Squad number Ice hockey . Ice hockey does not have any formalized uniform numbering rules . Historically , in the National Hockey League , starting goaltender s wore Number 1 , the backup goalie wore Number 30 , and the other players ( the " skaters " ) wore low numbers ( generally Number 2 - Number 28 ) . It is still traditional for goaltenders to wear either Number 1 or numbers near Number 30 ( in a range from approximately Number 29 to Number 35 . ) Some well - known goalies with non - traditional numbers include José Théodore ( Number 60 ) and Ron Hextall ( Number 27 ; Number 72 when Number 27 was unavailable ) . Evgeni Nabokov and Ed Belfour have both worn Number 20 in honor of their mentor , legendary Russian goalie Vladislav Tretiak . In recent years , it has become more common for players to wear numbers in the 30s and above . This is due in part to many teams having retired lower numbers . The Montreal Canadiens , for example , have only three single - digit numbers left un - retired . A number of players have worn higher numbers up through Number 99 ( though Number 99 itself is now retired league - wide in the NHL to honor Wayne Gretzky ) . For example , Jaromir Jagr wore Number 68 in honor of the year of the " Prague Spring " in 1968 and his grandfather ' s death ; Alexander Mogilny wore Number 89 to honor the year he defected to the United States from the former Soviet Union ; and Sidney Crosby wears Number 87 because his birth date is August 7 , 1987 , written " 8 / 7 / 87 " in the U . S . date format . Doubling of a single - digit number has occasionally been used for players whose numbers were unavailable . For example , Phil Esposito switched to Number 77 when he joined the New York Rangers where Number 7 was worn by Rod Gilbert ; and Ray Bourque , who succeeded Esposito in wearing Number 7 for the Boston Bruins , switched to Number 77 to allow the Bruins to retire Esposito ' s original Number 7 . That same season , Paul Coffey switched to Number 77 when he was traded from Edmonton to Pittsburgh . In addition , Gretzky wore Number 99 because Number 9 , which he wore in tribute to Gordie Howe , was taken on his junior team . Going the other way , Todd Bertuzzi , who wore Number 44 for many years , switched to Number 4 when he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 , since Number 44 was already in use by alternate captain Rob Niedermayer . < nowiki > # < / nowiki > 84 was the final number to have never been worn NHL , until Canadiens forward Guillaume Latendresse first wore the number on September 29 , 2006 . The last player to wear a form of zero in the NHL was Martin Biron , who wore Number 00 with the Buffalo Sabres in three games in 1995 - 96 . By the time he returned to the Sabres in 1998 , the NHL had changed its rules to disallow the number , and he was not allowed to grandfather his previous jersey number . He instead changed to Number 43 , which he wears to this day . After the death of Mark Bavis in the September 11 , 2001 terrorist attacks , the ECHL ' s South Carolina Stingrays retired Number 12 in his honor . Bavis had played from 1994 - 96 , and wore Number 12 for the majority of his career . When the Stingrays retired Number 12 , Ryan Brindley , who had worn Number 12 during the 2001 Kelly Cup season , switched from Number 12 to Number 55 for the rest of his stint with the Stingrays .