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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Numbers game: Here are the stories behind what’s on Kraken jerseys

Seattle Kraken assistant coach Jessica Campbell calls the final play against the St. Louis Blues at Climate Pledge Arena on Oct. 8 in Seattle.  (Tribune News Service)
By Kate Shefte Seattle Times

SEATTLE – A hockey player’s number is part of their identity at the rink, nearly synonymous with names, even though they’re only semipermanent.

Want to roll the dice? Jersey numbers in the teens and 20s are harder to come by while moving from team to team. The higher you go, the more likely you are to carry it with you through the years. There are a few other considerations – Nos. 1, 30 and 35 are for goaltenders. Retired numbers are unavailable, which is more of an issue in, say, Montreal (15) than in Seattle (1). Wayne Gretzky’s 99 is his alone, retired leaguewide by the NHL in 2000.

Many Kraken players are still wearing the numbers handed to them decades ago in youth hockey, which they grew to love. Several others chose to honor family members, friends or personal heroes.

Joey Daccord wears the number of his favorite goalie, Cory Schneider.

“He was No. 1 and I was No. 1. Then when he went to the Canucks, Roberto Luongo was No. 1, so he had to switch,” Daccord recalled. “So he switched to 35 and conveniently enough that same year, I had to switch numbers too, because I was No. 1, but the senior goalie in high school took No. 1. So I switched to 35 and I’ve been 35 since, anytime I’ve been able to.”

At one point he wasn’t able to, and went with No. 29 to honor future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury. But No. 35 is No. 1 in his heart.

“My dad was his goalie coach growing up, so I’ve known him since he was 15,” Daccord said of Schneider, who retired in 2023. “He’s always been my goalie idol. I grew up idolizing him.”

Kraken forward Jaden Schwartz switched numbers in St. Louis to honor his older sister Mandi, who died from cancer in 2011 at age 23. No. 17 was her number at Yale.

“(Vladimir Sobotka) was wearing it when I got there so it wasn’t an option. But then he left and it became available,” Schwartz said. “I asked the GM at the time and the team if it could happen and obviously they allowed it.”

He told Sportsnet in 2023 that he’s grateful to wear her number and “live her dream that we had as young kids.”

Here’s why some of the team wears what they wear:

Adam Larsson (6): Earlier in his career, No. 5 was taken. That’s about it, really. “At this time in my career, I probably wouldn’t love to change,” he said.Jordan Eberle (7): Eberle wore No. 14 for seven years in Edmonton, but switched back to No. 7 following his trade to the New York Islanders. Thomas Hickey was already wearing 14. Any special significance? “I honestly don’t know (why) other than it’s always been my number since I was a little kid,” Eberle, who is on long-term injured reserve, said via text.Chandler Stephenson (9): He wore No. 2 as a kid because that was the smallest available jersey, and he was the smallest guy on the team. Seven is the ideal because of lucky sevens, and he might have gone that route in Seattle, but Eberle already had it. “I haven’t been a single digit in a while,” Stephenson said “I’ve never had the same number. It was available, and something different. I don’t think I’ve ever worn nine before. Change it up, keep it different.”

Matty Beniers (10): Matty is attached to his number because his dad, Bob, wore it growing up. He was also a forward. He went on to play football at Cornell, but encouraged his kids to play hockey. “He loved hockey the most, but it wasn’t his best sport,” Matty said.

Tye Kartye (12): Kartye wore 52 during his first training camp with the Kraken, which carried into his rookie season. No. 12, which he wore in juniors and in the AHL, was never far from his mind. The Kingston, Ontario, native was a big Tom Brady fan as a kid. He switched to 12 before his sophomore campaign began. “Thought having it for the journey would be cool,” Kartye said.

Brandon Tanev (13): Before Tanev’s NHL debut with the Winnipeg Jets in 2016, No. 13 was the first jersey option the equipment managers threw out. There might have been some drowsiness involved. “It was early in the morning,” Tanev clarified. “I said, ‘Absolutely, sounds good.’ ”

Jared McCann (19): Here’s another example of family ties. “My brother wore 16 growing up and I wanted to wear the same number him, but it wasn’t available,” McCann said. “So I just flipped the six upside down, turned it into a nine. I wore 19 in Pittsburgh, 90 in Florida and 91 in Vancouver.”Eeli Tolvanen (20): With Tolvanen, there’s an element of superstition – keeping a good thing going. “I played for the national team with No. 20 and we always had a good team,” Tolvanen said. “I feel like it was one of those things where you had it somewhere and played well. Went to Nashville and couldn’t get it in Nashville. Another Finnish guy had 20. So when I came here I wanted 20 back.”

