Ever wonder why Denver hockey players wear the jersey numbers that they do?

At MagnessMayhem.com, we do, so we decided to ask them the reasons behind the numbers they wear. Some are straight forward, and some have intriguing back stories.

One common thread is you won’t find numbers in the 40s or beyond on the roster. Only once have the Pioneers had a player wear a number higher than 39: Ryan O’Leary wore 77 from 1989-92.

“I don’t know why,” equipment manager Nick Meldrum said. “(Former coach) George (Gwozdecky) preferred not to have high numbers. Maybe it’s something (legendary DU coach) Murray Armstrong started.

“I never questioned it.”

The tie-breaker for incoming players who want the same number is pretty simple, Meldrum added. Usually it comes down to who committed first.

“Either the coaches assign them or the players will be given a list of three possible numbers when I send out equipment forms to them,” Meldrum said.

Here are the stories behind this season’s numbers:

1 – Devin Cooley – “I liked the way 1 represents my body because I’m very tall (6-foot-4) and skinny (178 pounds). It’s simple and I liked the way it looked.” (Cooley is the lone Pioneer who switched numbers in the offseason, going from 30).

2 – Erich Fear – “My only choice was 27 or 2, I said I’ll take 2.”

3 – Sean Comrie – “My second year of Midget 16s I had a choice of either 3 or 20. The other guy who needed a number was a forward, so I went with 3. I’ve just stuck with it since.”

4 – Griffin Mendel – “When I showed up I had 4 on my helmet in my locker. My favorite number is 77 – I wore that a lot growing up – but I can’t get that here.”

5 – Les Lancaster – “I was one of the last ones to join the team (after transferring from Mercyhurst). My choices were either 5 or 25. I was 3 in junior, 4 at Mercyhurst, so I just kept the trend going with 5.”

6 – Ryan Orgel – “It was the first number I ever had playing for the LA Jr. Kings, and I’ve kept it ever since.”

7 – Brett Stapley – “My dad wore it, my brother wore it, then I started wearing it.”

8 – Jared Resseguie – “When I came in I had a choice between 8, 11 and 23. 8 popped out. I wore it when I was younger. I hope people don’t think I’m trying to be like (Alexander) Ovechkin.”

9 – Tyson McLellan – “It’s pretty cool. I never really thought about it before, but when I first came in I was told it’s been a long-standing tradition that California guys get 9. I got to meet Gabe Gauthier at the alumni weekend (in 2017) and talk about California hockey and No. 9. There are a lot of good players who have worn that number, and it’s an honor to wear it.”

10 – Jaakko Heikkinen – “I used to play soccer and am still a big fan. My favorite player is (Brazilian star) Ronaldinho. He wore 10. He’s skilled, creative. I wanted to wear it in hockey, and when I got here, DC (then assistant David Carle) asked me what I wanted, and 10 was available at the time.”

11 – Tyler Ward – “I wore it growing up in minor hockey and stuck with it. I was 18 in junior because 11 was taken.”

12 – Kohen Olischefski – “I didn’t choose it, they just gave it to me. I wore 21 in juniors, so it’s flipped here.”

13 – Liam Finlay – “It’s supposed to be unlucky, isn’t it? Before I came in here, (Jarid) Lukosevicius was a guy I looked up to. This might sound stupid, but since he wore 14 I wanted to be around there, so I picked 13. It’s one of those things. Once he came to Denver he was the B.C. guy I looked up to. … And what’s the point of superstition? I like to go against superstition.”

14 – Jarid Lukosevicius – “My favorite number is 7, and 7 plus 7 is 14. I thought I’d stick with 14 after Gams left.” (Dylan Gambrell wore 7 during Luko’s first three seasons).

15 – Ian Mitchell – “I wanted 5 but someone already had it, so I picked 15.”

16 – Jake Durflinger – “The coaches gave it to me. I walked into the equipment room and my helmet had 16 on it. I moved around a lot in juniors, so I was always changing numbers – 17, 13, 14 and now 16.”

17 – Slava Demin – “It was the first number I ever wore, and I used it a lot growing up. Also a lot of great Russian players have worn it, so I stuck with it as a tribute to them and my dad.”

18 – Ryan Barrow – “I used to wear 19, but in my first year of juniors an older guy had it. When he left, I could have went back, but I stuck with it.”

19 – Cole Guttman – “My dad wears 91 in a men’s league, so I wore that my first couple years of youth hockey. There’s only a couple of years I haven’t worn 19. I might have gone back to 91 if I could have here.”

20 – Emilio Pettersen – “I was born in 2000, and this is the closest number to the year. I’ve always worn it. There was a player on a pro team in Norway that I looked up to, and he wore 20, too.”

21 – Michael Davies – “They gave me a list when I got here and I chose 21. I wore it on a high school team when I was younger.”

24 – Colin Staub – “It started back in U14 with my coach Peter Geronazzo, he played for CC back in the day and was No. 24. I took 24 and joked I’m going to score more goals than you, something a kid might do to poke fun at their coach. I got away from it in juniors, I was 9 for a few years. When I got here, the availability of numbers pointed to it. 9 wasn’t available. None of the other numbers really meant anything to me.”

26 – Jack Doremus – “I started with 21 because I loved watching Peter Forsberg when I was growing up. I wore that in juniors until I got traded to Sioux Falls, then I was 28 and got traded to Lincoln. I’ve always been in the 20s. When I got it here it was half given, half decided because I’d had 26 before. If I’m having success, I’ll keep wearing it. I would have loved wearing 19 because (my brother) Danny wore that here, but Troy (Terry) had it when I got here.”

27 – Kyle Mayhew – “I only had a few choices because I was such a late commit. I liked 27 because it’s an offensive number, and some good offensive defensemen, like Scott Niedermayer, who I watched growing up in Anaheim, Justin Faulk and Alex Pietrangelo wear it.”

30 – Filip Larsson – “It’s the most normal goalie number. I had it when I was younger and I always liked it. My favorite goalie when I was younger was Henrik Lundqvist. There are many reasons, but those are the main ones.”

31 – Michael Corson – “I started wearing it when I was a U16. I had worn 1 but an older goalie had it and they just gave me 31. I’ve worn it every year since except my last year in juniors because I moved around and didn’t have a say.”

©First Line Editorial 2017-19