Hockey Number 6s

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.

Toe Blake and his circa 1940s Montreal Canadiens teammates nicknamed the "Punch Line." courtesy Wikimedia Commons taken by an unknown.

Let us start our journey on identifying the greatest number 6s in NHL/WHL history by looking at the players that wore the number that are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

• Howie Morenz
• Syl Apps
• Jack Laviolette
• Toe Blake
• Bryan Hextall
• Ace Bailey
• Allan Stanley
• Glen Sather
• Phil Housley

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 6 they are:

• Ace Bailey    Toronto Maple Leafs    February 14, 1934

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 6.

1. Joe Thornton
2. Phil Housley
3. Gary Suter
4. Syl Apps
5. Toe Blake
6. Allan Stanley
7. Ron Ellis
8. Shea Weber
9. Ralph Backstrom
10. Russ Courtnall
11. James Patrick
12. Howie Morenz
13. Pierre Mondou
14. Wade Redden
15. Fred Stanfield

Here is a look at our stats, years played with the uniform number and calculations on the top 25 number 6 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 Toe Blake and his circa 1940s Montreal Canadiens teammates nicknamed the "Punch Line."

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