Coach Dan Bylsma (21): Whenever possible, he wore 21 because it was his older brother’s number. It was taken in Los Angeles, so he doubled it to 42, but he reverted to 21 in Anaheim.

Oliver Bjorkstrand (22): Bjorkstrand’s father played hockey in Denmark “for a long time” and wore 22. Bjorkstrand wore 28 in Columbus, but didn’t have the option to continue that. Defenseman Carson Soucy already had it. No. 22 was conveniently available.Jamie Oleksiak (24): Some thought went into Oleksiak’s Seattle switch. “Originally I wanted to do No. 6, but (priority) goes by games played. Lars has more games than me,” Oleksiak said. Oleksiak brainstormed a few numbers and slept on the decision. “I was going through good D-men numbers and 24 is kind of a legendary number in Seattle, too,” he said, giving a nod to Ken Griffey Jr. “That was another good reason to do it.”

Ryan Winterton (26): It’s one down from his favored 27, which he ripped off his buddy Jordan back home. “I always saw him wearing it, and I loved it,” Winterton, recently returned to the Firebirds, said.Josh Mahura (28): It was slim pickings when he got to Florida, and 28 was on the pile. “I liked it, though,” Mahura said.Vince Dunn (29): He wore Nos. 4 or 8 before getting to St. Louis. No. 29 was assigned to him as he started out in the St. Louis organization. It was a weird skater number at the time, he said, more often associated with goalies. “At the time, it was a pretty veteran dominant group, so I was a little nervous to speak up or say that I didn’t really like it,” Dunn said. “And then probably a few weeks later, I’m like, ‘Well, (shoot), my birthday is on the 29th so I can kind of just roll with it. I’m just happy to be here so I’m just going to roll with it and wear it.’”

Philipp Grubauer (31): Back in his younger years, Grubauer played defense and wore No. 20. “(31) doesn’t have a crazy meaning to it. I think in Washington, when I got there, they gave me 31. That was the number that was open. Didn’t want to switch once I had it.”

Yanni Gourde (37): When his professional career was just starting, he returned to the Worcester Sharks of the American Hockey League on a professional tryout and, “They gave me 37 because it was the PTO (professional tryout) number, usually. It really didn’t have much meaning at first, but now I appreciate playing with 37,” Gourde said. “It’s my number. And obviously there’s Patrice Bergeron, who wore that number and (was) such a player in the NHL.”

Ryker Evans (41): Evans switched from No. 39 back to his favored 41 before this season, his first full NHL campaign. It was assigned to him in juniors. “I was always 19 growing up. There was a guy who was 19, and (when) he got traded I was like, ‘Nah, I don’t want 19. I’m going to build a name for 41.’”Shane Wright (51): Inspired by Sidney Crosby, No. 87, whose birthday is Aug. 7, 1987, or 8/7/87, Wright’s 51 is his birthday, Jan. 5, just backward. His dad came up with it.

Brandon Montour (62): Like Evans, it was one of a handful of numbers offered to him when he was 15 years old and he’s been rolling with it ever since.

Mitchell Stephens (67): He grew up wearing No. 27, his uncle’s number. But then … “Sixty-seven was given to me my first camp in Tampa,” Mitchell, now with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, said. “So I just stuck with it.”

Kaapo Kakko (84): He grew up wearing No. 24 but had to adopt No. 84 during a stint with the Finnish national team. The latter was in his back pocket when he was traded to Seattle on Dec. 18 and Oleksiak had his number. “I didn’t have too much time to think about it,” Kakko said. “I think it looks cool. There’s not too many players with No. 84.”

Daniel Sprong (91): It’s always 11 or 91, when possible, because his dad picked them out for him when he stated playing. Alexander True had No. 11 when Sprong first arrived in Seattle. Sprong had a backup ready to go.

Andre Burakovsky (95): Burakovsky wears his age on his sleeve. He was born in 1995.