Hockey Number 26

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 26s in NHL/WHL history by looking at the players that wore the number that are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

• Syl Apps
• Frank Mahovlich
• Allan Stanley
• Jacques Laperriere
• Peter Stastny
• Martin St. Louis

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 26 there is but three:

• Patrik Elias    New Jersey Devils    February 24, 2018
• Jere Lehtinen    Dallas Stars    November 24, 2017
• Martin St. Louis    Tampa Bay Lightning    January 17, 2017

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.

More Information

---

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 26.

1. Frank Mahovlich
2. Peter Stastny
3. Martin St. Louis
4. Brian Propp
5. Patrik Elias
6. Ken Linseman
7. Pete Mahovlich
8. Blake Wheeler
9. Syl Apps
10. Steve Sullivan
11. Paul Stastny
12. Allan Stanley
13. Thomas Vanek
14. Mike Krushelnyski

Here is a look at our stats, years played with the uniform number and calculations on the top 25 number 9 pro hockey players:

Special thanks to the banner photo above from an unknown photographer and contributor to the public domain of Wikimedia Commons. The Pic is of the Danforth Hockey Team (Toronto Transit Commision Danforth Division) (Toronto, Canada) circa 1926. Contributed by Alfred Pearson.

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