The NHL officially banned jersey numbers 0 and 00 in 1996-97 due to database issues, while number 99 is retired league-wide for Wayne Gretzky, making it off-limits to everyone, and number 69 is unofficially banned due to its sexual connotation, though never formally confirmed.
No, number 69 is not officially banned in the NHL, but it's unofficially discouraged due to its sexual connotations, leading to only two players ever wearing it (Mel Angelstad and Andrew Desjardins) before they changed numbers, with GMs often steering players away from it as an unspoken rule. While no formal ban exists like for Wayne Gretzky's 99, teams and the league prefer players avoid the number to prevent jokes and distractions, making it effectively unavailable for most.
"Biron rule" restricted jersey numbers to whole numbers between 1 and 99 (later limited to numbers between 1 and 98 after the league-wide retirement of number 99 for Wayne Gretzky). Biron was the only NHL player affected, as only he wore "00" at the time.
Number 99 is retired league-wide in honor of Wayne Gretzky and therefore cannot be issued to players. Teams often retire additional numbers at franchise level, making them unavailable within that team (examples: Toronto Maple Leafs #6, Montreal Canadiens #9, etc.).
• Rule 46 states that fighting is not a part of the game. • a “fight” will be penalized with a 5-minute major and a game misconduct, with a possibility of further discipline following a review : r/hockey.
In 1922, the NHL introduced Rule 56, which formally regulated fighting, or "fisticuffs" as it was called in the official NHL rulebook. Rather than ejecting players from the game, as was the practice in amateur and collegiate hockey, players would be given a five-minute major penalty.
When any player of a team, equal or superior in numerical strength to the opposing team, shoots, bats, kicks, or deflects the puck from their own half of the ice, beyond the goal line of the opposing team, icing will be called.
No. 0. What's even rarer than the double-zero is the single zero in the NHL. Only one man has worn this number, and most likely you've never heard of him.
Gretzky wore that pin in honor of the late Gordie Howe, who owned the goals record before Gretzky. Howe was there in 1994 to shake Gretzky's hand when he broke the record, the same way Gretzky was there for Ovechkin Sunday.
The National Hockey League no longer permits 0 nor 00 for jersey numbers, as they cannot be entered into the NHL's database, and the available numbers only go up to 98 since the League retired the number 99 in honour of Wayne Gretzky.
He originally wore number 69 with the Sharks, becoming the second player in NHL history behind Mel Angelstad to wear the number in a regular season game, though he later switched to number 10 following the departure of Christian Ehrhoff.
Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews was suspended for two games by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Monday for delivering a cross-check to the neck of Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin during Sunday's Heritage Classic.
The numbers which players stay away from are 66, 69, and 99 for obvious reasons. In fact, according to nhl.com, only two players in NHL history have ever worn #66 and only two wore #69.
Following the NFL number standardization of 1973, numbers 0 and 00 were no longer eligible to be issued by teams. Prior to the 1973 standardization, some players had made occasional use of both 0 and 00.
Chicago Blackhawks - KRIS VERTSEEG was corrected to KRIS VERSTEEG and in 2021, Brad Aldrich's name was removed by being covered with Xs after illegal actions. The misspelled 1980-81 New York Islanders engraving. The 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers engraving with the X'd out Basil Pocklington.
The Gretzky Rule refers to a rule implemented in the NHL during the 1985–86 season, limiting how many points a player could be on the ice for in any single power play. This was due to Wayne Gretzky's dominance, as he scored multiple points during power plays. The rule was later repealed.
The highest number worn over 50 is #55, worn by 101 players. The most worn NHL jersey number is #21.
In the NBA and NHL, all four rounds of their respective playoffs are best-of-seven series. In the history of these leagues, teams that were down 3–0 in a series have come back to win the series five times; four times in the NHL and once in MLB.
On this day in 1999, Wayne Gretzky, number 99, played his final NHL game. That day, his number 99 was also retired, across the NHL. At the time of his retirement, Gretzky held 61 NHL records. The usual three-year waiting period for election to the Hockey Hall of Fame was also waived for number 99.
A retired number is a jersey number that is taken out of circulation by a team as a way of honouring a former member of that team who wore that number; after the number's retirement, members of that team are not permitted to wear the number on their jerseys unless by permission of the original number holder.
If the attacker commits an offence, the ball travels outside the field of play, or 8 seconds elapse before the ball crosses the line a goal is not awarded. If the goalkeeper unintentionally fouls the attacker then the penalty shoot-out is re-taken; in the event the foul was intentional a penalty stroke is awarded.
F1, F2, and F3 Roles
F1: The first forward in, who applies immediate pressure to the puck carrier. F2: The second forward, responsible for supporting F1 and targeting secondary puck battles. F3: The third forward, who stays high to prevent odd-man rushes and cover open areas.