Today’s number is “44”.
- Todd Bertuzzi currently wears a “44” on the back of his jersey, just as he did during his first stint with the Red Wings, with Vancouver, with Florida, and with the New York Islanders. Calgary (7) and Anaheim (4) were the only places where Bert didn’t wear “44”.
- Bertuzzi has scored 287 career goals and added 420 assists for a total of 707 points in 1,014 games played in the NHL. Bertuzzi’s 287 career goals ties him with Larry Murphy on the all-time list. Bertuzzi has 34 regular season goals as a Red Wing. In the 2009-2010 season, Bert had 44 points for the Wings. Neat.
- Players that have worn “44” for the Red Wings, via redwings.nhl.com:
Glenn Merkosky, Gord Kruppke, Viacheslav Fetisov, Anders Eriksson, Yan Golubovsky, Mark Mowers, Todd Bertuzzi, Mark Hartigan, Aaron Downey, Todd Bertuzzi
- Aaron Downey is now the strength and conditioning coach for the Grand Rapids Griffins. Downey’s most popular YouTube clip is his one-punch knockout of Jesse Boulerice. Downey played just 60 career games for the Red Wings but was a fan favorite for his willingness to throw down. A few of us saw him on the tour of JLA, he’s an intimidating individual because of how fit he is.
- Norm Ullman, a former Red Wing, is 44th all-time in the NHL in goals with 490. Ullman played 13 seasons with the Red Wings and scored 324 of his 490 goals while with Detroit.
- Nicklas Lidstrom has 44 assists on the season. Dan Cleary is one goal/assist away from having 44 points on the season
- Trivia Question: Which two Red Wings’ jersey numbers greater than 44 do you have to subtract to get Bertuzzi’s jersey?
Trivia Answer: Holmstrom-Ericsson=Bertuzzi. Or, in math terms, 96-52=44.
Other “44” facts:
- The atomic number of Ruthenium, atomic symbol “Ru”. Use only the first letter.
- How many hours it took a fat Jack Bauer to defuse a potential crisis.
- Famous athletes outside of hockey to wear 44: Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey, Reggie Jackson, George Gervin, Jerry West, Dan Issel, Paul Westphal, Sam Lacey. Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, and Floyd Little all wore 44 at Syracuse. Little’s 44 was retired by the Denver Broncos eventually.
- Vicks 44.
- Barack Obama is the 44th US President.
- 1944 births: Jimmy Page, Joe Frazier, Jerry Springer, Roger Daltry, R. Lee Ermey, Diana Ross, Odd Nerdrum (HA!), George Lucas, Joe Cocker, Rudy Giuliani, Gladys Knight, GARY BUSEY, Jeffrey Tambor, Barry White, Michael Douglas, Tony La Russa, Al Michaels, Danny DeVito, Lorne Michaels, Tom Seaver, Ben Stein, Steve Carlton were all born in 1944. In fact, today March 24 is R. Lee Ermey’s 67th birthday.
Your turn.
