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Team Canada Jersey Number History
I have always been fascinated with the process of selecting jersey numbers. When Team Canada comes together for best-on-best International Hockey Tournaments, there is no doubt that some players will have to change numbers.
Detailing the numbers worn by each player in the NHL and at the international event.
Interesting Observations
-19 was the most commonly worn number, with eight Team Canada members wearing it in the NHL (Yzerman, Sakic, Doan, Richards, Spezza, Thornton, Toews, Bouwmeester)
-12 was worn by four different playres while in the NHL (Gagne, Iginla, Staal, Marleau)
-4 and 44 were the most common numbers for defensemen (4: Stevens, Blake, Lecavalier, Bouwmeester) (44: Regehr, Bertuzzi, Pronger, Vlasic)
-Chris Pronger played for Canada four different times from 98-2014 and wore three different numbers (24, 44, 20), the most of any player
Anything jump out at you? Post in the comments.
Jets Defence: Mainstays on the IR
I wrote this article for IllegalCurve.com in November 2013 chronicling the injuries that have plagued the Jets defense since 2011.
The sky is blue. Winnipeg is cold in winter. Pizza is delicious. These three constants, deserve a fourth: Playing defence in the NHL is physically taxing. Not only do defencemen log the highest time on ice, but defencemen have to handle the physical demands of playing against burly forwards all the while being tough enough to stand in front of 100 MPH slap shots.
It’s pretty well established in NHL circles that you are best-off building your team form the back-end out, and as a result teams are never shy about paying for defencemen. The Winnipeg Jets are no different, as the current roster sees that three of the Jets top four highest paid players are defencemen.
However, and in-light of the most recent Zach Bogosian injury, what good are high-priced defencemen if they can’t stay in the lineup?
Season in Review: The Games That Got Away
From IllegalCurve.com
The Jets season has ended and the goal of making the playoffs wasn’t realized, leading some players to react as if the season was a failure.
The Jets missed the playoffs by eight points, a small margin. Lets take a look back at past games played, and look at “The Great White Buffalo” the games that got away. These were the games where the additional points were within grasp only for them to be squandered. This list includes the games that left Jets fans feeling like they had just received a punch to the stomach. (As detailed in Bill Simmons levels of losing)
Here’s my list of the top five games that got away
Behind the Music: Winnipeg Jets
In 2011 I interviewed Kyle Balharry, Director of Game Production for the Winnipeg Jets for the Illegal Curve website. We discussed the process of producing an NHL game and selecting the music used to set the mood in the arena.
Before the season began, there was a lot of speculation on what the music selection would be. Articles on the site “The Science of an Intro Song” and “Choosing a Goal Song for the Winnipeg Jets” received a lot of attention from our readers.
When you’re visiting the MTS Centre this season for an NHL game (and arenas around the world) you aren’t just going to a game, you’re going to a hockey experience. Not only are the players working to put out a carefully planned game, about forty employees at the MTS Centre are in charge of putting together the best possible hockey experience.
The man in charge of that is Kyle Balharry, Director of Event Production for True North. Kyle has been working with True North since 2000, and doing event production at the Winnipeg Arena/MTS Centre since 2002.
Event production involves creating and following a script. Everything that you see at the arena, videos on the jumbotron, the arena ring, PA announcements, off play promotions and music have all been well thought out and predetermined.