75 pts |
Continues below
| No. | First season | First wearer (team) | Best season in the number (points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 76 | 1994-95 | Radek Bonk (OTT) | P.K. Subban MTL 2014-15 60 pts |
| 77 | 1977-78 (worn earlier) | Phil Esposito (NYR) | Pierre Turgeon NYI 1992-93 132 pts |
| 78 | 1993-94 | Pavol Demitra (OTT) | Damon Severson CBJ 2025-26 32 pts |
| 79 | 1997-98 | Vladimir Vujtek (TBL) | Alexei Yashin NYI 2001-02 75 pts |
| 80 | 1997-98 | Geoff Sanderson (BUF) | Nik Antropov ATL 2009-10 67 pts |
| 81 | 1987-88 | Craig Laughlin (LAK) | Kyle Connor WPG 2024-25 97 pts |
| 82 | 1992-93 | Martin Straka (PIT) | Martin Straka PIT 2000-01 95 pts |
| No. | First season | First wearer (team) | Best season in the number (points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 83 | 1998-99 | Domenic Pittis (BUF) | Ales Hemsky EDM 2005-06 77 pts |
| 84 | 2006-07 | Guillaume Latendresse (MTL) | Mikhail Grabovski TOR 2010-11 58 pts |
| 85 | 1985-86 | Petr Klima (DET) | Petr Klima EDM 1990-91 68 pts |
| 86 | 2005-06 | Jonathan Ferland (MTL) | Nikita Kucherov TBL 2023-24 144 pts |
Continues below
| No. | First season | First wearer (team) | Best season in the number (points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 87 | 2001-02 | Donald Brashear (PHI) | Sidney Crosby PIT 2006-07 120 pts |
| 88 | 1977-78 (worn earlier) | Ken Hodge (NYR) | Eric Lindros PHI 1995-96 115 pts |
| 89 | 1989-90 | Alexander Mogilny (BUF) | Alexander Mogilny BUF 1992-93 127 pts |
| 90 | 1987-88 | Clark Gillies (BUF) | Ryan O'Reilly STL 2018-19 77 pts |
| 91 | 1981-82 | Butch Goring (NYI) | Sergei Fedorov DET 1993-94 120 pts |
| 92 | 1991-92 | Rick Tocchet (PIT) | Michael Nylander NYR 2006-07 83 pts |
| 93 | 1990-91 | Alexander Godynyuk (TOR) | Doug Gilmour TOR 1992-93 127 pts |
| 94 | 1994-95 | Stan Neckar (OTT) | Brendan Shanahan HFD 1995-96 78 pts |
| 95 | 1995-96 | Michel Petit (TBL) | Matt Duchene NSH 2021-22 86 pts |
| 96 | 1995-96 | Pavel Bure (VAN) | Mikko Rantanen COL 2022-23 105 pts |
| 97 | 1996-97 | Jeremy Roenick (PHX) | Connor McDavid EDM 2022-23 153 pts |
| 98 | 1983-84 | Brian Lawton (MNS) | Connor Bedard CHI 2025-26 75 pts |
Continues below
| No. | First season | First wearer (team) | Best season in the number (points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99 | 1979-80 | Wayne Gretzky (EDM); Wilf Paiement (TOR) | Wayne Gretzky EDM 1985-86 215 pts |
Read down the first-season column. Only six of these numbers had been worn before 1985. Of the 34, 22 first appear between 1987 and 2000. One name is a surprise. The penalty logs show Joe Sakic in 88 as a rookie with Quebec in 1988-89, years before Eric Lindros made 88 famous. The game log printed 88 beside all 12 of his penalties that season; the season roster list shows 19, the number he wore for the rest of his career. A few numbers stayed nearly empty. Nobody has worn 66 since Mario Lemieux’s last season, 2005-06. Davidson’s 00 and Neil Sheehy’s 0 in Hartford in 1987-88 are the only zeros in the penalty logs; the league banned both from 1996-97 because “they confused the League’s digital database,” NHL.com wrote.
