* Andrei Altybarmakyan, 84
* Evan Barratt, 26
* Matej Chalupa, 67
* Mattias Janmark, 13
* Wyatt Kalynuk, 48
* Philipp Kurashev, 23
* Kevin Lankinen, 32
* Anton Lindholm, 54
* Ian Mitchell, 51
* Brad Morrison, 78
* Cam Morrison, 45
* Brandon Pirri, 73
* Pius Suter, 24
* Michal Teply, 53
* Lucas Wallmark, 71
* Nikita Zadorov, 16
One thing to note is Andrei Altybarmakyan with 84 confirms that Alexandre Fortin isn’t returning as that was the number he wore during his cup of coffee with the Hawks. Fortin is no longer listed in the prospects section of the Blackhawks website and it doesn’t seem that he has signed on with another franchise yet.
Altybarmakyan is a prospect who hasn’t had much fanfare. However, I would recommend he is one to keep an eye on as a possible diamond in the rough for the middle 6. Fast, agile, tenacious, crafty, and competitive. He’s no slouch defensively either.
Also, the significance of Michal Teply having 53 assigned to him is that it signals that he is more likely than not to be in Rockford rather than sent back to his Winnipeg Ice junior team. All other prospects playing 2020-21 in juniors, college, or Europe don’t have assigned numbers.
Teply is another prospect who may be undersold. He’s a possible top 6 winger if he can improve his initial speed bursts, grow consistency without the puck, and leverage his size (6’2” and could eventually hit 200 pounds). Touted as a goal scorer, Teply is also an underrated passer.
Although they’re not new to the system, here are more notable uniform numbers for other prospects most -- if not all -- of whom will play for the Hogs this season:
* Nicolas Beaudin, 74
* MacKenzie Entwistle 58
* Brandon Hagel, 38
* Mikael Hakkarainen, 59
* Reese Johnson, 52
* Chad Krys, 43
* John Quenneville, 47
* Alec Regula, 75
* Tim Soderlund, 76
* Matt Tomkins, 90
As a fun way to cap off the week, I’m interested in reading about why you wear the uniform numbers you do for any teams you have played for whether in your youth, high school, college, semi-pro, and/or rec leagues -- even for sports other than hockey, too.
I’ll go first.
In my youth, I was a late bloomer as far as athletic skill and mastery of fundamentals so I was often picked last for sports teams. As a result, I just took whatever number was issued to me.
Growing up in Illinois, the main sport I played was baseball from little league until I graduated high school. I’m a lefty and often played first base so I idolized Will Clark. I wasn’t devoted to his jersey number 22, though. Again, I just wore what was given to me.
It wasn’t until I started playing hockey in the early 1990s when I was enamored with one specific number and that number is 2. Mind you, this was way before Duncan Keith who wasn’t even ten years old yet at that point in time.
Maybe I was a closeted Bryan Marchment fan. Or better yet, lead worshipper of Boris Mironov and Deron Quint.
In all honesty, it was actually Eric Weinrich who played for Chicago from 1994 to 1999 which preceded his tinted visor era.
Around that time was when the Hawks blueline had him as well as Chris Chelios, Gary Suter, Steve Smith, and Keith Carney. For whatever reason, it was this D corps that got me interested in being a defenseman.
Not sure if advanced statistics back it up but I felt that they were a solid defensive group even when their 6/7 guys were the likes of Cam Russell, Enrico Ciccone, and Bryan Muir.
If I didn’t wear the number 2, my alternate number is 15 for Tuomo Ruutu. Before his first year, for two years, he was considered the best player not in the NHL. His tenure in Chicago was short-lived but I drank the Ruutu hype kool-aid and loved his style of play.
One particular play got me excited about Ruutu’s potential as a top 6 impact player for the Hawks. After his rookie year during the 2004 World Cup of Hockey playing for Team Sweden, Ruutu pulled off this hybrid power/finesse move beating four Team Canada skaters and the legendary Martin Brodeur.
In his rookie season, Ruutu started off slow but hit beast mode in the second half ending with 23 goals and 44 points. Then that World Cup goal seemed like a ramping up for a breakout campaign once the NHL resumed play after the lockout.
Alas, that early success was short lived as his sophomore year was marred by injuries as he suited up for only 15 games then struggled to rekindle his initial magic before getting traded to the Hurricanes for Andrew Ladd two years later.
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For those who care to share, what’s your uniform number stories?
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