Sunday 18 August 2013

NHL Numbers - 80-89

80 - Nik Antropov
Antropov, who has worn No. 80 with Toronto, the Rangers and now with Atlanta, appears to be getting better as he gets older. The 30-year-old is coming off a career-best 67-point season, and has been a 20-goal scorer in each of the last three seasons.

81 - Miroslav Satan
Satan, who showed during last spring's playoffs that he still has some scoring touch, is by far the highest-scoring player ever to wear No. 81. He has 363 goals in 1,050 games, most recently with Boston, and has 10 seasons with 20 or more goals.
Runner-up: Marian Hossa

82 - Martin Straka
He's the only player ever to wear only No. 82 in a career of any length. Straka had a pair of 30-goal seasons with Pittsburgh and a pair of 70-point seasons playing on Jaromir Jagr's line with the Rangers, leaving the NHL with 257 goals and 717 points in 954 games.

83 - Ales Hemsky
Hemsky, Edmonton's first-round pick in 2001, has been solid but never has matched the 77 points he put up in 2005-06. He also had 17 points in 24 games during the 2006 playoffs, when he helped lead the Oilers' stunning run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

84 - Guillaume Latendresse
When Latendresse was given No. 84 by Montreal in 2007, he became the first player in NHL history to wear the last unused double-digit number in League history. After three seasons of 16, 16 and 14 goals, he was dealt to Minnesota last season, flipped the digits of his uniform to No. 48, and scored 25 goals in 55 games.

85 - Petr Klima

The first No. 85 in NHL history remains the best. Klima started his career with three 30-goal seasons for Detroit, scored the triple-overtime winner for Edmonton in Game 1 of the 1990 Stanley Cup Final, reached the 40-goal mark in 1990-91, and finished his career with 313 goals in 786 games.

86 - Wojtek Wolski
Wolski became the best No. 86 ever almost by default when he put it on after being dealt to Phoenix at the trade deadline in March: The only previous wearer was Jonathan Ferland, who played seven games for Montreal in 2005-06. Wolski, who wore No. 8 in Colorado, was a point-a-game player in his new number with the Coyotes.

87 - Sidney Crosby
Perhaps the most amazing thing about Crosby is that he's been as good as, if not better, than he was touted to be. He already has a Stanley Cup ring (as the youngest captain in NHL history), a scoring title, an MVP award, and he just turned 23. He may or may not break Wayne Gretzky's scoring records, as Gretzky once said he might, but Crosby is everything the Pittsburgh Penguins could have asked for when they won the lottery to draft him No. 1 in 2005.

88 - Eric Lindros
Controversy and injuries dogged Lindros from the day he was drafted No. 1 in 1991, he wouldn't go to Quebec, two teams thought they'd traded for him a year later, and he wound up retiring young because of a series of concussions. But he did put up 372 goals and 865 points in 760 games, won an MVP award and helped the Flyers dig out of their early 1990s malaise to make the 1997 Stanley Cup Final.
Runner-up: Patrick Kane

89 - Alexander Mogilny

Mogilny's defection from the Soviet Union in 1989 was one of the events that helped pave the way for a deal that allowed Soviet players to play in the NHL. He finished with 473 goals in just 990 games and had some seasons for the ages, most notably a 76-goal, 127-point performance for Buffalo in 1992-93, 55 goals and 107 points with Vancouver three seasons later and a 43-goal effort with New Jersey in 2000-01 after helping the Devils win the Cup the previous spring.
 

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