Well, this has been fun. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed researching this topic, but since there are only so many one- and two-digit numbers, the list has to come to an end sooner or later…
From this point on, there will only be a handful of players to have worn each number after 40. So, since it’s fair to assume that most of them would have fallen into the “notables” category, I’m just going to go ahead and list ’em all. Remember, these are players that played in regular season NHL games only.
The finale:
First Wearer ::Eddie Mio, 1983
Most Recent Wearer :: Valtteri Filppula, 2006 (before the switch)
The Rest :: Brent Gilchrist, Ray Whitney
First Wearer :: Bernie Federko, 1989
Most Recent Wearer :: Mattias Ritola, 2008 (as a call-up)
The Rest :: Sean Avery, Donald MacLean
43
First Wearer :: Murray Eaves, 1989
Current Wearer :: Darren Helm
The Rest :: Bill McDougall, Ladislav Kohn, Matt Hussey
First Wearer :: Glenn Merkosky, 1989
Most Recent Wearer :: Aaron Downey, 2009
The Rest :: Gord Kruppke, Slava Fetisov (briefly), Anders Eriksson, Yan Golubovsky, Uwe Krupp (briefly), Mark Mowers, Todd Bertuzzi, Mark Hartigan
45 :: The Only :: Kyle Quincey, 2005-2008 (and then he became #4)
46 :: The Only :: Marc Potvin, 1990-1992
47 :: The Only :: Jim Cummins, 1991-1992
First Wearer :: Gary Shuchuk, 1990
Most Recent Wearer :: Chris Tancill, 1992
First Wearer :: Dmitri Mironov, one game in 1998
Current Wearer :: Valtteri Filppula
First Wearer :: Dave Lewis, 1986
Current Wearer :: Jonathan Ericsson
The Rest :: Ryan Barnes
First Wearer :: Tiger Williams, 1984
Current Wearer :: Niklas Kronwall
The Rest :: Keith Primeau, Larry Murphy, Dmitri Bykov
65 :: The Only :: Josh Langfeld, 2005
71
First Wearer :: Wendell Clark, 1999
Most Recent Wearer :: Jiri Slegr, 2002
77 :: The Only :: Paul Coffey, 1993-1996
81 :: The Only :: Marian Hossa, 2008-2009
82 :: The Only :: Tomas Kopecky, 2007-2009
85 :: The Only :: Petr Klima, 1985-1990 and 1998-1999
91 :: The Only :: Sergei Fedorov, 1990-2003
93 :: The Only :: Johan Franzen, 2006 – current
95 :: The Only :: Danny Markov, 2005-2006
96 :: The Only :: Tomas Holmstrom, 1998 – current
The following numbers have never been worn in a Red Wings uniform during a regular season game. Stake your claim now!
49
50 :: 53 :: 54 :: 56 :: 57 :: 58 :: 59
60 :: 61 :: 62 :: 63 :: 64 :: 66 :: 67 :: 68 :: 69
70 :: 72 :: 73 :: 74 :: 75 :: 76 :: 78 :: 79
80 :: 83 :: 84 :: 86 :: 87 :: 88 :: 89
90 :: 92 :: 94 :: 97 :: 98 :: 99 :: 00
Number 99 was retired league-wide after Wayne Gretzky’s retirement, and therefore will never be worn in Detroit. Number 00, only worn twice in NHL history (John Davidson and Martin Biron), is apparently no longer allowed.