Players from Europe took the big numbers first
Gretzky didn’t start the rush. Many of the first names in those tables were born in Europe. Milan Novy, from Czechoslovakia, wore 66 for Washington in 1982-83. Petr Klima wore 85 in Detroit in 1985-86. Then came Alexander Mogilny in 89 (Buffalo, 1989-90), Jaromir Jagr in 68 and Alexander Godynyuk in 93 (1990-91), and Pavel Bure in 96 (Vancouver, 1995-96). Sergei Fedorov turned 91 into a scorer’s number: 120 points for Detroit in 1993-94.
Players born in Europe wore the high numbers first, and still wear them most
Share of player-seasons in numbers 70 to 99 (each skater counted once per team per season), by where the player was born, in five-season stretches
In 1990-94, 5.1% of skaters born outside North America wore 70 or up, against 2.2% of Canadians; in 2020-24 it was 25.3% against 17.5%.
- Canada
- USA
- Europe and elsewhere
Each cluster is five seasons, and the third bar is players born outside North America. It is the tallest in nine of the ten stretches from 1977-78 to 2024-25, though in 1977-79 that bar is a single player, Ken Hodge, born in England. The exception is 1980-84: Novy’s 66 falls just short of 70, and none of the European skaters in those years wore 70 or higher. In 1990-94, a player born in Europe was more than twice as likely as a Canadian to wear 70 or up. By 2020-24 it was about one in four against about one in six. Canadians had caught up some of the way. Americans had the lowest share in eight of the ten stretches. Our player origins story tracks how many of those players arrived, and when.
The climb kept its pace after 99 was retired
Then Gretzky left. He played his last two seasons in 99 for the Rangers: 82 games in 1997-98 and 70 in 1998-99. Nobody has worn it in the NHL since. On Feb. 6, 2000, before the 50th All-Star Game in Toronto, “Wayne Gretzky’s No. 99 was retired throughout the NHL,” the Associated Press reported. Gretzky and commissioner Gary Bettman “unveiled a blue banner featuring Gretzky’s number in orange.”
If 99 had been pulling the others up, its retirement should have shown. It didn’t.
The big numbers kept climbing after 99 was retired, then sped up
Share of NHL skaters wearing 40 or higher, 70 to 99 and 90 to 99, each regular season since 1977-78
Show data
| Season | 40 and up | 40 and up (2023-26, partial rosters) | 70 to 99 | 70 to 99 (2023-26, partial rosters) | 90 to 99 | 90 to 99 (2023-26, partial rosters) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977-78 | 0% | – | 0% | – | 0% | – |
| 1978-79 | 0% | – | 0% | – | 0% | – |
| 1979-80 | 1% | – | 1% | – | 0% | – |
| 1980-81 | 1% | – | 1% | – | 1% | – |
| 1981-82 | 1% | – | 1% | – | 1% | – |
| 1982-83 | 1% | – | 1% | – | 0% | – |
| 1983-84 | 1% | – | 1% | – | 1% | – |
| 1984-85 | 2% | – | 1% | – | 1% | – |
| 1985-86 | 2% | – | 0% | – | 0% | – |
| 1986-87 | 4% | – | 1% | – | 0% | – |
| 1987-88 | 5% | – | 1% | – | 0% | – |
| 1988-89 | 7% | – | 1% | – | 0% | – |
| 1989-90 | 8% | – | 1% | – | 0% | – |
| 1990-91 | 11% | – | 2% | – | 0% | – |
| 1991-92 | 14% | – | 2% | – | 1% | – |
| 1992-93 | 11% | – | 2% | – | 1% | – |
| 1993-94 | 11% | – | 2% | – | 1% | – |
| 1994-95 | 13% | – | 4% | – | 1% | – |
| 1995-96 | 14% | – | 4% | – | 2% | – |
| 1996-97 | 15% | – | 5% | – | 2% | – |
| 1997-98 | 16% | – | 3% | – | 1% | – |
| 1998-99 | 16% | – | 4% | – | 1% | – |
