Numbers

by Quisp on Jul 3, 2011 2:47 PM PDT

Keep in mind that I'm elderly and still think hockey numbers should be 2-6 for defensemen, 7-19 for forwards, 20-28 for overflow, 1, 29-35 for goalies.

1. (I wish Bernier would take this number; maybe Martin Jones will do it)

2. Matt Greene

3. Jack Johnson

4. (Nicolas Deslauriers? Thomas Hickey? Derek FOUR-bort?)

5. (maybe Martinez will move up to a respectable hockey number)

6. Jake Muzzin

7. Rob Scuderi

8. Drew Doughty

9. Oscar Moller (I wonder if his number is up for grabs now; this would piss me off, but it's probably the case)

10. Mike Richards

11. Anze Kopitar

12. Andrei Loktionov (will Simon Gagne displace him though?)

13. Kyle Clifford

14. Justin Williams

15. Brad Richardson (Linden Vey and Brandon Kozun also wear/wore #15)

16. retired - Marcel Dionne (Tyler Toffoli wore #16 in Ottawa; maybe #17?)

17. (Gagne, Loktionov, Toffoli?)

18. retired - Dave Taylor

19. Kevin Westgarth (this is too good a number for Westgarth; he should be #29, that's a fighter's number; give #19 to a scorer -- Toffoli would look good in #19)

20. retired - Luc Robitaille

21. Scott Parse

22. Trevor Lewis

23. Dustin Brown

24. (12x2 is 24, so maybe Loktionov takes 24 if Gagne bumps him from 12)

25. Dustin Penner (will he move to his previous #27 now that Poni is gone?)

26. (I've only ever seen Maxim Kitsyn wear #13; 13x2=26)

27. (Penner?)

28. Jarret Stoll

29. (come on, Kevin, this is a better number for you...)

30. retired - Rogie Vachon

31.

32. Jonathan Quick

33. Willie Mitchell

44. Davis Drewiske

45. Jonathan Bernier

53. Alec Martinez

76. (Viatcheslav Voynov)

99. retired - Wayne Gretzky

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Gretzky...

Musta loved that 99…

by BakoCA on Jul 3, 2011 2:50 PM PDT reply actions

…When I starting watching hockey, almost all goalies either wore #1 or #30….if a guy showed up in #29 or #31, he was clearly a fill in from the minors, and when Tony Esposito wore #35 for Chicago, the earth ceased rotating on it’s axis…..

…Like you, the high numbers bug me; anything above 40 makes it seem like a preseason scrimmage…although some of the original 6 teams just can’t get everyone between 1-30, since half those numbers are retired….Kings have a good selection of single digit numbers, they should use ’em all…

Finally – favorite forward with a number below 7….for me it was Le Gros Bill, Jean Beliveau (4)…… .

by jkaflagg on Jul 3, 2011 5:35 PM PDT reply actions

Didn’t Rogie wear 29 for Montreal (before Dryden did, obviously)? Not that that wouldn’t have made him an outlier at the time…

by SCSF on Jul 3, 2011 6:35 PM PDT up reply actions

I was going to say no he wore 1 and 30, but it turns out he wore 29 also, as this picture shows:

Wait till this year.

by Quisp on Jul 3, 2011 10:39 PM PDT up reply actions

Rogie did wear # 30 for the Habs.....

may have worn the #29 in 66-67, when he first came up; I think Charlie Hodge and/or the Gump Worsley was injured…….

by jkaflagg on Jul 6, 2011 9:11 PM PDT up reply actions

Remember...

… #1 as a goalie is cursed. No team with a starting goalie wearing that number has won the Cup in decades.

(Case in point: Luongo, Roberto)

Personally, I always like 30-35 for goalies. Just looks better, even for franchises like the Kings that don’t have #1 retired.

And I’d rather Martinez move to a solid defensive number like #55. Although that’s personal preference since that’s my number and I like the kid.

by shm5555 on Jul 4, 2011 7:19 AM PDT up reply actions

Goalies who wear #1 are douche bags. If you’re not lucky enough to wear #32 (the best of all possible numbers), then you should wear 31, 30, 35, 34, or 39.

