NO. 69
The number is a lot more common in collegiate and professional football, but it is the rarest of rare to see an athlete in any other sport sporting No. 69. This is especially for hockey — and specifically, the NHL — as
Mel Angelstad is the only player in league history to don the number when he played two games for the
Washington Capitals in 2004.
On Jan. 3, 2011, however, Angelstand would have some company when Andrew Desjardins
made his NHL debut, donning controversial digits
It has universally become a humorous, not to mention sexually enticing, number. It is most likely due to the latter that many sports leagues and teams avoided assigning No. 69 to their players. Desjardins was one of the rare exceptions but his reasons for wearing the number aren’t as humorous as some may think.
“I actually didn’t pick that number,” admitted the former San Jose Sharks player. “It was given to me as a camp number. I eventually made [the Sharks] but as a young guy, I wasn’t able to change numbers and I played a few years with that number. Then, when I was able to change numbers, I changed it to 10.”