Canucks: The best player to wear each jersey number
By Joshua Rey
51. Troy Stecher, 2016-2020
A Richmond native and fan favourite, Stecher was a solid puck-moving defenceman for four seasons with the Canucks. “Tony Stretcher” is the second player to wear 51 for Vancouver. The first was Derek Dorsett in 2014-15.
52. Alexander Sulzer, 2012
There weren’t many options for 52 and they weren’t very interesting but Alexander Sulzer gets the nod over Sven Butenschön. Sulzer was a defenceman who played 27 games with the Canucks in the 2011-12 season and managed one assist. Butenschön was also a defenceman who played eight games without a point with the Canucks in the 2005-06 season.
53. Bo Horvat, 2014-Present
The Canucks current captain is the only player to wear 53 in franchise history. He wears 53 in honour of Ian Jenkins, a player selected with Horvat in the 2011 OHL Draft who tragically died after falling out of a pickup truck.
54. Aaron Volpatti, 2010-2012
Aaron Volpatti wore 54 from 2010-2012 before switching to15. He was often in the AHL and used as a thirteenth forward but he did score three goals and had an assist through 54 games with the Canucks.
55. Ed Jovanovski, 1999-2006
Not many Canucks wore 55, but it is no surprise that Ed Jovanovski wore it best. “Jovo Cop” (That is such an awesome nickname.) was tough and talented and led defencemen in scoring for four straight seasons. He is eighth all-time in points for a Canucks defenceman with 234.
56. Guillaume Brisebois, 2018 – Present
Guillaume Brisebois (Called Breeze-Bah by the late Jason Botchford) is mostly an AHL depth player but wore 56 for eight games in the 2018-19 season. He is the second Canuck to wear the number after Alex Friesen wore it for one game in the 2015-16 season.
57. Tyler Myers, 2019 – Present
I could have gone with Lee Sweatt who was the first player to wear 57 but he only played three NHL games in the 2010-11 season. (he did score in his first game. That was against the Nashville Predators) However, current Canucks defenceman Tyler Myers gets the crown here. A polarizing figure among Canucks fans because of his contract, he is also known for his size as he walks around towering over people at 6’8″. (He also has a long neck and as a result he was compared to a giraffe by Canucks fans.)
58. Robert Kron, 1990 -1993
The Canucks drafted Robert Kron in the 1985 Entry Draft but it took him five years to make his NHL Debut likely due to the political climate in Czechoslovakia. He played two and a half seasons with the Canucks before being traded to the Hartford Whalers in 1992-93 tallying 24 goals and 57 points. Kron was the only player to wear 58 until Taylor Fedun wore it for one game in the 2015-16 season, (he had an assist.) Kron was recently hired the by the Seattle Kraken as their director of amateur scouting.
59. Tim Schaller, 2018-2020
Tim Schaller wore 59 for 98 games over the course of two seasons with the Canucks. Many fans and pundits thought he was a good signing in the summer of 2018 but was a disappointment. He did score eight goals (three were against the Dallas Stars.) and 16 points. He is the second to wear 59 after Ashton Sautner wore it for 22 games in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
60. Markus Granlund, 2016-2019
Markus Granlund is the only Canucks player to wear the number 60. Acquired before the 2016 trade deadline for Hunter Shinkaruk (Canucks fans were furious with that trade at the time.) he spent three and a half seasons with the Canucks with his best being 2016-17 where he scored 19 goals and 32 points.