The West Coast is the Best Coast.

by RudyKelly on Jul 4, 2011 8:46 AM PDT up reply actions

A most eHrudite comment.

by whine_country on Jul 4, 2011 9:17 AM PDT up reply actions

I can hardly Kel if there’s been a better comment around here, really.

by shm5555 on Jul 4, 2011 9:24 AM PDT up reply actions

Sean Burke is not a douche bag. Niether is Kirk Mclean.

Free Oscar Moeller

by DodgerBlueBalls on Jul 4, 2011 1:09 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

Actually, Sean Burke is a major, major douche bag…

Sorry for the long link, but I can’t figure out the damn IPad
http://articles.courant.com/1997-11-05/features/9711050727_1_leslie-burke-mrs-burke-dispatcher

by JZarris on Jul 4, 2011 1:31 PM PDT up reply actions

Hope he wears 8

Anyone out there concerned about be able to sign Doughty? I am fearful this could get ugly. And yes, Doughty has not always shown himself to be easy to get out of a funk. i.e. if he comes to camp late he may be in seriously shitty shape. He may affect the team a lot if he does this, not just himself (what happened with O’ Sullivan I don’t think hurt the team at all as there were better players than him).

In terms of an offer sheet, may not come. But he needs to be careful that he is not pushing for a lot more than he deserves…

by Steve S. on Jul 3, 2011 5:58 PM PDT reply actions

It’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.

The West Coast is the Best Coast.

by RudyKelly on Jul 3, 2011 6:03 PM PDT up reply actions

hmmmm

If you say so…

by Steve S. on Jul 3, 2011 10:53 PM PDT up reply actions

Since they didn't get Richards...

… they have the ability to match anything that gets thrown at Doughty (as far as I can tell). Would they match an Ovetchkin-like max deal? Probably not, but I doubt there’s anyone insane enough to try that.

The only thing you’d likely see would be a front-loaded deal akin to what Fedorov got from the Hurricanes in the 90s, but my suspicion is that the Kovalchuk protocols would hamper a team’s ability to do that.

by shm5555 on Jul 4, 2011 7:16 AM PDT up reply actions

Sorry to interupt...

but San Jose just traded Dany Heatley to Minnesota for Martin Havlat, straight up.

I think it’s official: Heatley = Cancer (in a stricly non-medical sort of way).

by JZarris on Jul 3, 2011 7:43 PM PDT reply actions

Wow! I know for a fact they’ll be laughing in Ottawa. (Though they should also be crying as they got rooked even worse when Havlat left town than they did with Heatley’s departure.)

by SCSF on Jul 3, 2011 8:21 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, it’s a party in Canada. I imagine Edmonton is loving this as well.

by JZarris on Jul 3, 2011 8:24 PM PDT up reply actions

Shame

Mr. Hand Jive was one of the best players for the Kings in that series.

Are Teemu Selanne and Melanie Griffith Twins?

by USHA#17 on Jul 4, 2011 8:30 AM PDT up reply actions

Number 9

Needs more Garrett Roe

Christopher Gibson- Suomi Swag
Barca Blaugranes- SB Nation's FC Barcelona blog
@shadowking011

by Paul Udani on Jul 3, 2011 9:07 PM PDT reply actions

So would 69 be considered a scorer?

by defrim65 on Jul 3, 2011 9:49 PM PDT reply actions

A two-way player...

…and a good fit

i'll show you my butt tattoo if you'll show me yours

by falmer on Jul 3, 2011 10:00 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Love it.. a 2-way player? Good at both ends? Anyway, yeah, I agree with you Quisp… plus, someone’s gotta take that #4!

by WildKaRD on Jul 3, 2011 10:06 PM PDT reply actions

And I hate that Westie’s got that #19… that’s reserved for a bad-ass scorer damnit!!!

by WildKaRD on Jul 3, 2011 10:13 PM PDT up reply actions

A bad-ass scorer is good for your soul.

by ho5le on Jul 5, 2011 3:19 PM PDT up reply actions

SPEAKING OF NUMBERS

Qsuip, you have a much better understanding of the CBA than most of us (which only proves your crazy) but explain to me if you could how that BRichards deal, NY made, isn’t cap circumvention?

by kevin_ebel on Jul 4, 2011 6:57 AM PDT reply actions

It never drops below 1mil per season and the deal ends before Brad Richards turns 40.

