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Hockey Number 4s

The Greatest NHL/WHL Players Who Wore the Number 4 on their sweater
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Hall of Fame and Retired Number 4s

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 4s in NHL/WHL history by looking at the players that wore the number that are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

  • Newsy Lalonde
  • Red Kelly
  • Bill Gadsby
  • Jean Beliveau
  • Bobby Orr
  • Allan Stanley
  • Leo Boivin
  • Guy Lapointe
  • Harry Watson
  • Ron Francis
  • Scott Stevens
  • Mark Howe
  • Rob Blake
  • Kevin Lowe

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 4 they are:

  • Barry Ashbee    Philadelphia Flyers    October 13, 1977
  • Jean Beliveau    Montreal Canadiens    October 9, 1971
  • Rob Blake    Los Angeles Kings    January 17, 2015
  • Hap Day    Toronto Maple Leafs    October 15, 2016
  • Red Kelly    Toronto Maple Leafs    October 15, 2016
  • Red Kelly    Detroit Red Wings    February 1, 2019
  • Vincent Lecavalier    Tampa Bay Lightning    February 10, 2018
  • Kevin Lowe    Edmonton Oilers    November 5, 2021
  • Bobby Orr    Boston Bruins    January 9, 1979
  • Chris Phillips    Ottawa Senators    February 18, 2020
  • Scott Stevens    New Jersey Devils    February 3, 2006

Newsy Lalonde

Born October 31, 1887, in Cornwall, Ontario, was Hockey Hall of Fame Center, Newsy Lalonde. This legend not only excelled on the ice but he is also regarded as a top lacrosse player of the era. It is noted that Lalonde in 1906 went to play in the International Professional Hockey League. The IPHL is thought to be was hockey's first pro league. In his one season in the Sault, he was named to the IHL Second All-Star Team. In 1907, Lalonde signed with the Toronto Professionals of the Ontario Professional Hockey League. Eventually he found his way into the Natitional Hockey Association which was the forerunner of the NHL, playing for the Montreal Canadiens, Renfrew Creamery Kings, Vancouver Millionaires, Saskatoon Sheiks, and the New York Americans.

Bobby Orr

Born March 20, 1948, in Parry Sound, Ontario, was Hockey Hall of Fame Defenseman, Bobby Orr. This legend was a nine-time NHL All Star, including three Hart Trophies and two Stanley Cup Championships. Orr skated in the NHL for 12 seasons, the first 10 with the Boston Bruins, followed by two with the Chicago Black Hawks. Number 4 remains the only defenseman to have won the league scoring title with two Art Ross Trophies. He holds the record for most points and assists in a single season by a defenseman.

Greatest Sweater Number 4s 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 4.

  1. Bobby Orr
  2. Ron Francis
  3. Scott Stevens
  4. Jean Beliveau
  5. Mark Howe
  6. Red Kelly
  7. Guy Lapointe
  8. Rob Blake
  9. Kevin Lowe
  10. Vincent Lecavalier
  11. Brad McCrimmon
  12. Sergei Gonchar
  13. Bill Gadsby
  14. Allan Stanley
  15. James Patrick

Stats and Inputs for the top 25

Here are the statistics of results for the top 25 we harvested in our quest to find the greatest number 4's in Pro Hockey history. This selection is 25 of over 350 skaters.

Credits

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 1937 Noorway National Ice 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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