Who wore number 16 in NHL?

Athletes in every team sport have a number on their jersey to identify them. In the NHL, players are given numbers between 1 and 98. Sometimes, players get to choose their own number and other times, they’re just assigned a number by the team.

Aleksander Barkov

Aleksander Aleksandrovich “Sasha” Barkov is a Finnish professional ice hockey player known as the centre and captain of the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Barkov was selected by the Panthers in the first round, second overall, of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He is the son of former Russian hockey player Alexander Barkov Sr. and holds dual Finnish and Russian citizenship. Barkov is regarded as an elite two-way centre and one of the best defensive forwards in hockey, winning the Frank J. Selke Trophy in 2021.

Barkov was born and raised in Tampere, Finland, where his father was playing for Tappara of the Finnish SM-Liiga at the time. Barkov joined Tappara’s junior system and started his professional career with the club in the Finnish Elite League.

Brett Hull

Brett Andrew Hull is a Canadian–American former ice hockey player and general manager, also known as an executive vice president of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings and Phoenix Coyotes between 1986 and 2005. His career total of 741 goals is one of the highest in NHL history, and he is one of five players to score 50 goals in 50 games. He was a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams – 1999 with the Dallas Stars and 2002 with the Detroit Red Wings. In 2017 Hull was named one of the ‘100 Greatest NHL Players’ in history.

Known as one of the game’s greatest snipers, Hull was an elite scorer at all levels of the game. He played college hockey for the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, where he scored 52 goals in 1985–86. He scored 50 the following year with the Moncton Golden Flames of the American Hockey League (AHL) and had five consecutive NHL seasons of at least 50 goals. His 86 goals in 1990–91 is one of the highest single-season totals in NHL history, with the first two being the same person, Wayne Gretzky. Hull won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award that year as the league’s most valuable player. He was named a first team all-star on three occasions and played in eight NHL All-Star Games.

Having dual citizenship in Canada and the United States, Hull was eligible to play for either Canada or the United States internationally and chose to join the American National Team. He was a member of the team that won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and was a two-time Olympian, winning a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, joining his father Bobby. They are the first father-son combination to each score either of 600 goals or 1,000 career points in the NHL. Hull’s nickname, “the Golden Brett” is a reference to his father’s nickname of “the Golden Jet”. His jersey number 16 was retired by the St. Louis Blues in 2006.

Upon his arrival in the NHL, Hull was considered a “one-dimensional player”. He was a natural goal scorer with a reputation for being uninterested in backchecking and playing defense. He was nicknamed “The Incredible Hull” (a reference to Bruce Banner) in college for his scoring exploits and was called “The Golden Brett” in the NHL, a play on his father’s nickname of “The Golden Jet”. Brett was often compared to Bobby in his early years, though the two shared few similarities on the ice. Both were known for their shooting ability, particularly the power of their slapshot, which Terry Crisp – who played against Bobby and coached Brett – described as “explosive”, but while Bobby was a left wing known for both his conditioning and skating ability, Brett played right wing, was a poorer skater and lacked his father’s physique.

His reputation for defensive indifference persisted through much of his career. In his 72-goal season of 1989–90, Hull’s plus-minus (net difference of even strength and shorthanded goals scored for and against while he was on the ice) was −1. He was a −27 four years later despite scoring 54 goals. Hull also carried a reputation as a player who could not win as his Blues’ teams rarely achieved success in the playoffs. He shed that reputation after leading his teams to championships at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals. To win that 1999 championship, Hull also had to fit in with the Dallas Stars’ defense-oriented system. He finished that season with a career-best plus-minus of +19.

Known as an outspoken player, Hull earned a reputation on and off the ice for speaking bluntly and without regard for whom it might offend. He chastised his own fans in 1992 – later backtracking – when they booed Adam Oates following Oates’ trade request, calling them “losers” and stating he wanted to rip one particular fan’s head off. Hull was a consistent critic of the NHL’s defensive, “clutch and grab” era of the late 1990s, raising the ire of commissioner Gary Bettman in 1998 when he said “I wouldn’t pay to watch. It’s boring. The whole style of the game is terrible. There’s no flow. When a guy like Lemieux leaves the game and tells you why he’s leaving, and you don’t address it, that’s stupid. But the players don’t say crap. That’s why I always look like the big mouth.”

Hull played in eight NHL All-Star Games, and was named the most valuable player of the 1992 game in Philadelphia. As of 2021, his 741 career goals is one of the highest totals in NHL history, and Hull was the third-fastest (behind Wayne Gretzky and Alex Ovechkin) to reach 700 goals, doing so in 1,157 games. He is also one of the all-time leaders in power play goals with 265 and game-winning goals with 110. With 24 career game-winning playoff goals, he is tied with Gretzky as one of the all-time leaders. He scored 33 hat tricks in his career, one of the highest in NHL history.

Hull holds numerous St. Louis Blues franchise records. In honor of his achievements with the team, the Blues retired his jersey number 16 in 2006. The team also arranged to have a portion of the street that runs alongside the Scottrade Center renamed “Brett Hull Way”. In 2010, the team unveiled a statue of him in front of the arena. Hull was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008, and into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.

Marcel Dionne

Marcel Elphège “Little Beaver” Dionne is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers. Marcel Dionne was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992. In 2017 Dionne was named one of the ‘100 Greatest NHL Players’ in history.

Pat LaFontaine

Patrick Michael LaFontaine is an American former ice hockey center in the National Hockey League (NHL) who spent his entire career playing for the league’s New York State-based teams.