| 1999-00 | 17% | – | 3% | – | 1% | – |
| 2000-01 | 16% | – | 4% | – | 1% | – |
| 2001-02 | 18% | – | 4% | – | 1% | – |
| 2002-03 | 19% | – | 4% | – | 2% | – |
| 2003-04 | 21% | – | 5% | – | 1% | – |
| 2004-05 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2005-06 | 24% | – | 5% | – | 1% | – |
| 2006-07 | 25% | – | 6% | – | 2% | – |
| 2007-08 | 24% | – | 6% | – | 2% | – |
| 2008-09 | 27% | – | 7% | – | 2% | – |
| 2009-10 | 27% | – | 7% | – | 2% | – |
| 2010-11 | 27% | – | 7% | – | 2% | – |
| 2011-12 | 28% | – | 8% | – | 2% | – |
| 2012-13 | 28% | – | 8% | – | 2% | – |
| 2013-14 | 31% | – | 9% | – | 2% | – |
| 2014-15 | 32% | – | 10% | – | 2% | – |
| 2015-16 | 36% | – | 11% | – | 3% | – |
| 2016-17 | 38% | – | 13% | – | 3% | – |
| 2017-18 | 39% | – | 14% | – | 4% | – |
| 2018-19 | 39% | – | 15% | – | 4% | – |
| 2019-20 | 40% | – | 17% | – | 4% | – |
| 2020-21 | 42% | – | 18% | – | 5% | – |
| 2021-22 | 43% | – | 18% | – | 5% | – |
| 2022-23 | 43% | 43% | 19% | 19% | 5% | 5% |
| 2023-24 | – | 39% | – | 20% | – | 6% |
| 2024-25 | – | 41% | – | 21% | – | 7% |
| 2025-26 | – | 45% | – | 24% | – | 8% |
- 1979-80: Gretzky’s first NHL season in 99
- 1999-00: 99 retired league-wide (Feb. 2000)
The top line is every number from 40 up; the bottom two are the 70s-and-up and the 90s. The 70s-and-up line hugs the floor until about 1990 and then starts to lift. Across the retirement in 2000 none of the lines changes course. The bend comes after 2007, and it gets sharper after 2015.
The old pace held until 2007, then the league outran it
A ruler shows it. Lay one along the seasons from 1977-78 to 1998-99, the last one Gretzky played, and extend it. For 2000-01 to 2006-07 the ruler says about 20% of skaters should wear 40 or higher. The real figure was 20.5%. For numbers in the 70s, 80s and 90s it said 4.5%; the real share was 4.6%. The 90s alone ran a touch under it, about 1.5% of skaters against 1.8%.
The old pace predicted 2000-07 almost exactly, then fell well short
A straight line through 1977-78 to 1998-99 predicts 2000-01 to 2006-07 almost exactly, then falls short from 2007-08 on.
Each tile sets the real share against what the old pace predicted. The first two match. The last two show the jump: from 2007-08 to 2022-23, about 12% of skaters wore 70 or higher, where the old pace pointed to about 7%. It sped up again inside that stretch. A ruler laid along 2007-08 to 2014-15 predicted about 11% for 2015-16 to 2022-23, and the real share was about 16%.
Crosby’s generation turned birth years into numbers
Part of the speed-up came from a habit that barely existed in Gretzky’s time. Sidney Crosby was born in 1987 and wore 87 as a rookie in 2005-06. Patrick Kane (88), Connor McDavid (97) and Kirill Kaprizov (97) followed with their own birth years.
Count each player’s season with a team once, so Crosby’s 2015-16 counts as one. From 1977-78 to 1986-87, not one of 5,504 had a number matching the player’s birth year. In the next ten seasons there were nine, nearly all rookies born in the mid-1970s: Radek Bonk and Richard Park in 76, Brett Lindros in 75. In 1997-2007 there were 36. In 2015-23 there were 214. Some would match by accident, so we drew each season’s numbers from a hat 500 times and counted the matches. The hat gave about 35 for 2015-23. The real count was about six times that.
