How do Hershey Bear Players Get Their Numbers?

There are three items on a hockey jersey: a logo patch, a nameplate, and a number. The number takes us the most amount of space and is the only part of a jersey that is assigned. For some players, a number is just a form of identification on the ice. For others, they begin to build a connection with it and hopefully have theirs retired after a great career.

Before any of that happens, the number must be assigned. “Some organizations try to give players as close to, if not the same, number they would (wear) if they were in the NHL,” Bears PR director Scott Stuccio told us. “I was talking to Troy (Mann) about that this year. He wanted to try and adopt that because a lot of the Capitals players, and a lot of NHL players nowadays, let’s face it, wear pretty off the wall numbers. Some of them higher, like football linebacker numbers. It’s just really tough to work that.

“Our other part in difficulty in giving numbers is we have so many retired, in particular, defensemen numbers; 3, 8, 9, numbers typically worn by blueliners. The first thing you do is to give the veterans the first preference of their number. You obviously also try to give a player like Chris Bourque a number he has worn forever. From there, myself, (equipment manager) Josh Carter and Troy get together and match some of the guys like our young guys that come out of college and juniors; we try to give them as close to or their number they wore there. It’s a three-step process, but usually, it’s veterans first, guys that have played here a long time, then the rookies.”

When Bourque returned to Hershey, many fans realized that Chandler Stephenson had to change his number after wearing 17 his rookie term with Hershey. Stephenson said in Capitals Development camp: “He’s a lot older and a lot more experienced, so I have no problem changing my number for a guy like him.” Stephenson did just that, wearing 21 for the Chocolate and White.

For a guy like rookie Jakub Vrana who changed his number this season to 13 after wearing 39 last year, coming at the end of the season means limited choices for the Bears. “That’s a whole different process because by then we don’t have very many numbers. We don’t have numbers beyond the low forties. It’s just a history thing. It makes it really difficult when you have as big of a roster as we had at the end of last year, then you’re adding guys for playoffs. 39 was one of the only numbers we had available when Vrana came. And when Travis Boyd came, he was 41.”

New this season, numbers will be seen on the front of helmets per AHL rules. This is in line with NHL after numbers were added to the front of helmets in 2011.