Who wore number 19 in NHL?

The resume for 19 is long and the history of the number certainly helps its street cred. It became so revered with Hockey Canada that only Steve Yzerman was permitted to wear it for a time. Beyond that, it’s a good looking number, especially in a block font. You tend to think of a number one center wearing this one and for good reason.

Steve Yzerman

Stephen Gregory Yzerman is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, also known as executive vice president and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he spent all 22 seasons of his NHL playing career. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he is a Detroit sports icon and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. After his retirement as a player, he served in the front office of the Red Wings, and then as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, while also being executive director for Team Canada in two Olympics.

Prior to the 1986–87 season, at age 21, Yzerman was named captain of the Red Wings and continuously served for the next two decades (dressing as captain for over 1,300 games), retiring as the longest-serving captain of any team in North American major league sports history. Once voted to be the most popular athlete in Detroit sports history, locals often simply refer to Yzerman as “Stevie Y”, “Stevie Wonder”, or “The Captain”. Yzerman led the Wings to five first-place regular season finishes and three Stanley Cup championships (1997, 1998 and 2002).

Yzerman won numerous awards during his career, including the Lester B. Pearson Award (Most outstanding player) in the 1988–89 season, the Conn Smythe Trophy (Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup playoffs) in 1998, the Selke Trophy as the league’s best defensive forward in 2000 and the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance in 2003. He was a ten-time NHL All-Star, a First Team All-Star in 2000 and a member of the All-Rookie Team in 1984.

On July 3, 2006, Yzerman officially retired from professional hockey, finishing his career ranked as one of the all-time leading scorers in NHL history, having scored a career-high 155 points (65 goals and 90 assists) in 1988–89. Yzerman’s #19 jersey was retired on January 2, 2007, during a pre-game ceremony at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. On November 4, 2008, he was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. He also became an honoured member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, his first year of eligibility, inducted alongside 2001–02 Red Wing teammates Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille. In 2017, Yzerman was named one of the “100 Greatest NHL Players” in history.

On September 25, 2006, Yzerman was named as a vice president and alternate governor of the Red Wings, winning a fourth Stanley Cup championship as an executive in 2007–08. In May 2010, he left the Red Wings organization to become general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, serving in that capacity until September 2018. On April 19, 2019, Yzerman was named the general manager of the Red Wings.

Yzerman has represented his country in several international tournaments as a member of Canada’s national hockey team (Team Canada). In 2002, Yzerman won an Olympic gold medal, making him one of few players to win an Olympic gold medal and the Stanley Cup in the same year. Yzerman was the general manager of Team Canada for the 2007 IIHF World Championship, which they won. Yzerman was appointed executive director of Team Canada on October 7, 2008, for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Team Canada went on to win the gold medal by defeating the United States. Yzerman was again appointed executive director of Team Canada on March 5, 2012, for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Canada went on to win their second-straight gold medal after defeating Sweden.

Jonathan Toews

Jonathan Bryan Toews is a Canadian professional ice hockey player known as the centre and captain of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Nicknamed “Captain Serious”, Toews was selected by the Blackhawks with the third overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. He joined the team in 2007–08 and was nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year. The following season he was named team captain, becoming the second-youngest captain in NHL history (after Sidney Crosby) at the time. Toews won the Stanley Cup in 2010, along with the Conn Smythe Trophy for the most valuable player in the playoffs. After winning the Cup, Toews became one of the youngest players to join the Triple Gold Club. He won the Stanley Cup again in 2013 and 2015.

Toews decided to compete internationally for Team Canada and has won gold medals at the 2005 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, 2006 and 2007 World Junior Championships, 2007 World Championships, the 2010 Winter Olympics (a tournament in which he was named best forward) and the 2014 Winter Olympics. In 2017, he was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players.

Joe Thornton

Joseph Eric Thornton is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre known for playing with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was selected first overall by the Bruins in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft and went on to play seven seasons with the club, three as its captain. During the 2005–06 season, he was traded to the Sharks. Splitting the campaign between the two teams, he received the Art Ross and Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s leading point-scorer and most valuable player, respectively. Thornton would go on to another 14 seasons with the Sharks, including four seasons as team captain and a run to the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals.