Wearing your birth year went from almost nobody to about six times what chance would give
Share of player-seasons in which the number matches the last two digits of the player’s birth year, against the share when the same numbers are drawn at random
1.8% in 2007-15 and 2.7% in 2015-23, against about 0.44% by chance in 2015-23.
- Wore his birth year
- Chance alone
In each pair, the first bar is what players did and the second is what the hat gave. Before 1997 both sit near zero. By 2015-23 the real bar towers: about one skater in 37 wore his birth year. Mikko Rantanen was born in 1996 and wears 96. Every player born in the 1990s who picks his birth year lands in the 90s. Our birth month story looks at the other way a birthday shapes a career.
Defencemen and forwards left the old numbers
The high numbers also emptied the old ones, at every position. In 1977-78, about half of defencemen (53%) wore a number from 2 to 8, and 86% of forwards wore something from 9 to 29. By 2022-23 those shares were 28% and 48%.
The old defence and forward numbers lost about half their share
Share of defencemen wearing 2 to 8, and of forwards wearing 9 to 29, each regular season since 1977-78
Show data
| Season | Forwards in 9 to 29 | Forwards in 9 to 29 (2023-26, partial rosters) | Defencemen in 2 to 8 | Defencemen in 2 to 8 (2023-26, partial rosters) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977-78 | 86% | – | 53% | – |
| 1978-79 | 85% | – | 52% | – |
| 1979-80 | 88% | – | 54% | – |
| 1980-81 | 86% | – | 53% | – |
| 1981-82 | 86% | – | 51% | – |
| 1982-83 | 86% | – | 51% | – |
| 1983-84 | 84% | – | 49% | – |
| 1984-85 | 82% | – | 48% | – |
| 1985-86 | 82% | – | 47% | – |
| 1986-87 | 80% | – | 46% | – |
| 1987-88 | 78% | – | 42% | – |
| 1988-89 | 77% | – | 44% | – |
| 1989-90 | 73% | – | 42% | – |
| 1990-91 | 71% | – | 44% | – |
| 1991-92 | 68% | – | 41% | – |
| 1992-93 | 74% | – | 44% | – |
| 1993-94 | 72% | – | 43% | – |
| 1994-95 | 71% | – | 44% | – |
| 1995-96 | 69% | – | 43% | – |
| 1996-97 | 67% | – | 42% | – |
| 1997-98 | 68% | – | 42% | – |
| 1998-99 | 68% | – | 40% | – |
| 1999-00 | 68% | – | 38% | – |
| 2000-01 | 68% | – | 38% | – |
| 2001-02 | 68% | – | 39% | – |
| 2002-03 | 66% | – | 37% | – |
| 2003-04 | 64% | – | 37% | – |
| 2004-05 | – | – | – | – |
| 2005-06 | 63% | – | 35% | – |
| 2006-07 | 63% | – | 38% | – |
| 2007-08 | 62% | – | 39% | – |
| 2008-09 | 62% | – | 34% | – |
| 2009-10 | 61% | – | 36% | – |
| 2010-11 | 62% | – | 35% | – |
| 2011-12 | 60% | – | 35% | – |
| 2012-13 | 61% | – | 37% | – |
| 2013-14 | 58% | – | 35% | – |
| 2014-15 | 58% | – | 34% | – |
| 2015-16 | 55% | – | 34% | – |
| 2016-17 | 52% | – | 33% | – |
| 2017-18 | 50% | – | 30% | – |
| 2018-19 | 51% | – | 30% | – |
| 2019-20 | 49% | – | 29% | – |
| 2020-21 | 50% | – | 28% | – |
| 2021-22 | 49% | – | 29% | – |
| 2022-23 | 48% | 48% | 28% | 28% |
| 2023-24 | – | 53% | – | 32% |
| 2024-25 | – | 50% | – | 30% |
| 2025-26 | – | 45% | – | 27% |
Both lines slide the whole way down. The forwards fall further: from more than eight in ten in the old numbers to fewer than half.
