The History of #29

NHL jersey numbers are weird. Football has strict regulations coded within the rulebook regarding jersey numbers and positions, baseball has very few customs other than pitchers wear double digits, which is being broken with increasing frequency these days. Basketball has traditionally kept numbers under 55, but nowadays more and more players are opting for higher numbers as the system seems to be growing towards "anything goes."

Hockey's numbers, on the other hand, are hard to understand with any certainty. There are some customs such as defenders normally getting the numbers 2-5 exclusively, and forwards having a monopoly on numbers like 9, 11, and 19. Numbers are retired liberally and traditionalists will always yell at a cloud when a younger player tries to wear the number of anyone who once scored 10 goals in consecutive seasons but otherwise, there's barely no template. Then there are the goalies. Goalies have been given the number 1 since as far back as numbers themselves were assigned. Goalies typically have also worn numbers like 30, 31, 33, 35, 40, and 41 with differing degrees of exclusivity. Today, goalies such as Braden Holtby and Sergei Bobrovsky have staked their claims to numbers like 70 and 72 respectively and Mikko Koskinen has threatened the stability of the jersey number kingdom by wearing number 19 between the pipes.

But there is one number that defies all conventions. One number that laughs in the face of goalies and skaters alike. One number that you read in the title of this post and already know is coming. That is number 29.

As far as I (hockeyreference.com) can tell. The number 29 dates back to the 1958-59 season when Charlie Hodge suited up with it for 14 games while backing up Jacques Plante with the Habs. This was right around the era when teams started to have designated backup goalies who would be around long enough that they wouldn't just grab the starters jersey after he had a bit too much to drink the night before and passed out in the coach's swimming pool (note to self: fact check if this ever happened). Eventually, when Plante left Montreal, Hodge got full-time starter duties and switched to number 1 for the 1963-64 season. Roggie Vachon briefly wore 29 during his rookie season as Hodge's backup but it wasn't until the 1968-69 season that another netminder would wear it again as Tony Esposito and Terry Sawchuk wearing it for the Habs and Red Wings respectively. Between those years however, three skaters wore the number: Poul Popiel, Bob Ring, and Ross Lonsberry. Only Lonsberry wore it for more than one season. In 1970-71 though, we saw a new era emerge for number 29.

To this day, Ken Dryden remains the only player for who number 29 is retired. While he did not usher in a swarm of goalies wearing the number immediately, he held onto the number almost exclusively. The only other player of note to wear the number (with all possible due respect to the 80-grade nickname of Larry "Izzy" Goodenough) was Dean Prentice. Mike Palmateer would soon follow in Dryden's footsteps but in the 1983-84 season, Jan Ludvig and Reijo Ruotsalainen joined Prentice as the only skaters wearing number 29 to notch a 20-goal season, but were still well behind his record of 26. With Dryden and Palmateer out of the picture, another era for the number began.

The following year, during the 1984-85 season, Ruotsalainen set the record for goals by a number 29 at 28, yet the number was still mostly designated for also-rans, as the next highest scorer was Buffalo's Mal Davis, with 17 goals in 47 games. Still, that was better than the goalies could claim, as Marc Behrend's 24 appearances was more than twice the rest of the goaltenders combined. Greg Millen and Joel Otto would come along for the goaltenders and skaters respectively, keeping the number just barely alive, but the 80s were certainly a dark era for the number after the triumphs of the Dryden years. In the 90s, Felix Potvin donned the hallowed 2-and-9, and a quasi-star on a quasi-contender in the league's top market helped propel the number to - just kidding, the number would remain fairly obscure, although Mike Vernon would wear it in Detroit and also Alex Selivanov became the first skater to score 30 goals with the number, notching 31 with Tampa Bay in the 1995-96 season before promptly falling off the face of the earth. How could you Alex? You were the chosen one! But in 2002-03, a saviour emerged for the number. That's right, legendary goaltender and expansion team saviour! Marc! Andre! (sets throat slashing sign from off-stage) (checks notes) Tomas Vokoun?

Yes, Tomas Vokoun. Years before he was nearly decapitated by his own teammate, Tomas Vokoun took the torch from Felix Potvin and became the poster boy for the number 29. Vokoun was later joined by Martin Gerber and, yes, Marc-Andre Fleury, as the mid-2000s saw a trio of at the very least competent goaltenders wearing 29. Odd side note, for some reason there were no players whatsoever to wear it during the 2004-05 season, when I contacted the league offices to ask for a comment, all I heard was a vaguely familiar voice yelling from afar while assuring me that he loved my passion. After Gerber faded away, Fleury and Vokoun continued to stake their claim to the number for the goaltenders, although 20 goal scorers such as Ryan Clowe and Jason Pominville did start taking to it. The number also became a favourite for competent backups, as well as Justin Pogge. The number reached its peak usage in 2010-11 with 26 players wearing it over the course of the season, however, most of them were far from special and with Vokoun slowing down, Fleury seemed destined to become the Dryden of his era. In a cruel twist of fate, Vokoun would sign with Pittsburgh as Fleury's in 2012-13 and would play out the final year of his career wearing 92.

After Vokoun hung up the skates, the skater saw their opportunity to strike while the goaltending position was being held largely by one man. First came Nathan MacKinnon's 24 goal Calder campaign, coupled with Jason Pominville becoming the second number 29 to pot 30 in a season in 2013-14. Brock Nelson and Leon Draisaitl would also come onto the scene and defensive players like Bryan Bickell and Deryk Engelland complimented them. Meanwhile, the goaltenders shot themselves in the foot by putting their hopes in Matt O'Connor. In 2016-17 the big guns hit as Patrik Laine burst into the league and set a number 29 record with 36 goals, as a rookie nonetheless. That same year, William Nylander played his first full season and Draisaitl began to assert himself as a star. Last season, MacKinnon and Laine both had seasons for the ages and Laine scored 44 and MacKinnon almost reached the 40-goal plateau too, scoring 39 en route to being the Hart Trophy runner-up.

Now, with Fleury the only remaining hold-out among goalies the future of Ken Dryden's number would appear to belong to the skaters in this eternal struggle I just made up as a device to keep this article from being dry and boring. However, be on high alert as the ongoing William Nylander saga could change everything. Below I will outline by 2000 word opinion of the situa - (gets beaten to a bloody pulp by folding chairs).