Thornton’s on-ice vision, strength on the puck, deft passing ability and power forward style of play have led to him becoming one of the league’s premier top line centres. He is widely regarded as one of the best passers of all-time, and is one of the few players in history with 1,000 NHL assists. His nickname “Jumbo Joe” is a nod to his large stature and to Jumbo the elephant who once performed in St. Thomas, Ontario, where Thornton was raised.

Following the retirements of Bartolo Colon, Vince Carter, and Adam Vinatieri of the MLB, NBA, and NFL respectively, Thornton, alongside fellow NHL veterans Zdeno Chara and Patrick Marleau, are the last active players of the four major North American sports leagues who played in their respective leagues in the 1990s.

Nicklas Backstrom

Nicklas Bäckström is a Swedish professional ice hockey player known as the centre and alternate captain for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). Bäckström was selected fourth overall by the Capitals at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Bäckström is renowned for his elite playmaking abilities, earning him a reputation as one of the league’s most skilled passers. Since 2013–14, Bäckström began a streak of six-consecutive 50-assist seasons, one of the few players to ever accomplish the feat. He has since gone on to become one of the Washington’s all-time franchise leaders in assists, and is one of the leaders in all-time franchise points. Bäckström won the Stanley Cup with the Capitals in 2018 over the Vegas Golden Knights.

Joe Sakic

Joseph Steven Sakic is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. He played his entire 21-year National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche franchise. Named captain of the team in 1992 (after serving as a co-captain in 1990–91), Sakic is regarded as one of the greatest team leaders in league history and was able to consistently motivate his team to play at a winning level.

Nicknamed “Burnaby Joe”, Sakic led the Avalanche to Stanley Cup titles in 1996 and 2001, being named the most valuable player of the 1996 playoffs, and honoured as the MVP of the NHL in 2001 by the hockey writers and his fellow players. He is one of six players to participate in both of the team’s Stanley Cup victories. Sakic was also named to play in 13 NHL All-Star Games and selected to the NHL First All-Star Team at centre three times.

Over the course of his career, Sakic was one of the most productive forwards in the game, having twice scored 50 goals and earning at least 100 points in six different seasons. His wrist shot, considered one of the best in the NHL, was the source of much of his production as goalies around the league feared his rapid snap-shot release. At the conclusion of the 2008–09 NHL season, he was the eighth all-time points leader in the NHL, as well as 14th in all-time goals and 11th in all-time assists. During the 2002 Winter Olympics, Sakic helped lead Team Canada to its first ice hockey gold medal in 50 years, and was voted as the tournament’s most valuable player. He represented the team in six other international competitions, including the 1998 and 2006 Winter Olympics.

Sakic retired from the NHL on July 9, 2009, and had his jersey number retired prior to the Avalanche’s 2009–10 season opener on October 1, 2009, at Pepsi Center. On November 12, 2012, Sakic was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame, along with Adam Oates, Pavel Bure and Mats Sundin. On April 11, 2013, Sakic and 11 others were inducted into the Canada Sports Hall of Fame. He served as executive advisor and alternate governor for the Avalanche, effective at the end of the 2010–11 season, and promoted to Executive Vice President of hockey operations on May 10, 2013. In 2017, Sakic was named one of the ‘100 Greatest NHL Players’ in history.

Bryan Trottier

Bryan John Trottier is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins. He won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders, two with the Penguins and one as an assistant coach with the Colorado Avalanche. On December 23, 1978 he set the NHL record for points in a single period with six (four goals and two assists) in the second period against the Rangers. He is also one of the few NHL players with multiple five-goal games. On August 4, 2014, Trottier was announced as an assistant coach for the Buffalo Sabres. In 2017 Trottier was named one of the “100 Greatest NHL Players” in history.

Larry Robinson

Larry Clark Robinson is a Canadian former ice hockey coach, executive and player. His coaching career includes head coaching positions with the New Jersey Devils (which he held on two occasions), as well as the Los Angeles Kings. For his play in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings, Robinson was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995. He was also inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. In 2017, Robinson was named one of the “100 Greatest NHL Players”. Larry is the brother of Moe Robinson.