Goalies left the 30s, and No. 1 nearly vanished
Goalies had their own old numbers, and they let go too. Johnny Bower already had No. 1 when Terry Sawchuk joined him, ESPN’s Tal Pinchevsky wrote, so Sawchuk took 24 and then 30. Patrick Roy took 33 in Montreal because Chris Nilan had 30. By the late 1990s the 30s were the goalie’s home. In 1997-98, goalies wearing 30 to 39 played 71% of all goalie games, and No. 1 peaked at 18% in 2001-02.
Goalies left the 30s for the 40s and up, and No. 1 all but disappeared
Share of all NHL goalie games played by goalies wearing No. 1, 30 to 39, and 40 or higher, 1997-98 to 2025-26
Show data
| Season | 30 to 39 | 30 to 39 (2023-26, partial rosters) | 40 and up | 40 and up (2023-26, partial rosters) | No. 1 | No. 1 (2023-26, partial rosters) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997-98 | 71% | – | 4% | – | 12% | – |
| 1998-99 | 71% | – | 6% | – | 13% | – |
| 1999-00 | 63% | – | 12% | – | 15% | – |
| 2000-01 | 62% | – | 13% | – | 17% | – |
| 2001-02 | 64% | – | 14% | – | 18% | – |
| 2002-03 | 63% | – | 15% | – | 13% | – |
| 2003-04 | 58% | – | 17% | – | 13% | – |
| 2004-05 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2005-06 | 63% | – | 13% | – | 13% | – |
| 2006-07 | 67% | – | 11% | – | 13% | – |
| 2007-08 | 71% | – | 11% | – | 8% | – |
| 2008-09 | 67% | – | 13% | – | 11% | – |
| 2009-10 | 60% | – | 18% | – | 12% | – |
| 2010-11 | 67% | – | 16% | – | 10% | – |
| 2011-12 | 60% | – | 19% | – | 14% | – |
| 2012-13 | 61% | – | 22% | – | 11% | – |
| 2013-14 | 59% | – | 24% | – | 10% | – |
| 2014-15 | 60% | – | 23% | – | 12% | – |
| 2015-16 | 62% | – | 23% | – | 10% | – |
| 2016-17 | 63% | – | 24% | – | 11% | – |
| 2017-18 | 63% | – | 25% | – | 8% | – |
| 2018-19 | 52% | – | 31% | – | 9% | – |
| 2019-20 | 54% | – | 36% | – | 2% | – |
| 2020-21 | 51% | – | 35% | – | 3% | – |
| 2021-22 | 52% | – | 34% | – | 4% | – |
| 2022-23 | 51% | 51% | 35% | 35% | 6% | 6% |
| 2023-24 | – | 51% | – | 34% | – | 8% |
| 2024-25 | – | 50% | – | 35% | – | 9% |
| 2025-26 | – | 54% | – | 31% | – | 11% |
The top line, the 30s, sinks to about half of goalie games by 2022-23; the middle line, 40 and up, climbs to about a third. The bottom line is No. 1. It held between 8% and 18% of goalie games every season until 2018-19, then dropped to 2.4% in 2019-20. ESPN noticed the slide early. At the start of December 2016, Pinchevsky counted seven goalies wearing No. 1; by the end of that season, our records show ten had played in it. The roster lists since 2023-24 show No. 1 creeping back, but they leave out about a third of the players who dressed, so we can’t tell a real comeback from who happened to be listed.
A big number used to mean a star
So the big numbers spread to everyone. Did they still say anything about the player inside? For most of the 1980s, a 99 meant Gretzky and a 66 meant Lemieux. From 1977-78 to 1996-97, forwards in the 70s, 80s and 90s scored about 0.4 points a game more than the average forward that season, about one extra point every two and a half games. The three who scored the most in those numbers were Gretzky, Pierre Turgeon and Mogilny. In 1997-2007 the edge was about 0.2. By 2007-23, when about one forward in seven wore one of those numbers, it was about 0.1, a quarter of what it had been.
