Who wore number 45 in NHL?

What number you wear can often be a big part of a player’s hockey identity. Some players care more than others about the number they don, but even for those who are indifferent to them, those numbers help connect players with young fans and can even have sentimental value. Like it or not, numbers are a big part of what can make this game great.

Sami Vatanen

Sami Vatanen is a Finnish professional ice hockey player known as the defenceman for Genève-Servette HC of the National League (NL). He was drafted in the fourth round, 106th overall, by the Anaheim Ducks at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Arron Asham

Arron Miles Asham is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Over his 15 seasons, he played for 6 different teams.

Jonathan Bernier

Jonathan Bernier is a Canadian professional ice hockey player known as the goaltender for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the first round, 11th overall, of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Los Angeles Kings, the team with whom he played his first four NHL seasons. Bernier won the Stanley Cup with the Kings in 2012.

Jody Shelley

Jody Shelley is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. During his National Hockey League (NHL) career he played for the Columbus Blue Jackets, San Jose Sharks, New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers.

He was known as an enforcer and had the most regular season major penalties for fighting since he joined the league; when he retired – on August 9, 2013 – he had 173. Shelley rejoined the Columbus Blue Jackets in August 2013 when he was named a broadcast associate and team ambassador.

In May 2014 he became the Blue Jackets television color analyst alongside Jeff Rimer.

Dmitri Kalinin

Dmitri Vladimirovich Kalinin is a Russian professional ice hockey defenceman. He played for Traktor Chelyabinsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Bowen Byram

Bowen Byram is a Canadian professional ice hockey player known as the defenceman for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected fourth overall by the Avalanche in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

The son of NHL player Shawn Byram, Byram was coached by his father until the age of 12, at which point he began playing full time with the Lethbridge Golden Hawks of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League. After two seasons with them, the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League (WHL) selected Byram third overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft. Playing with the team from 2017 to 2020, Byram earned a number of junior ice hockey awards, including the CHL Top Draft Prospect Award and the Western Conference Rookie of the Year title. He also represented Canada at a number of international under-18 and junior tournaments, including gold medal finishes at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the 2020 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

After finishing in second place at the 2021 World Junior Championships, Byram joined the Avalanche for the 2020–21 NHL season. His rookie year was marred by two concussions and a COVID-19 diagnosis, the latter of which exacerbated his concussion symptoms. After only 19 regular season games, Byram was able to join the team for the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, but did not play. He scored his first NHL goal on the opening day of the 2021–22 season, but was concussed again shortly thereafter.

Vladimir Chebaturkin

Vladimir Alexandrovich Chebaturkin is a professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League for the New York Islanders, St. Louis Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks. He was drafted 66th overall by the Islanders in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft and went on to play 62 games, scoring 2 goals and 7 assists for 9 points and collecting 52 penalty minutes.

After retiring as a player, Chebaturkin served as an assistant coach for Kontinental Hockey League’s Atlant Mytishchi, Avangard Omsk and HC CSKA Moscow. He is also known as head coach of Zvezda Moscow of the Supreme Hockey League.

Patrice Cormier

Patrice Victor Cormier is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward. He is known for playing with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Cormier was drafted in the second round, 54th overall, by the New Jersey Devils at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Cormier was the captain for Team Canada at the 2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. On January 25, 2010, Cormier was suspended for the remainder of the 2009–10 QMJHL regular season and playoffs for an elbow he delivered to Mikael Tam of the Quebec Remparts. Shortly after, his NHL rights were traded to the Atlanta Thrashers.

Matt Cullen

Matthew David Cullen is an American former professional ice hockey center who played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Cullen is a three-time Stanley Cup champion (with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017), and earned a bronze medal in the World Championships as a member of the U.S. team.

Cullen is one of the players to play over 1,500 NHL games. However, he has never been named an All-Star.

Karl Dykhuis

Karl Sebastien Dykhuis is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens.

As a youth, he played in the 1985 and 1986 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Sept-Îles, Quebec.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout Dykhuis played for the Amsterdam Bulldogs Hockey Club in The Netherlands.

Denis Hamel

Denis Jean Hamel is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who last played semi-professionally in the LNAH. A former star in junior, Hamel was not able to translate his scoring success in junior to the National Hockey League (NHL), although he had success at the AHL level, being named an AHL All-Star 3 times. After a serious knee injury in 2000, Hamel’s skating speed was diminished and has limited his ability to contribute in the NHL. He was known as a fan favorite with the Binghamton Senators, and is known for his contributions to the community, for which he won the 2008 AHL Man of the Year award.

Steve Heinze

Stephen Herbert Heinze is an American former National Hockey League right winger. He played for the Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo Sabres, and Los Angeles Kings between 1992 and 2003. He was drafted in the third round, 60th overall, by the Boston Bruins in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft. Internationally Heinze played for the American national team at the 1992 Winter Olympics and the 2000 World Championships. Heinze was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, but grew up in North Andover, Massachusetts.

Aaron Johnson

Aaron Lindsay Johnson is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenseman. Johnson played under contract with the Sheffield Steelers in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL).

He was a third-round selection of the Columbus Blue Jackets, 85th overall, at the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. A journeyman, Johnson has played for the Blue Jackets, New York Islanders, Chicago Blackhawks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Boston Bruins in the NHL, and several minor league teams during his career. He was a member of the Memorial Cup champion Rimouski Océanic in 2000.

Robert Lang

Robert Lang is a Czech former professional ice hockey player. Drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the fifth round, 133rd overall, at the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, Lang made his NHL debut with the team in the 1992–93 season. He has also played in the NHL for the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens and Phoenix Coyotes, with whom he retired with in 2010.

Lang played internationally for both the Czechoslovak and Czech national teams, competing in four Winter Olympics (winning gold in 1998), three Ice Hockey World Championships and two World Cups.

Danny Lorenz

Danny Lorenz is a retired ice hockey goaltender. He was drafted in the third round of the 1988 NHL Entry Draft and played in eight National Hockey League games for the New York Islanders from 1990 to 1993. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1989 to 2004, was mainly spent in various minor leagues. After his playing career Lorenz became a youth hockey director of the Kent Valley Hockey Association in Kent, Washington. He was replaced as head coach of the Seattle Ravens in the Northern Pacific Hockey League by Adam Kurtenbach in 2016.

Keegan Lowe

Keegan Lowe is an American-born Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman. He is known for playing with HC Bolzano in the ICE Hockey League (ICEHL). Lowe was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 3rd round (73rd overall) of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and has played in 4 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) between the Hurricanes and the Edmonton Oilers. He is the son of longtime Oilers executive and former player Kevin Lowe and Olympic bronze medalist Karen Percy.