Free Oscar Moeller

by DodgerBlueBalls on Jul 4, 2011 1:13 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

But ... but .. but

But I thought the last years couldn’t be less than 1/2 of the first years …?

by kevin_ebel on Jul 4, 2011 1:16 PM PDT up reply actions

Simon must wear #12 or else….

Who’s this Andrei guy anyway? Dude any good? :)

I'm in love with the Lightning, the Flyers are my fling and I have a crush on the Flyers fans.
Dare to follow my childish, biased, petty and cheesy alter ego. Go visit my website. I will keep you updated on every Simon injury.
American Cheese, B!tch! ... #1 mission? Kill Holmgren & Decapitate Kunitz.

by Katchis on Jul 4, 2011 6:59 AM PDT reply actions

Loktionov is our other young center prospect who’s close to making it. Here’s a good article about him. They call him the Cheshire Cat because he’s always smiling, or sometimes “Jimmy Neutron, boy genius.” He played some games for the Kings last year because we needed more creativity and skill at forward, especially on the power play. He scored his first goal by banking the puck deliberately off the goalie’s stick.

He’s a shifty little trickster. Had bad injury luck last season, but hopefully he’ll have bionic shoulders going forward. Go Lokti!

In Dinglebarn We Trust -- JftC

by Niesy on Jul 4, 2011 11:28 AM PDT up reply actions

If he can keep both shoulders attached to his torso for an entire season, I think he’ll be pretty good. :-/

Seriously, I do believe that Loktionov will develop into a legit top 6 forward. Unfortunately, each of the last two seasons, he suffered season-ending shoulder injuries just as he was making an impact with the Kings. If he stays healthy, and if he gets to play center (his natural position; the Kings tried him on the wing, but he didn’t look that comfortable) he’ll be good.

But Gagne will have seniority, so I think Lokti will have to pick another number. :-)

"I think you just outed yourself as Dean Lombardi. I knew it all along." — Rudy Kelly

by DougX on Jul 4, 2011 11:29 AM PDT up reply actions

I’d like him togo with a crazy number like Bure wearing 96 or Federov wearing 91.

by sstephen17 on Jul 4, 2011 9:13 PM PDT up reply actions

Don't forget...

66 – de facto retired. Only four players have worn it in history, and I’m fairly sure it’s going to be a long time before we see it again. Mario just didn’t get a leaguewide mandate like Gretz.

by shm5555 on Jul 4, 2011 7:24 AM PDT reply actions

Forget #4

That number is reserved for the wall. Still belongs to the best defenseman to come out of the organization and the only Norris winner as well.

by Oz67 on Jul 4, 2011 9:50 AM PDT reply actions

I’m pretty sure the most talented #4 defenseman we had didn’t win the Norris.

KING KONG

by Passemoilapuck on Jul 4, 2011 11:48 AM PDT up reply actions

I doubt that #4 is reserved for the wall.

But obviously there are two camps (or more) on the Rob Blake issue.

Wait till this year.

by Quisp on Jul 4, 2011 12:41 PM PDT up reply actions

Yes, I think that if it happens, it will have to wait until visceral hatred of Rob Blake is no longer part of living memory. And by that time, I think that other Kings will have somewhat eclipsed him, so that he’ll no longer be that high on the list of numbers to retire.

"I think you just outed yourself as Dean Lombardi. I knew it all along." — Rudy Kelly

by DougX on Jul 4, 2011 12:44 PM PDT up reply actions

Fuck Rob Blake.

The West Coast is the Best Coast.

by RudyKelly on Jul 4, 2011 12:46 PM PDT up reply actions 5 recs

I’d retire Sargent’s #22 before “Grab the Guy” Blake’s #4

Are Teemu Selanne and Melanie Griffith Twins?

by USHA#17 on Jul 4, 2011 1:34 PM PDT up reply actions

Maybe not but I remember reading somewhere that Scuds was asked not to take it when he came over from Pittsburgh. So I think there is some faction that wants to hold onto it for the wall. I guess I am firmly in the one camp over the other, obviously.

by Oz67 on Jul 4, 2011 6:26 PM PDT up reply actions

Actually...

Larry Murphy wore #5, not #4.

Free Oscar Moeller

by DodgerBlueBalls on Jul 4, 2011 1:18 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

If number 4 should be retired, it should be due to the guy in my avatar, not Bl*ke. Love the Jerry Korab reference, though, passmoilapuck!

by SCSF on Jul 4, 2011 1:04 PM PDT reply actions

Well, I loved the guy.