The scoring edge of the big numbers shrank by three quarters
Forwards’ points per game against the season’s average forward, by number group, in three eras (forwards with 20+ games)
Numbers 70 to 99: +0.40 in 1977-97, +0.17 in 1997-2007, +0.10 in 2007-23.
- 1977-97
- 1997-2007
- 2007-23
Each cluster is a group of numbers, and the three bars are the three eras. Above zero means the group outscored the average forward. The big numbers on the right fall from a tall bar to a short one. Even the short one is bigger than luck would produce.
Now take the stars out. A forward wore 99 for 22 seasons in our 1977-97 records, and 18 of them were Gretzky’s, about 1.2 points a game above average. Paiement and Dudley, the rest, were 0.2 above. Lemieux played 12 of the 13 seasons in 66; the other one, Novy’s, was about average. From 2007-08 to 2022-23, Crosby played 16 of the 19 seasons in 87, and the other three came in below the average forward. Over the same span McDavid played 8 of the 14 in 97; the other six were about 0.3 above. Remove each era’s three biggest scorers from the whole 70-to-99 group and the 1977-97 edge falls by about half, from about 0.4 to about 0.2 points a game. In 2007-23 it falls from 0.10 to 0.07.
One number kept pointing at scorers, and it is the oldest. Among numbers worn for 100 or more forward-seasons, No. 9 had the best scoring record in 1977-97 and again in 2007-23. In 1997-2007 it was Joe Sakic’s 19, with 9 close behind. The gaps between numbers aren’t luck. Draw each season’s numbers from a hat 500 times and the gaps come out about a third the size of the real ones. So certain numbers do go to certain kinds of players. The pecking order just doesn’t last. Rank the numbers by scoring in 1977-97, rank them again in 2007-23, and the two lists barely match. Teams tend to hand 9 to scorers, like Mike Modano in Dallas or Mikko Koivu in Minnesota. Pulling on 9 doesn’t make anyone score.
Gualazzi’s 9 is outnumbered four to one
Gualazzi’s number held steady the whole time. In 1977-78, 13 NHL players wore 9 and none wore a number in the 90s. In 1996-97 the penalty logs show a tie, 16 players each, and the full game sheets for that season put the two about level too. Then the 90s fell back. No. 9 had more wearers every season from 1997-98 to 2008-09. The two traded places for a few years, and from 2013-14 on, the 90s led every season.
By 2022-23, 53 players wore a number in the 90s and 13 wore No. 9
Players wearing No. 9 and players wearing 90 to 98, each regular season, 1977-78 to 2022-23
Show data
| Season | No. 9 | 90 to 98 |
|---|---|---|
| 1977-78 | 13 | 0 |
| 1978-79 | 13 | 0 |
| 1979-80 | 18 | 0 |
| 1980-81 | 17 | 0 |
| 1981-82 | 19 | 1 |
| 1982-83 | 15 | 1 |
| 1983-84 | 16 | 2 |
| 1984-85 | 17 | 2 |
| 1985-86 | 15 | 0 |
| 1986-87 | 16 | 0 |
| 1987-88 | 15 | 1 |
| 1988-89 | 15 | 0 |
| 1989-90 | 14 | 0 |
| 1990-91 | 15 | 2 |
| 1991-92 | 12 | 5 |
| 1992-93 | 17 | 3 |
| 1993-94 | 15 | 7 |
| 1994-95 | 15 | 10 |
| 1995-96 | 17 | 15 |
| 1996-97 | 16 | 16 |
| 1997-98 | 19 | 12 |
| 1998-99 | 17 | 11 |
| 1999-00 | 23 | 12 |
| 2000-01 | 24 | 12 |
| 2001-02 | 19 | 14 |
| 2002-03 | 20 | 14 |
| 2003-04 | 20 | 12 |
| 2004-05 | – | – |
| 2005-06 | 17 | 11 |
| 2006-07 | 17 | 16 |
| 2007-08 | 16 | 13 |
| 2008-09 | 19 | 16 |
| 2009-10 | 17 | 17 |
| 2010-11 | 16 | 21 |
| 2011-12 | 16 | 16 |
| 2012-13 | 17 | 16 |
| 2013-14 | 13 | 18 |
| 2014-15 | 14 | 20 |
| 2015-16 | 18 | 26 |
| 2016-17 | 16 | 26 |
| 2017-18 | 15 | 34 |
| 2018-19 | 13 | 35 |
| 2019-20 | 17 | 41 |
| 2020-21 | 15 | 45 |
| 2021-22 | 13 | 55 |
| 2022-23 | 13 | 53 |
- 1999-00: 99 retired league-wide (Feb. 2000)
The flat line is No. 9, worn by between 12 and 24 players every season since 1977-78. The other line is the 90s, near the floor for two decades and then climbing almost straight up after 2013. The incomplete 2025-26 lists show the same split, 51 to 12. The highest number anyone can wear now is 98. Connor Bedard wears it in Chicago.
