Why I Wear My Number Pt. 1 | FEATURE

Shortly after Timo Meier announced that he was changing his number from 96 to 28, the number he wore with the San Jose Sharks, it got me wondering how exactly and why different players choose their numbers. 

Some manage to play their entire careers in the same jersey number, no matter how many teams they play for, and then there are the times when you have to change your number because your favorite is retired by the club. Sometimes, when a veteran comes in and you're the other guy, it's time to change numbers again. 

Some players are superstitious, others aren't. So I decided to go around the Devils locker room and find out why each player wears the number that they do. 

In Part 1 of this series I catch up with Dougie Hamilton, Alexander Holtz, Erik Haula, Brendan Smith, John Marino, and Dawson Mercer.

Dougie Hamilton

Q: You were originally 27 when you came into the NHL, does the number have significance?

Hamilton: It was when I was drafted to Junior, it’s always what’s available first. And then obviously you have reasons why, but I think for me it was I liked Scott Niedermayer and I was drafted 27^th in the OHL, so that kind of fit in line. So I kept that, and then I switched to 19 (in Carolina) because 27 was taken.

I wore 19 as a kid because I liked Shane Doan, that’s when I played forward as a kid.

Q: Is this the first time you’ve worn 7? And does it derive out of 27?

A little bit. But when I was choosing a number, the little girl in Calgary, Thea, that passed away that I was very close with, she had a 7 on her jersey. So when I saw that, I was like, I’m going to do 7 for her.

Q: Did your mom (Olympian basketball player Lynn) ever wear any of your numbers?

I don’t remember when she wore what number, but she was 4. So in minor hockey, I wore 4.

(Lynn Hamilton wore No. 4 when she competed with Canada at the 1984 Olympic games. Lynn was a point guard for the Canadian national team that won the bronze medal at the 1986 Games.)

Alexander Holtz

Question: Do you wear 10 for a reason?

I wore it for my whole life, since growing up so it’s just been a thing that’s been with me all the time. I think I wore it in the beginning because of Zlatan (Ibrahimović), a little bit. I’m a big soccer fan. So all the time, I’ve just liked that number. And I have been wearing it since I was probably 10, around 9 or 10.

It’s nice to be back in it, I had a little mix there. In junior, I had 10 but when I went up to the men’s team I had 88, so I switched a lot.

Q: Did they pick 88 for you?

I picked it actually, they didn’t have 10 so I was like, my second number is probably like 23 usually, I had that when I was younger too, because my birthday is January 23^rd. And then my brother’s born 96, but I think that was a little bit too high for me. I’ve always liked number 88, I thought it was pretty cool and we have an ice cream flavor with that name in Sweden too that I like a lot.

Q: So what’s in this ice cream?

It’s a mix between chocolate, vanilla and hazelnut crisps on it.

Brendan Smith

Question: You wore 42 in New York, your first NHL number was 2 in Detroit and you work 7 in Carolina... any significance behind each?

So, 42 was my older brother Rory’s number. Number 2 was my first number with the Red Wings. Every number was retired. So, then I always loved number 2. Number 7 was always my number in college.

And number 2 is Bobby Orr. I always liked that before he went to number 4 with the Bruins, so I’ve always liked 2.

And that was only one of the numbers kind of available that was actually a good number. So, I went with 2 and stuck with that.

Erik Haula

Question: You've worn 56 your entire career, where ever you've played. What's in the number? 

My first year, when I made the team that’s the number I had. I was kind of really comfortable my first year. The second year, the number I would have wanted was 19, but I didn’t have the money to buy someone a Rolex!  

So I just kept it. I had success early on, when I first came in the league with 56, so I was like I’ll stick with it.

John Marino

Question: Are you a number guy?

No, not really. In Pittsburgh, it was one of the only low numbers, so I just stuck with it.

Q: At Harvard, you wore 12. Was that a Tom Brady thing?

Kinda, yeah. But same thing, there weren’t many numbers to pick from. I always liked 12 for Brady.

Dawson Mercer

Question: When Ondrej Palat arrived, you made the switch from 18 to 91. Where did 91 come from?

I was 19 in junior, so I just swapped it.

I wanted low number, but you come in as a young guy and some numbers are taken. I wanted to stay in the teens, pretty much, so I just went with 19 and then I switched it up (to 19) when 18 was gone (to Palat).

Q: Are you superstitious about numbers?

No, but I do like 91 a lot. I wouldn’t change it from now on, unless something came up and I had to, but I want to stick with it.

(Mercer did not wear his Junior number, 19, when he first broke into the NHL. Travis Zajac had just vacated the number, but Mercer went a different direction out of respect)