Jean Ratelle

Joseph Gilbert Yvon Jean Ratelle is a former Canadian ice hockey player who played for the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins. In twenty-one seasons he averaged almost a point a game and won the Lady Byng Trophy twice in recognition of his great sportsmanship. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985. In 2017 he was named one of the “100 Greatest NHL Players” in history.

Claire Alexander

Claire Arthur Alexander or Arthur Claire Alexander is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA) in the 1970s.

Eddy Beers

Edward Joseph “Eddy” Beers is a Dutch-born Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played 250 games in the National Hockey League. He was nearly a point per game player in his time in the NHL, but his NHL career was cut short by injury.

Born in Zwaag, Netherlands, Beers played for the Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues. He also played for the University of Denver in the NCAA for the years of 1979–1982 and led the NCAA in scoring his senior season. In 1982 Beers became only the second player born in The Netherlands to play in the NHL.

Danny Belisle

Daniel George Belisle is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach.

Belisle played junior hockey for the Guelph Biltmores and the Trois-Rivières Lions. He then signed with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League, but his entire NHL career totaled four games during the 1960–61 NHL season. He played fourteen years in the minor leagues, as a member of fifteen different clubs. Belisle’s career year came in 1962-63, when he scored 70 points for the San Francisco Seals of the Western Hockey League.

Belisle began his coaching career with the Des Moines Oak Leafs, the final team for which he played. In 1978, he was named head coach of the Washington Capitals. After a slow start at the beginning of the 1979–80 NHL season, he was fired and replaced by Gary Green. Belisle was voted Central Hockey League coach of the year in 1981 while coaching the Dallas Black Hawks. Belisle later became an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings during the early 1980s.

Belisles son Dan Belisle was an ice hockey coach and executive in the North American Hockey League, Southern Hockey League, Colonial Hockey League, and ECHL, most notably serving as general manager for the ECHL’s New Orleans Brass, Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies, and Victoria Salmon Kings.

Chuck Arnason

Ernest Charles Arnason is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right wing who played 401 games over eight seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens, Atlanta Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins, Kansas City Scouts, Cleveland Barons, Colorado Rockies, Minnesota North Stars and Washington Capitals. He was the first player in NHL history to play for five defunct teams.

Jason Arnott

Jason William Arnott is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player.

He began his National Hockey League career with the Edmonton Oilers in 1993–94 after being selected seventh overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft and was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team. A two-time NHL All-Star, Arnott won the Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 2000, scoring the championship-winning goal in the second overtime of Game 6. He played for the Dallas Stars before joining the Nashville Predators in 2006, where he served as captain for three seasons.

Don Ashby

Donald Allan Ashby was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played six seasons in the National Hockey League from 1975–76 until 1980–81.

Ashby was born in Kamloops, British Columbia, and played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies and Edmonton Oilers in his NHL career.

Ashby played 188 career NHL games, scoring 40 goals, 56 assists and 96 points. He was drafted sixth overall by the Maple Leafs in the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft.

A few days after finishing the 1980–81 season which he played with the CHL Wichita Wind, Ashby and his wife, Terry, were involved in an automobile accident in the Okanagan Valley. The vehicle that they were driving was hit head-on by a pick up truck and Ashby died a few hours later from massive internal injuries, in the hospital in Kelowna, British Columbia.

Don Awrey

Donald William Awrey is a Canadian former professional hockey defenceman. He played 979 career National Hockey League (NHL) games with the Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, and Colorado Rockies.

A defensive defenceman, known for his superb shot-blocking and bone-jarring bodychecks, Awrey played for the Niagara Falls Flyers of the OHA before being signed by the Bruins. Despite being an exceptionally fast skater, he rarely scored goals. He made his NHL debut in 1963–64 for the Bruins, his first of 16 seasons in the league.

Awrey was part of two Stanley Cup winning teams with the Bruins, in 1970 and 1972. He was also part of the Montreal Canadiens team that won the Stanley Cup in 1976, but did not play in any playoff games that season, and so does not have his name engraved on the cup for that year even though he qualified. In 1972, Awrey was named to Canada’s team for the Summit Series, playing in two of the eight games.

Awrey’s last season in the NHL was 1978–79, when he played for the Colorado Rockies.