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Hockey Number 2s

The Greatest NHL/WHL Players Who Wore the Number 2 on their sweater
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Hall of Fame Number 2s

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 2s in NHL/WHL history by looking at the players that wore the number that are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

  • Jacques Laperriere
  • Brad Park
  • Al Arbour
  • Viacheslav Fetisov
  • Al MacInnis
  • Scott Stevens
  • Brian Leetch
  • Mark Howe

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 2 they are:

  • Doug Harvey    Montreal Canadiens    October 26, 1985
  • Tim Horton    Buffalo Sabres    January 5, 1996
  • Mark Howe    Philadelphia Flyers    March 6, 2012
  • Brian Leetch    New York Rangers    January 24, 2008
  • Al MacInnis    St. Louis Blues    April 9, 2006
  • Eddie Shore    Boston Bruins    April 1, 1947
  • Glen Wesley    Carolina Hurricanes    February 17, 2009

Jacques Laperriere

Born November 22, 1941, in Rouyn, Quebec, was Hockey Hall of Fame Defenseman Jacques Laperrière. This legend was a four-time NHL All-Star and hoisted Lord Stanley's Cup five times as a member of the great Montreal Canadiens teams of the 1960s & '70s. Jacques was good right out of the gate, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy for top NHL rookie and being named the first Rook to make the ALl-Star team since WWII in 1964. Laperrière would go into coaching, helping teams win a couple more championships.

Eddie Shore

Born November 25, 1902, in Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, was Hockey Hall of Fame Defenseman Eddie Shore. This legend was a four-time Hart Award winner and an eight-time NHL All-Star. His Hart Trophies are the most by any defenseman ever and are overshadowed by only Gordie Howe's and Wayne Gretzky's winnings. "The Edmonton Express." was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players in history. Shore liked to rough it up on the ice and once set a record of 165 penalty minutes one season.

Tim Horton

Born January 12, 1930, in Cochrane, Ontario, was Hockey Hall of Fame Defenseman Tim Horton. This legend spent 24 seasons in the NHL playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Buffalo Sabres. He was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL players, and his number 7 Jersey was retired in his and King Clancy's names.

Al Arbour

Born November 1, 1932, in Sudbury, Ontario, was a Hockey Hall of Fame Defenseman and Coach Al Arbour. This legend is a three-time Stanley Cup winner, and two of them were consecutive with different teams. During his 14-year NHL Career, he skated for the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and the St Louis Blues. At the time of this post, Al is third on the list for the amount of NHL games coached. Arbour is also the last known NHL player to wear eyeglasses on the ice while playing.

Greatest Sweater Number 2s in NHL WHL History

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 2.

  1. Al MacInnis
  2. Scott Stevens
  3. Mark Howe
  4. Brad Park
  5. Brian Leetch
  6. Tim Horton
  7. Pierre Pilote
  8. Doug Harvey
  9. Stephane Richer
  10. Brad McCrimmon
  11. Duncan Keith
  12. Jacques Laperriere
  13. Glen Wesley
  14. Viacheslav Fetisov
  15. Doug Mohns

Credits

Special thanks to the banner sketch above from an unknown artist and contributor Arthur Farrell to the public domain of Wikimedia Commons. The drawing is from 1899 and is titled Gude olde days of hockey.

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

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