Hockey Number 16s

Our mission to preserve the history of pro hockey through the sweater uniform numbers players wear is to objectively come up with a list of the greatest players at each number based on their career performance. This look is based on facts and statistics gathered as of 1/1/2022.

Let us start our journey on identifying the greatest number 16s in NHL/WHL history by looking at the players that wore the number that are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

• Toe Blake
• Elmer Lach
• Dickie Moore
• Tim Horton
• Henri Richard
• Norm Ullman
• Rod Gilbert
• Bobby Hull
• Bert Olmstead
• Leo Boivin
• Bobby Clarke
• Marcel Dionne
• Glen Sather
• Michel Goulet
• Pat LaFontaine
• Brett Hull

Our next bit of recognition is of the players who have had the number retired by clubs that they played for along with the date of the number being officially retired. For the number 16 there is but one:

• Bobby Clarke    Philadelphia Flyers    November 15, 1984
• Marcel Dionne    Los Angeles Kings    November 8, 1990
• Brett Hull    St. Louis Blues    December 5, 2006
• Elmer Lach    Montreal Canadiens    December 4, 2009
• Pat LaFontaine    Buffalo Sabres    March 3, 2006
• Trevor Linden    Vancouver Canucks    December 17, 2008
• Rick Middleton    Boston Bruins    November 29, 2018
• Henri Richard    Montreal Canadiens    December 10, 1975

Bert Olmstead

Born September 4, 1926, in Sceptre, Saskatchewan, was Hockey Hall of Fame Left Wing, Bert Olmstead. This legend was part of the Stanley Cup Champion Montreal Canadiens 1953, 56, 57, 58; Toronto Maple Leafs 1962. Olmstead began his career with the Black Hawks in 1949. In December 1950, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens via Detroit.

Olmstead was a physical player who was known for his hard-nosed style of play. He was also a skilled scorer. Bert played in 11 Stanley Cup Finals in his 14-year NHL career, winning five times. He retired with 181 goals and 421 assists for 602 points in 848 games. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985.

More Information

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I am not going to lie, hockey is a tough sport to identify who the top players in history are. The modern statistics using Fenway and Corsi percentages are great but they only apply to players since 2008. The challenge is how do you group players from all positions on the ice throughout NHL and WHL history all together to find the best at a certain number? I am not sure there is any one way to do so correctly but here is our stab at it for this number using stats like; goals, assists, points, plus/minus, saves and bonus points for years wearing the sweater number and Hall of Fame. We also had to give Defensive line players a little boost based on their plus/minus stats. It is not perfect but here is our statistical call on the top 15 greatest NHL/WHL players wearing the number 16.

1. Marcel Dionne
2. Bobby Clarke
3. Brett Hull
4. Bobby Hull
5. Henri Richard
6. Michel Goulet
7. Norm Ullman
8. Pat LaFontaine
9. Rod Gilbert
10. Brian Propp
11. Rick Middleton
12. Pat Verbeek
13. Joe Pavelski
14. Tim Horton
15. Peter McNab

Here is a look at our stats, years played with the uniform number and calculations on the top 25 number 16 pro hockey players:

Special thanks to the banner photo above from photographer and contributor, Conrad Poirier to the public domain of Wikimedia Commons. The Pic is of Hockey players of the Montreal Canadiens Maurice Richard, Elmer Lach and Tony Demers on the ice of the Forum.

Of course we also could not have done the above stat research without the assistance of Hockey-Reference.com and Stathead.com resources.

We would love to get your feedback! Please send what you are thinking to PigskinDispatch@gmail.com