Hated how he left, but loved Blake just the same. If he ever did have his number retired (which I don’t think would actually ever happen), I would hope it would happen after he has passed away or something, because seeing his number go up, and being boo’d at the same time would suck donkeys.

I did feel the disrespect went too far when I saw him being boo’d at Staples in front of his family, but that’s just me. I certainly understand the resentment, but I’m not as passionate about it I guess.

by defrim65 on Jul 4, 2011 2:10 PM PDT reply actions

I think Blake deserved the same chance for a cup that Luc had. But his return felt just a bit “Roeness” to me.

Are Teemu Selanne and Melanie Griffith Twins?

by USHA#17 on Jul 4, 2011 2:55 PM PDT up reply actions

Speaking of numbers...

Nick Kypreos tweeted that a Stamkos deal is getting nearer, stating that the last offer was $37MM over 5 yrs.

No idea if that’s actually true, but I’m guessing that the Stamkos contract will help set the high bar in Doughty’s negotiations and move the process along. Not that he shouldn’t be mostly compared to other defensemen…

by SCSF on Jul 5, 2011 7:35 AM PDT reply actions

Thanks for the update.

I wonder if this will cut down on the number of STAMKOS OFFER SHEET?!!! articles, or if the authors will just double down in a last ditch attempt to garner a kajillion more hits.

In Dinglebarn We Trust -- JftC

by Niesy on Jul 5, 2011 10:27 AM PDT up reply actions

Who am I kidding, I already knew the answer to this…

In Dinglebarn We Trust -- JftC

by Niesy on Jul 7, 2011 9:28 AM PDT up reply actions

Another Stamkos tidbit...

… story out of Philly is that they’re talking a Schenn / Bobrovsky / picks package if they can’t get him re-signed.

Personally, I call BS on that story, as the Kings would’ve grabbed him for Schenn / (Jones / Bernier) / the picks sent to Philly if that offer was out there.

by shm5555 on Jul 5, 2011 10:44 AM PDT reply actions

I think the story is one-sided. By which I mean, it may be true as far as it goes.

I can believe that Holmgren would prepare that offer just in case the Stamkos talks broke down. Do I think the talks will break down, and that the Lightning would accept it? No.

It’s just like the “Bernier for Colorado’s 11th pick!” stuff before the draft. The Avs would offer that, but the Kings had no intention of taking it. If the reporters in Denver would stop and think, the Kings need players more than draft picks at this stage, and they’d have been giving up a goalie who was an 11th overall pick himself, after years and years of careful development, who’s finally contributing at the NHL level, for…another 11th, this time in a weak draft. Uh huh.

In Dinglebarn We Trust -- JftC

by Niesy on Jul 5, 2011 10:52 AM PDT up reply actions

I should point out that the story was written in such a way that it was the Lightning mooting such a package, and not the Flyers throwing something out there on the off chance the Bolts would accept.

That said, I still think it’s BS; but if it happens, I’d lean towards saying the Mike Richards deal was a mistake, given Stamkos fits the profile of what the Kings need a bit better than Richards.

by shm5555 on Jul 5, 2011 11:35 AM PDT up reply actions

But to flip it around: do you pass up on a top shelf two way center like Mike Richards and lose him to the Leafs, on the hope that Stamkos might be available (despite the fact that it still looks extremely unlikely)?

It’s like EBay. You have to put in your bid in a set amount of time. You don’t know what’s going to be listed afterwards.

In Dinglebarn We Trust -- JftC

by Niesy on Jul 5, 2011 12:15 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

no

"Not in your wildest alcoholic nightmare would you ever imagine such events unfolding!" Bill King

by Buck Turgidson on Jul 5, 2011 2:07 PM PDT up reply actions

Stamkos would be a great add, certainly

But I think part of the point in getting Richards is that he makes the team more mature, both in terms of age/NHL experience and in terms of championship level experience. Plus, there’s the team leadership factor. To my knowledge, Stamkos hasn’t yet had that experience as captain of a winning team. So I’m not quite sure I’d look at it that way.

"I think you just outed yourself as Dean Lombardi. I knew it all along." — Rudy Kelly

by DougX on Jul 5, 2011 12:35 PM PDT up reply actions