Its a tradition practically as old as the sport itself: a hockey team led onto the ice by a goaltender wearing No. 1. From Jacques Plante to Glenn Hall to Johnny Bower, goalies wearing the simple number were the starting point of rosters for decades.If you were a goalie, you wore No. 1. Thats just how it was.Operative word here being was.Todays goalies have gone in a different direction when it comes to the digits on their back. And the result has almost eliminated the No. 1 altogether.As a kid, I always had 1, said former goaltender and current broadcaster Brian Hayward, who wore the number for almost his entire 11-year NHL career. Every time the goalie was 1, so I just stuck with it. It almost became like an expectation for me.The No. 1 goalie wore 1. Another reason why you wanted that number. You wanted to say, Im the No. 1. Thats the way I looked at it.Its believed that goalies were given the No. 1 because they were the first player on a rink when looking from the net outward. When a goalie was injured, for instance, the replacement goalie would also wear No. 1.The numbering system changed when roster expansion required teams to field two goaltenders. The most notable change occurred in 1964, when legendary goaltender Terry Sawchuk joined the Toronto Maple Leafs. With Bower already wearing No. 1, Sawchuk went with No. 24 before taking on No. 30 and forever changing the numbers associated with goalies.The Chicago Blackhawks Tony Esposito wore No. 35, and goaltenders began gravitating increasingly toward the 30s thanks to Patrick Roy, whose usual No. 30 was worn by Chris Nilan when he joined the Montreal Canadiens as a rookie, forcing Roy to go with No. 33. Roys legendary exploits in Montreal and with the Colorado Avalanche truly began a wave of iconic goalies wearing numbers that were uniquely theirs.When you saw a guy wearing 33 youd go, Wow, hes wearing 33, Hayward said. Im sure a lot of kids wear 33 because of Pat. Ken Dryden was 29. A lot of guys, if they had a favorite [goalie], would go in that direction.Today, the No. 1 has mostly gone the way of the two-pad stack. At the beginning of December, only seven goalies were wearing the number. Its a dramatic shift from just 25 years ago, when more goalies wore the number during the 1991-92 season, despite the NHLs fielding only 22 teams. Six teams have retired the No. 1 (not including the?Minnesota Wild, who retired the number in honor of their fans), which also pushed goalies to be creative when it came to picking a number.After being forced to abandon the number last season with the Canadiens, who retired the number in honor of Plante, Mike Condon was thrilled to get it back this season. He took back the number with the Pittsburgh Penguins and retained it after being traded to the Ottawa Senators.Its just the number I wore in high school and the number I wore in college, he said. Any chance I get to wear it, Im going to grab it. I think its old-school. I just like it.The number is certainly a throwback, especially with the Florida Panthers Roberto Luongo, who at 37 is the leagues oldest goaltender, wearing it. In fact, there are almost as many goalies in the league wearing No. 40 and No. 41 (four each) as there are wearing the number that historically defines the position. Others wearing the No. 1:?Jonathan Bernier of the Los Angeles Kings, Brian Elliott of the Calgary Flames, Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche, Keith Kinkaid of the New Jersey Devils and Thomas Greiss of the New York Islanders.But some goalies forced to take on the single digit have come to love the loneliest number.Ive loved No. 1 since Ive gotten it, said Kinkaid. I like the single digit. Its grown on me quite a bit. Its simple. My last name is only seven [letters], so I think if I had two numbers, it would go outside the seven.Kinkaid wore No. 1 when he starred at Sachem High School East in Farmingville, New York. The school even retired the number in his honor. But he switched to No. 30 when he enrolled at Union College, a number he couldnt wear with the Devils thanks to a certain goalie named Martin Brodeur. Kinkaid switched to No. 35, which was eventually taken by current starter Cory Schneider after he was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks. With the Devils still among the few teams restricting which numbers players can wear, Kinkaid was given his old high school number.But not every goalie forced by the Devils to wear the number took so kindly to the change.I didnt like it. I think its a boring number, said former NHL goaltender and current broadcaster Kevin Weekes. Its just a boring-looking number, but I respect the history of the guys who have worn it, of course.Weekes was first assigned No. 1 by the Panthers when he came to the NHL in 1997-98, but he had worn double zero in junior hockey and the minors. The NHL doesnt allow the single or double doughnut because they cannot be registered in the leagues database. So, when