Gualazzi kept his 9 in the Soo, so Gretzky took 99. By the last full count, four NHL players wore a number in the 90s for every one in 9, and the one number in the 90s nobody can wear is Gretzky’s.
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Show the work
- Tests written down
- Not in advance (exploratory)
- Results computed
One number per player, team and season, from the best record for that season. 1977-78 to 1996-97: his most common number on his penalties in the official game logs (matched to the NHL’s per-team stat lines by name). 1997-98 to 2006-07: his most common number on every game’s roster sheet (api-web gamecenter rosterSpots, 10,701 games, none missing); skater games from the stat lines, goalie games from the goalie totals, since backups dress without playing. 2007-08 to 2022-23: the api-web season roster, one number per player per team. 2023-24 to 2025-26: roster snapshots listing only part of each team, used as shares. The season roster gives a later number for old seasons (Bourque 77 in 1985-86, Coffey 74 where the logs show 7), so it is used only from 2007-08 (agreement in the tests). Scoring: forwards with 20+ games, points per game minus the season’s average forward, each player-season weighted equally. Chance ranges shuffle numbers among each season’s forwards or skaters, 500 times, fixed seed.
| Test | Result | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Penalty-log numbers match the game roster sheets (1996-97) | 13,889 of 13,889 penalties matched to a player agree; 100% of 13,890 penalty numbers are on the team’s sheet; 99.51% of 823 players get the same season number both ways | Holds |
More tests below
| Test | Result | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| The NHL season-roster feed gives the season’s number before 2007 | Agrees with penalty logs 47-69% (1977-97); with game sheets 43% (1997-98) rising to 81% (2006-07) | Fails; not used before 2007-08 |
| No source seam at 2006-07 / 2007-08 | 40+: 25.1% (game sheets) then 23.7% (rosters); average number 28.4 then 27.8 | Smooth |
| Retiring 99 slowed the spread (fit 1977-78 to 1998-99, test 2000-01 to 2006-07) | 40+: 20.5% vs 20.5% predicted; 70-99: 4.6% vs 4.5%; 90-99: 1.5% vs 1.8% | No change; on the old line |
| The spread sped up after 2007 | Same fit, 2007-23: 40+ 34.0% vs 30.7%; 70-99 11.8% vs 6.7%. Holdout inside the roster years (fit 2007-15, test 2015-23): 70-99 15.8% vs 11.5% | Holds |
Continues below
| Test | Result | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Birth-year numbers beat chance | 1977-87: 0 of 5,504 (chance median 0, 95th percentile 2); 1987-97: 9 of 7,238 (chance median 4, 95th percentile 8); 1997-2007: 36 of 8,626 (chance median 13, 95th percentile 19); 2007-15: 137 of 7,552 (chance median 20, 95th percentile 27); 2015-23: 214 of 7,922 (chance median 35, 95th percentile 45); 2023-26 (partial): 38 of 1,813 (chance median 12, 95th percentile 18) | Holds from 1997-2007 on |
| High numbers (70-99) score more than the average forward | +0.400 (1977-97, chance −0.047 to +0.044); +0.175 (1997-2007, −0.027 to +0.030); +0.100 (2007-23, −0.012 to +0.014). Without top 3 scorers: +0.185, +0.155, +0.070 | Real, shrinking, carried by stars |
| Single numbers score because of their stars (leave the top player out) | 99 (1977-97) +1.19 → +0.24; 66 +1.30 → +0.03; 87 (2007-23) +0.63 → −0.39; 97 +0.71 → +0.30 (6 seasons) | Selection |
