Best players by number

From James Mirtle:

Every once in a while, I stumble upon useless information and pass it on to you. This post is one of those times.

Jersey numbers are a funny business in the NHL, and these days there are a whole lot of wacky numbers in use. Amazingly, the only seven digits from No. 1 to 98 that didn’t have a sweater last season were 62, 66, 69, 86, 90, 95 and 98.

Gretzky’s 99 is, of course, retired for everyone. No one’s been bold enough to wear Lemieux’s 66, either. (Mel Angelstad did don No. 69 for two games with the Capitals in 2003-04, however. According to Wikipedia, it took more than 80 years before he became the first player to wear the number.)

Read the entire entry from James here.

Gimmicks like this are always a fun read.  In fact, Scott Morrison’s HNIC By The Numbers (which he talks about here) is based entirely on this concept.