Should NHL teams retire numbers of deceased average players?

Before I go any further: I'm not a cold hearted person by any means. I do not kick my dog, beat my cat, or hit women. Heck, I rarely swear (unless it's during Penguins games)! With that out of the way, this question came to mind when I was going through some trading cards this afternoon. I came across a Fleer Throwbacks card of Bob Gasoff, who played with the St. Louis Blues back in the mid-1970s. Gasoff was killed in a motorcycle accident with a handful of games left to play during the 1975-76 season. The following season #3 was rasied to the rafters at the Kiel Center/Checkerdome. Earlier, Michel Briere was a promising player for the Penguins who was fatally injured in a car crash back in the early 1970s. The Penguins subsequently retired his #21. The question I have is this: should a NHL team retire a number for a player who died, yet was fairly average? Or should they go the route of the Carolina Hurricanes and wear a patch of said player's number a la Steve Chaisson? PuckDat- Keep in mind that while Clemente was the heart and soul of the Pirates (not to mention my favorite old-time baseball player after Jackie Robinson and Henry Aaron), he also put up the numbers and fan adoration to warrant number retirement had he been given the chance to retire himself. Fate is a mother...

Public Comments

1. no i don't. death is sad of coarse and teams should honor a deceased player, but not by retiring his number. the fact of it is there are only 98 numbers you can be so if teams retire jerseys too often they'll eventually start running out and not be able to retire the number of a player who really deserves it.
2. it SHOULD be in a form for them saying wat should happen to there number if they die thats my suggestion
3. gotta go with the patch. im sorry but having a number retired in my mind should be reserved for outstanding players both in advanceing hockey on the ice and off. but that is just my opinion
4. I don't think it should be retired. I think wearing the player's number as a patch on the jersey is a good way to go, maybe even paint it on the ice somewhere for the remainder of the season. Konstantinov was injured nearly 10 years ago in a limo accident (as was a trainer that I'm not going to disrespect but butchering the spelling of his name), the Wings wore patches for them, and sometimes still do. Since then, Detroit has never given out the number 16 (Konstantinov's number), nor have they retired it. Bret Hull had to wear 17 because of it. I think that's a great way to show respect. Jerseys hanging from the rafters is a bit much for a tragedy, I think, and are more of years of excellence and accomplishments. I just think it should be different.
5. No. Sure the death was tragic, but retiring a number is a BIG deal. No one can every wear that number again. Retiring deceased average players is taking the grievance process that must be illustrated by team a few steps too far.
6. It depends- Pelle Lindbergh (although unofficially retired and he was great) yes but a patch works in alot cases. If you did it for everyone, everytime, especially for a team like the Habs, they'd run out of numbers. Unless he was great then a patch works- Dmitri Tertyshni (sp.) a few years back for the Flyers. The death does not reflect his playing career or the game so I agree with you. If it happened to be on on-ice on the job type of thing then maybe.
7. No. They should only retire the numbers of the outstanding players from the team. If that player is the deceased one then fine. But other than that a patch, memorial plaque at the rink will work fine.
8. Nope. What do we remember from these players, other that they died? Hopefully that rush to tribute has been finally put to bed.
9. There are many other ways of honouring a fallen team member than by retiring a sweater. The Pelle Lindbergh thing kind of creeped me out because essentially it was like building a shrine to a drunk driver. On November 10, 1985, he drove his customized Porsche 930 Turbo into a wall in front of a Somerdale, NJ elementary school, fatally injuring himself and injuring two others. Law enforcement disclosed that he was intoxicated at the time of the accident, with a blood alcohol content level of .24%, well above .1% which was New Jersey's legal limit at the time. So the sweater hangs there and what's the message?
10. No. The patch is a good idea.
11. Aren't enough numbers to just keep retiring them. Can you imagine sweater with 3 digits on the back? Nope. I think they (and I mean all sports) do it right by honoring people in other ways. In that rare occasion when someone like Roberto Clemente died it was warranted but I don't think they should do it all the time.
12. I have a soul, but I think that would be stupid to retire a number of a dead player that was only average in skill. I mean when you think about it you could make an argument that every player that dies, in their own right, was good at something on the ice but that doesn't mean they should get their number put up into the rafters. If they did do that every number from 0-55 would practically be hanging from every arena and the current players would be wearing weird numbers like 78 or 64. I think that is a great idea to wear a patch of the number of the dead player on their chest to show appreciation for what he did on the ice. your story of the Blues and Pens player reminds me of Timmy Horton, who also died in a car crash on the way to Toronto from a Sabres game. He, however, was a great player who's career was cut short at his prime. His number 2 is hanging at the ceiling of HSBC arena. I want his number 2 Sabres throwback for Christmas
13. For a player like Bill Masterton, who died as a result of injuries from a game (injured 1/13/68 and died 1/15/68), his number should have been immediately retired. It was unoffically retired, as no North Star was ever issued number 19 again, it wasn't until 1987 that his number was retired. For all other average players a patch will do. Minnesota Wild honored Sergie Zoltok's untimely death with a ceremony for his family and a plaque that is in the concourse at Xcel Energy Center.
14. As a general rule of thumb, I would say no but I can see some circumstances where it would be fitting. For example, if you have a player who has been with the organization for most or all of their career I think it would be appropriate. Granted, that is not a likely situation in the current era but it could still happen.
15. No, death is tragic, but retiring numbers should be reserved for players that changed the game or advanced the sport. Wear a patch to commemorate the loss of a player, but don't retire their number unless they truly deserve it.
16. i see nothing wrong with it if the player was still active.
17. you will not see teams retire numbers like they did back in the day. players play for 3 to 4 teams in there career. you will not see anymore Yzerman type players play their hole career with just one team. the only players that are playing right now that will get there number retired is Lidstrom and Sakic, maybe Iginla if he plays 4 more years with the Flames. and if there's more to be named are players from the past like Larry Robinson did last week. GO HABS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
18. I understand exactly what you're saying. My thought is this. The Blues, Penguins and Flyers just to name three teams were part of the first expansion of the NHL. These teams had no identity or history to speak of. None could compare to the history of the Canadians, Maple Leaf, Black Hawks, etc. This may have been a way to establish their own history or tradition. An identity of their own. I'll give you a great example. Flyers defense man Barry Ashby was struck down with leukemia during their Stanley Cup run. Ashby was a good solid defense man but not a great one. After he died the Flyers retired his number "4" and the very next year. They also created, in the same year, an award for the best Flyers defense man for each succeeding season. "The Barry Ashby Award". It was a way to create their own team tradition. I think retiring the numbers of those you've talked about falls into the same situation. The beginning of a team tradition.