Who wore number 79 in NHL?

The fortunate players who get to choose their own number often choose a lucky number, stick with the one they’ve always worn or wear a number in honor of a family member. Some players though, choose a number that’s cute or a deep and meaningful number.

Micheal Ferland

Micheal Ferland is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger known for playing with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with the Canucks, he has previously played for the Calgary Flames and Carolina Hurricanes. Ferland was drafted by the Flames in the fifth round, 133rd overall, at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Andrei Markov

Andrei Viktorovich Markov is a Russian-Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Nicknamed “the General”, Markov formerly played from 2000 to 2017 with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He holds both Russian and Canadian citizenship.

Alexei Yashin

Alexei Valeryevich Yashin is a Russian former professional ice hockey centre who played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders, serving as captain of both teams. He also played nine seasons in the Russian Superleague (RSL) and Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) for Dynamo Moscow, CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and SKA Saint Petersburg. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2020.

Ross Colton

Ross Colton is an American professional ice hockey center known for playing with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Growing up in New Jersey, Colton played at Princeton Day School for two seasons before transferring to Taft School, a boarding school in Connecticut, for his junior year. Following his junior year at Taft, Colton was drafted by the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League. He spent another two years with the team, setting a league record for most goals and points at a USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. As a result, Colton was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the fourth round, 118th overall, of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

Following the NHL draft, Colton played two seasons with the Vermont Catamounts men’s ice hockey team before signing a two-year entry-level contract with the Lightning. In his second season with the organization, Colton won the Stanley Cup by scoring the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in Game 5.

Carter Hart

Carter Hart is a Canadian professional ice hockey player known as the goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Born and raised in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Hart begain training with a sport psychologist from the age of ten, and played minor hockey in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League. The Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League (WHL) selected Hart in the eighth round of the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft. He made his debut with the Silvertips in 2014 at the age of 16, and was the team’s starting goaltender by the end of the season. In his time with the Silvertips, Hart was a three-time winner of the Del Wilson Trophy, a two-time CHL Goaltender of the Year, and a recipient of the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy.

The Flyers drafted Hart in the second round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft; he was the highest-drafted goaltender that year. In 2018, Hart became one of the youngest goaltenders in Flyers history to win his NHL debut, and in 2020, he became one of the youngest Flyers goaltenders to win a postseason game. Internationally, Hart has represented Canada at several international tournaments, including the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, IIHF World U20 Championship, and Ice Hockey World Championships.

In a 2016 scouting report, NHL Central Scouting noted Hart’s “focused and consistent technique with positioning and crease management” and his “strong lateral movement while keeping his body controlled.” He uses a reactive-blocking technique rather than the butterfly style which he believes many goaltenders employ: “I’m not a guy who just drops right down, squats and hopes it hits you.”

Attention has been paid to the mental aspects of Hart’s performance. Part of his work with Stevenson has involved improving his focus and optimism before a game, and he has been praised by Silvertips head coach Dennis Williams for his “calm, cool and collected” demeanor on the ice; according to Flyers teammate James van Riemsdyk, his temperament on the ice is “the best quality I think he has.” Hart practices vision training to increase his visual acuity and perception and better process an approaching puck. He also juggles and uses concentration grids, a technique which involves crossing off a randomized grid of numbers in order from one to 100, to improve his focus. Hart admits being a perfectionist, and hopes to become the NHL’s best goaltender.

K’Andre Miller

K’Andre Miller is an American professional ice hockey player known as the defenseman for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the first round, 22nd overall, by the Rangers in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and raised in Hopkins, Miller began ice skating at the age of two. He was primarily a forward, modeling his style of play after Mikko Koivu, but switched positions when Minnetonka High School needed another defenseman. He left Minnetonka after two years to join the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, with whom he spent two seasons playing in the United States Hockey League and in international tournaments like the 2016 World U-17 Hockey Challenge and the 2018 IIHF World U18 Championships. After his time in the development program, Miller spent two seasons with the Wisconsin Badgers while also appearing in two consecutive IIHF World Junior Championships.

Miller left Wisconsin after two seasons to sign a contract with the Rangers. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he did not join the team until the 2020–21 season. As a rookie alongside Jacob Trouba, Miller established himself as a part of the Rangers’ young core, consistently seeing over 20 minutes of ice time per game and earning NHL All-Rookie Team honors at the end of the season.

Nathan Walker

Nathan Walker is a Welsh-born Australian professional ice hockey forward known for playing with the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). Walker, who was born in Wales, grew up in Australia and first played ice hockey there. He moved to the Czech Republic in 2007 in order to further his career, and joined the junior program of HC Vítkovice, a member of the Czech Extraliga. He first played for the senior team in 2011, becoming the first Australian ice hockey player to play for a professional senior team in Europe. Along with HC Vítkovice, Walker was loaned to several lower-level Czech teams.

In 2013 Walker signed with the Youngstown Phantoms of the junior United States Hockey League, moving to North America for the first time. He attended the training camp of the Washington Capitals in 2013 and signed with their AHL affiliate Hershey. Walker decided to represent Australia internationally, and first played for them at the 2011 IIHF World Championship Division II tournament, where he helped his team win their group and earn a promotion to Division I for the following year. Passed over in the previous two NHL Entry Drafts, Walker was selected by the Washington Capitals in the third round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, the first Australian selected in an NHL draft. After a few years in the AHL, Walker joined the Capitals in 2017, the first Australian to play in the NHL. He was placed on waivers and claimed by the Edmonton Oilers in the same season, but was re-acquired by the Capitals after only two games with the Oilers, and won the Stanley Cup with the Capitals in 2018.

Jarod Palmer

Jarod James Palmer is an American former professional ice hockey forward who played with the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League. He is a native of Fridley, Minnesota, and alumnus of the USNTDP, where he played for two seasons. Palmer was a member of the silver medal-winning U.S. squad at the World Under-18 Championship in 2004. After graduating from high school, he spent two seasons in the USHL with the Tri-City Storm. Palmer then completed four years of collegiate hockey at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He made his NHL debut with the Wild on December 17, 2011.

On April 24, 2010, Palmer signed an entry-level contract as a free agent with the Minnesota Wild. He made his NHL debut for his hometown Wild on December 17, 2011, versus the New York Islanders. He recorded 6 shots on goal and finished with an even plus/minus rating. His first NHL goal occurred on Thursday December 29, 2011 against Nikolai Khabibulin of the Edmonton Oilers; time of the goal was 10:02 of the second period. Later in the same game, Palmer suffered a concussion which effectively ended his season with the Wild.

Palmer re-signed with the Wild as a restricted free agent to a one-year contract for the 2012–13 season. He was reassigned to Houston and was limited to only 17 games, producing 8 points, throughout the season due to lingering injury.

Following the season, Palmer opted to retire from professional hockey and was announced as the inaugural head coach of the Sugar Land Imperials of the major junior NA3HL.

Dillon Simpson

Dillon Simpson is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman known for playing with the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League (AHL). He was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the fourth round (92nd overall) of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. He is the son of former NHL forward Craig Simpson.

Simpson played collegiate hockey for the University of North Dakota in the NCAA Men’s Division I National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). In his senior year, Simpson’s outstanding play was rewarded with a selection to the inaugural 2013–14 All-NCHC First Team.

After four seasons within the Oilers organization, Simpson left as a free agent and signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He was assigned to AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, for the duration of his contract with the Blue Jackets, adding a veteran presence to the blueline.

As a free agent from the Blue Jackets, Simpson opted to remain in the organization despite no NHL contract, agreeing to a one-year AHL extension with the Monsters.