Duff discusses the numbers game, and I ramble about a ‘ring of honor’

DetroitHockey.net’s Clark Rasmussen revealed the Red Wings’ remaining new players’ numbers today, as later confirmed by the team on Twitter…

The Red Wings have updated their roster to have Mitchell Stephens wearing No 22. As expected, Nick Leddy is No 2 and Alex Nedeljkovic is No 39.

— DetroitHockey.Net (@detroithockey96) August 25, 2021

pic.twitter.com/c9PnRGUijy

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 25, 2021

And DetroitHockeyNow’s Bob Duff examined the new Wings‘ numbers as they apply to the team’s overall “numbers game,” in both recent and historical contexts:

Pius Suter (No. 24)

Suter wore No. 24 with the Swiss world junior squad, as well as last season for the Chicago Blackhawks. He wore 44 with ZSC Lions Zurich of the Swiss League and 22 during his days with the OHL’s Guelph Storm.

Who Wore It Last: Defenseman Jon Merrill and forward Richad Panik both wore No. 24 for the Wings in 2021.

Who Wore It Best: Two Hall of Fame defenseman – Chris Chelios (1999-2009) and Leo Boivin (1965-66) – wore No. 24 as Red Wings. However, any Detroit fan will immediately identify No. 24 with one player and one player only – Bob Probert (1985-94). He’s still Detroit’s single-season penalty minute record holder with 398 minutes in 1987-88. Probert was also an NHL All-Star that season, along with being the league’s most feared and respected enforcer.

Continued; I’m biased, but I think that #24 is a great example of a number that should be placed in a “ring of honor” for Probert and Chelios’s contributions to the team, just as numbers 18, 25 and 33 should be remembered for their places in the “Grind Line”…

To me, there are so many Wings who were key contributors to the organization–think Igor Larionov and his 3 Cups–but weren’t here long enough for their number to be retired, and the Red Wings could and should honor those players with special recognition nights and the induction to a de-facto team Hall of Fame.