LaFontaine played for the New York Islanders from 1983 until 1991, the Buffalo Sabres from 1991 until 1997, and the New York Rangers from 1997 until his retirement in 1998, scoring 468 goals and 1,013 points along the way before his career was ended by concussions. His 1.17 points per game (1,013 points over 865 games) is the best among American-born ice hockey players, active or retired. In 2017 Lafontaine was named one of the ‘100 Greatest NHL Players’ in history. LaFontaine served as an executive of the Buffalo Sabres as the President of Hockey Operations until March 2014.

Bobby Clarke

Robert Earle Clarke is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played his entire 15-year National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Philadelphia Flyers and is also known as an executive with the team. Popularly known as Bobby Clarke during his playing career and as Bob Clarke since retiring as a player, Clarke is acknowledged by some as being one of the greatest hockey players and captains of all time. He was captain of the Flyers from 1973 to 1979, winning the Stanley Cup with them in both 1974 and 1975. He was again captain of the Flyers from 1982 to 1984 before retiring. A three-time Hart Trophy winner and 1987 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, Clarke was rated number 24 on The Hockey News’ list of The Top 100 NHL Players of All-Time in 1998. In 2017 Clarke was named one of the ‘100 Greatest NHL Players’ in history.

Clarke had three 100-point seasons, twice leading the league in assists, and was selected to play in nine NHL All-Star Games. He also won the Frank J. Selke Trophy in 1983, as the league’s best defensive forward.

Upon retiring at the end of the 1983–84 season with 358 goals and 852 assists for a total of 1,210 points in 1,144 career games, he immediately became general manager of the Flyers. He spent 19 of the following 23 seasons as a general manager of the Flyers, also briefly serving as general manager of the Minnesota North Stars and Florida Panthers, and reached the Stanley Cup Finals three times with the Flyers and once with Minnesota. His time as an NHL general manager had its share of controversy, perhaps none greater than the rift between him and star player Eric Lindros during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He resigned from the general manager position less than a month into the 2006–07 season and signed for the Flyers’ senior vice president.

The image of Clarke, with a toothless grin, embracing the Stanley Cup and winking following the Flyers’ victory in the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals is considered one of the most iconic and famous photos in the history of the sport of hockey.

Henri Richard

Joseph Henri Richard was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played centre with the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1955 to 1975. He was nicknamed “Pocket Rocket” after his older brother, Canadiens’ legend and fellow Hockey Hall of Famer Maurice “Rocket” Richard. Henri won the Stanley Cup 11 times as a player. In 2017, Richard was named one of the ‘100 Greatest NHL Players’ in history.

Michel Goulet

Michel Bernard Goulet is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played for the Birmingham Bulls in the World Hockey Association and the Quebec Nordiques and Chicago Blackhawks in the National Hockey League. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998.

Russ Adam

Russell Norman Adam is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played eight games in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Russ is the father of a hockey player Luke Adam.

Steve Bernier

Steve Bernier is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger. Selected in the first round, 16th overall, in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the San Jose Sharks, Bernier would play for the Sharks, Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils and the New York Islanders during his time in the NHL.

Earl Anderson

Earl Orlin Anderson is an American former professional ice hockey player who played 109 regular games in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings between 1973 and 1977. His career was cut short by injuries. Anderson was also a member of the American national team at the 1973 World Championship Pool B, which was held in Austria.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Nicolas Aubé-Kubel is a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger known for playing with the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). Aubé-Kubel was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round, 48th overall, of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

Aubé-Kubel was born in Slave Lake, Alberta, but moved to Sorel-Tracy, Quebec with his family at the age of two. Growing up there, he played minor ice hockey and speed skating with local teams. Aubé-Kubel’s performance at the midget hockey level led to his being drafted seventh overall by the Val-d’Or Foreurs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in their 2012 draft. After his first two seasons with the Foreurs, during which he was drafted by the Flyers, Aubé-Kubel had a break-out season in 2014–15, scoring 80 points and taking the team to the playoffs. He continued his strong point production into the following season, serving as assistant captain for the Foreurs.

When the Foreurs’ 2015–16 season came to a close, Aubé-Kubel was invited to join the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Flyers’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, for their final six games of the season. His first full season of AHL hockey was offensively disappointing, as Aubé-Kubel was still learning the league, but the following year, he improved both on point-scoring and physicality. Aubé-Kubel made his NHL debut in 2018, but was sent back down to the Phantoms after only nine games. He did not become a staple in the Flyers’ line-up until December 2019. As a fourth-line winger, Aubé-Kubel had a productive 2019–20 season, but fell victim to a sophomore slump in 2021, with a particularly high number of penalty minutes.

The Flyers placed him on waivers early in the 2021–22 season, and the Colorado Avalanche claimed him.

Sean Avery

Sean Christopher Avery is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. During his career in the National Hockey League (NHL), he played left wing for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and Dallas Stars, gaining recognition for controversial and disrespectful behavior both on and off the ice. His agitating playing style led to multiple teams waiving him and to having a contract terminated. He led the league in penalty minutes twice, during the 2003–04 and 2005–06 NHL seasons.

After retiring in 2012, Avery focused full-time on working in the creative industry. He has worked in fashion as an intern at Vogue magazine, as a model, and as a former restaurateur. Avery’s memoir, Ice Capades: A Memoir of Fast Living and Tough Hockey, was published by Blue Rider Press in 2017.

Perry Berezan

Perry Edmund Berezan is a Canadian former ice hockey centre who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1985 and 1993. He was a third round selection, 55th overall, of the Calgary Flames at the 1983 NHL Entry Draft and also played for the Minnesota North Stars and San Jose Sharks. He is an alumnus of the University of North Dakota hockey program.

Bill Bennett

William Bennett is an American former ice hockey left winger. He played 31 games in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins and Hartford Whalers between 1978 and 1980. His father Harvey Bennett Sr. and two of his brothers (Curt Bennett and Harvey Bennett Jr. also played in the NHL.