Editor’s Note: as the Columbus Blue Jackets prepare to celebrate the lives of Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew at their home opener on October 15, The Cannon contributor Neil B. brings us a history lesson about retired numbers in hockey and a proposal for a different way to honor and remember Gaudreau’s legacy.
The story of one retired number
Pop quiz, hotshot-why is Toronto’s number 6 sweater retired? No peeking in Wikipedia now.
The picture is of Irvine Wallace “Ace” Bailey. On December 12, 1933, he was hit from behind by Eddie Shore. Bailey, caught completely unawares, crashed to the ice, causing multiple skull fractures, traumatic brain damage sufficient to trigger seizures as he lay on the ice, unconscious. Shore had been upended by “King” Clancy moments before, also striking his head on the ice. Gaining his feet, Shore had rushed Bailey, confusing Bailey’s #6 with “King” Clancy’s #7 and went seeking revenge for what he felt was a dirty hit. In the ensuing scrum, Bailey’s teammate, Red Horner, cold-cocked Shore, knocking him out with one punch. Both players were carried off the ice on stretchers. Shore regained consciousness, and went to Bailey’s side to apologize. Bailey briefly regained consciousness long enough to say “part of the game” and then slipped into a coma. Neurosurgeons worked on Bailey through the night and into the day, giving little hope for his survival, much less recovery. Bailey’s father left Toronto on a train bound for Boston, a revolver in his pocket, determined to kill Shore. Toronto’s assistant GM, Frank Selke, had a Boston police officer meet Mr. Bailey at his hotel room, and talked him out of his mission. Bailey fully regained consciousness ten days later. Bailey went on to make a full recovery and lived to 88 years of age, but he never played another minute of NHL hockey.
The fallout of this incident was:
- Shore was suspended for 16 games out of a 48-game season, representing a full third of the season, and roughly equivalent to a 27-game suspension today.
- The NHL scheduled its first “friendly” match ever, the Ace Bailey Benefit Game, on February 14, 1934, which eventually led to the NHL’s annual February All-Star Game. Yes, this is why it’s in February and not at the end of the season as some other sports do.
- Despite the minimum three concussions involved in this incident, two of which were caused by a player’s head hitting the ice, the NHL didn’t make helmets compulsory until 1978.
- Notably, Eddie Shore wore a helmet for every game he played following the end of his suspension, to the end of his career.
The Maple Leafs retired #6 until 1968 at Bailey’s request, so Ron Ellis could wear the #6 for Toronto. It was re-retired on April 1, 1992. On that same day, Bailey suffered a stroke; he died six days later of complications from lung cancer.
The number of people who know the details of the above are limited to hockey historians, hockey nerds, and to some folks like me who share a last name with “Ace” Bailey (I fall into all three camps, let’s be honest). How many Toronto fans know that the #7 is retired to honor both Tim Horton and “King” Clancy? How many know that the #5 is retired for Bill Barilko, other than fans of the Tragically Hip song, “50 Mission Cap”—and of those, who knew that he wore #19 for most of his short career with the Leafs, and only changed to the #5 sweater for his final season in 1951?
The sad reality is that, for most fans, the numbers hanging from the rafters are only memories for a short time, maybe as little as five years. After that, they become stories sometimes passed down through families, sometimes inscribed in a book or recorded in a Wikipedia page, which is what often passes for generational memory in our day. Let’s not do that with Johnny. Let’s do something better.
A better option
Instead of a fading memory dangling from the rafters, let’s give Johnny a living memorial, an organic (literally, as well as figuratively) growing tribute. Instead of not letting any player ever wear his sweater again, let’s do almost the exact opposite.
Every year, from here on out, let’s have every rookie play their first game in a #13 sweater.
After that, they can switch to a different sweater number, or they can play out the rest of the season in the #13 (assuming no one else is called up for the remainder of that season). Every year, our rookies will be reminded of the hockey superstar who chose to come to Columbus and help build a young team into a championship contender he thought they could become. Chose to build something special here, for the franchise, for the fans, for the people of Columbus and Ohio. He didn’t want to chase a championship; he wanted to make a championship, right here.
Don Waddell wants to change the culture of the team. Let’s do that. Let’s instill in every rookie—star player, middle-of-the-lineup guy, face puncher, goalie—the mentality that they are here to build something special, to blow up the expectations of a small-market franchise. Let’s create a living history of Johnny Hockey that passes down year by year by year, player by player by player.
Let’s not retire Johnny Gaudreau’s jersey. Let’s keep #13 flying on the ice, where it belongs.
