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Hockey Number 3s

The Greatest NHL/WHL Players Who Wore the Number 3 on their sweater
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Hall of Fame and Retired Number 3s

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 3s in NHL/WHL history by looking at the players that wore the number that are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

  • Joe Hall
  • Butch Bouchard
  • Pierre Pilote
  • Tim Horton
  • Marcel Pronovost
  • Harry Howell
  • Fern Flaman
  • Al Arbour
  • Scott Stevens
  • Pat Quinn
  • Sergei Zubov
  • Jack Walker

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 3 they are:

  • Emile Bouchard    Montreal Canadiens    December 4, 2009
  • Ken Daneyko    New Jersey Devils    March 24, 2006
  • Bob Gassoff    St. Louis Blues    October 1, 1977
  • Al Hamilton    Edmonton Oilers    October 10, 1980
  • Lionel Hitchman    Boston Bruins    February 22, 1934
  • Harry Howell    New York Rangers    February 22, 2009
  • Keith Magnuson    Chicago Blackhawks    November 12, 2008
  • Pierre Pilote    Chicago Blackhawks    November 12, 2008

Lionel Hitchman

Born November 3, 1901, in Toronto, Ontario, was Hockey Hall of Fame Defenseman Lionel Hitchman. This legend was a two-time Stanley Cup Champion and Hart Memorial Award winner. Hitchman skated with the Ottawa Senators and the Boston Bruins during his thirteen-year career.

Jack Walker Hockey HOF

Born November 29, 1888, in Silver Mountain, Ontario, was Hockey Hall of Fame Forward Jack Walker. Walker skated in early professional hockey for Oakland Sheiks, Hollywood Stars, Seattle Eskimos, Detroit Cougars, Victoria Cougars, Seattle Metropolitans, Moncton Victorias, Toronto Blueshirts, and the Port Arthur Lake City. This legend is one of only 11 pro hockey players since the Stanley Cup's existed to win the trophy with three or more different teams.

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 3s 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 3.

  1. Scott Stevens
  2. Sergei Zubov
  3. Zdeno Chara
  4. Pierre Pilote
  5. Tim Horton
  6. James Patrick
  7. Marcel Pronovost
  8. J.C. Tremblay
  9. Garry Galley
  10. Calle Johansson
  11. Harry Howell
  12. Keith Yandle
  13. Andre Dupont
  14. Ron Stackhouse
  15. Sylvain Cote

Credits

Special thanks to the banner photo above from an unknown photographer and contributor to the public domain of Wikimedia Commons. The Pic is a cropped version of the 1910 Melburnians hockey team.

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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