This is a little bit of a pet peeve for me. I\'m not a big believer in retiring Jerseys except for special occasions (Gretzky). What I would rather occur is that the player be honoured with having his Jersey being lifted to the rafters but the number not being taken out of circulation. We have some teams honour good, not star players by retiring their jersey. One example - Mike Vernon in Calgary. There is no way he should have had his Jersey retired. Honoured for his contributions yes, but he is no Dryden, Roy or when the time comes Brodeur. If it keeps going the way it current is we may need 3 numbers on the back of some teams.
Just think, how would it feel if one day you made it to the NHL & could wear the same number of the player you idolized your whole life instead of number 78 because that was the only unretired number left. Standing for the anthem & looking up to the rafter to see your idol\'s name & number knowing you were wearing the same jersey. What an honour. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.
I think that it should be rarer than it is now. I would not wear 99, no matter where I played. Probably not 66 or 77, either. If I played in Boston, I would never wear 4 or 77. But should Bourque\'s number have been retired in Colorado, for instance? Perhaps not.
random side note: TG\'s one collectible he wishes he had: one of the diagonally cut Colorado-Boston Ray Bourque jerseys. Man those were great...
Post edited by: Thieving Giraffe, at: 2007/06/19 15:28
Retired Jerseys
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