Continues below
| Test | Result | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Numbers are spread by role (spread of number averages vs shuffle) | Player-seasons: 7.05 vs 95th-percentile chance 2.49 (2007-23, hundredths of a point a game), 7.75 vs 2.80 (1977-97), 5.04 vs 2.97 (1997-2007); one row per player: roster 2007-23 5.35 vs 3.46, landing 1977-97 5.80 vs 3.55, game 1997-2007 3.78 vs 4.01 | Real; weaker per player |
| A number’s scoring rank carries between eras | Correlation 0.31 across 30 numbers (1977-97 vs 2007-23). Odd/even-season splits (0.93, 0.97, 0.93) are inflated: the same players appear in both halves | Weak |
| European-born skaters led the move to 70+ | Highest share in 9 of 10 full five-year blocks; 1990-94 5.1% (29 of 565) vs Canada 2.2% (53 of 2,435) | Real, modest |
Continues below
| Test | Result | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| No. 1 is coming back for goalies (2023-26) | 7.6%, 9.2%, 10.5% of goalie games, from partial snapshots | Unproven |
Frequently asked questions
Who wore 99 in the NHL besides Wayne Gretzky?
In our records from 1977-78 on, two others: Wilf Paiement in Toronto (1979-80 to 1981-82, 97 points in 1980-81) and Rick Dudley in Winnipeg (30 games in 1980-81). Gretzky wore it through 1998-99, and nobody has worn it since.
When was No. 99 retired across the NHL?
On Feb. 6, 2000, in a ceremony before the 50th All-Star Game in Toronto. Gretzky had retired from the New York Rangers in 1999.
Has anyone in the NHL worn No. 69?
In every season we can check (1977-78 to 2025-26), only Melvin Angelstad, for two games with Washington in 2003-04.
Which numbers are banned in the NHL?
Since 1996-97, 0 and 00 can’t be worn, and 99 has been retired league-wide since 2000. John Davidson wore 00 for the Rangers in 1977-78.
Why do so many NHL players wear numbers in the 80s and 90s?
Players born in Europe moved into them first, in the late 1980s and 1990s, and since Sidney Crosby’s 87 many players wear their birth year. In 2015-23, 214 skater-seasons matched the player’s birth year, about six times what chance gives. By 2022-23, 53 players wore a number from 90 to 98 and 13 wore 9.
Do players with high numbers score more?
They used to. In 1977-97 forwards in 70 to 99 scored about 0.4 points a game above the season’s average forward, mostly because of Gretzky, Turgeon and Mogilny. In 2007-23 the edge was about 0.1. No. 9 is the number most often given to scorers.
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Sources and method
- OHL, “OHL Classics: Wayne Gretzky” (March 6, 2021): Gualazzi, 19 and 14, the Nov. 18, 1977 debut in 99
- Associated Press via News On 6: NHL retires Gretzky’s No. 99 (Feb. 6, 2000)
- NHL.com, Dave Stubbs: Who wore it best, jersey numbers 0 and 00 (June 10, 2020)
- ESPN, Tal Pinchevsky: why goalies stopped wearing No. 1 (Nov. 30, 2016)
- NHL API: game landing pages (penalty logs with sweater numbers), e.g. 1996-97 opening night
- NHL API: gamecenter play-by-play roster sheets (rosterSpots), e.g. 1997-98 opening night
- NHL API: team season rosters, e.g. Boston 1985-86 (lists Ray Bourque in 77)
- NHL stats (NHL.com), every season since 1917-18
- NHL API reference (community documentation of the stats endpoints)
Research and analysis, not betting advice. Past results do not guarantee future returns; bet only what you can afford to lose.