he came to the New York Islanders in 1999, Weekes switched to No. 80, which he figured was as close to double zero as he could get.When it comes to traditional numbers, the Devils and Kinkaid have proved to be the exception. Whereas goalies typically expressed themselves through the art on their mask, some of the NHLs best have taken to doing that through their number.Maybe its not cool anymore to wear No. 1. For me, I always look for it, Hayward said.Many star goalies have gone off the conventional radar when it comes to their number, including the Blackhawks Corey Crawford (No. 50), the Columbus Blue Jackets Sergei Bobrovsky (No. 72), the Tampa Bay Lightnings Andrei Vasilevskiy (No. 88) and the Washington Capitals Braden Holtby (No. 70). Their influence could ultimately make the traditional No. 1 even less popular with todays up-and-coming goaltenders.I think a lot of guys with big numbers have them for a reason, Condon said. They have a story behind it.I dont really have anything like that. I just want the simplest number out there. Simple, to the point, succinct. No wasted energy there.Of course, Condon said there is one other number he would consider.Im just old-school, but Id do double zero if I could. Luke Schenn Jersey . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask. Shane Doan Jersey . - Blake Griffin had 30 points and 12 rebounds, J. http://www.coyotesauthority.com/ . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. Derek Stepan Jersey .S District Court against Major League Baseball, the Office of the Commissioner and his own union, the MLBPA. Jordan Martinook Jersey .C. -- Rodney Hood connected from all over the court while freshman Jabari Parker was busy swatting shots and scoring in transition. AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Alex Bowman still has no ride for next season. On a weekend the championship contenders are making a bid for the title race, Bowman made a case for a full-time job.Bowman won his first career pole Friday with a strong run at Phoenix International Raceway. Bowman, the replacement driver for concussed Dale Earnhardt Jr., turned a lap at 140.521 mph to earn the top starting spot.Im still waiting for the right opportunity to come along, Bowman said. Theres nothing that has really fit that has come along. Ill still probably have my day job at Hendrick Motorsports driving the simulator. Well go from there.Bowman, who is from Tucson, ran Earnhardts car to the top of the leaderboard with NASCARs most popular driver in attendance.This is his hometown, kind of, so its awesome that all his friends are around to see him do this, Earnhardt said. This is great for his career, this is exactly what we were hoping to happen for him. Hopefully, he can put it together on Sunday.Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott qualified second and third as Chevrolets swept the top three. They also shut out the championship contenders from the top of the scoring pylon.Only Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards have spots locked down for next weeks season finale, and there are six drivers vying for the remaining two slots.Of those trying to race their way into the final four, Joey Logano qualified fourth and was followed by Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.We are in good position right now, said Logano. If that was the end of the race we would move on, I think. We just have to keep looking ahead annd make sure we keep the big picture in mind.dddddddddddd.Hamlin, who is racing against three of his teammates for a spot at Homestead-Miami Speedway, was pleased with his fifth-place qualifying lap.Four cars stand in my way. Just four, its not that big of a deal, Hamlin said.Harvick is the favorite to win Sunday and has won six of his last eight races at Phoenix. When asked why hes so good at Phoenix, Harvick joked that he found a magic wand at Disney that he waves over PIR.His mood was light considering hes in a must-win situation, and the law of averages predicts he cant beat 39 other drivers at Phoenix time and time again. But Harvick noted he didnt win last Novembers race and didnt appear to be the least bit concerned about odds. He also wasnt worried about any potential payback from Austin Dillon , the driver Harvick accidentally wrecked last week.Everybody is in the same position we are, he said. If somebody wins, theres only going to be one points guy that goes through. You need to pretend like you are in a must-win situation if you want to plan on going to Homestead.The only Chase drivers not to make it into the final round were Johnson and defending series champion Kyle Busch. Johnson already has a spot clinched in next weeks finale, but Busch will start 19th on Sunday.Martin Truex Jr. wrecked during practice and was forced into his backup car. But it couldnt pass inspection before qualifying began and Truex will start last Sunday. 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