Avalanche By The Numbers: #5

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Sep 1, 2009 1:55 PM MDT in Avalanche By The Numbers

Number-five_medium

Our long-meandering series continues today with a look at players who've worn #5 for the Avalanche. The three players who've worn it - Alexei Gusarov, Todd Gill and Brett Clark - have appeared in 694 games for the Avalanche, 2nd most so far. Strangely, they only managed 59 playoff games, 4th worst out of the 5 numbers we've done so far.

#	Players	Reg GP	Post GP	Total GP
1	3	272	15	287
2	3	446	89	535
3	4	592	82	674
4	5	754	107	861
5	3	635	59	694

Alexei Gusarov

via www.sunmedia.ca

1995-2000. Alexei Gusarov. Gusarov is the first Avalanche to wear #5, having continued wearing the number after making the move from Quebec. Currently, he's worn the number the most of the three Avs - and the only one to win a Cup while doing so, but Brett Clark is just 26 games behind him. Gusarov, of course, had a long history in Russia before coming to North America. Sadly, I couldn't find any photos of him in his pre-Nordique days, but hockeydb listed him as wearing #4 for Leningrad and #31 early in his career with Moscow, before switching to #5 for the bulk of his Russian career. At least at one point he wore #3 internationally. In December of 2000, the Avalanche traded Gusarov to the Rangers and he had to change to #25 because his number was taken by Brian Leetch. Just kidding. It was, of all people, Dale Purinton. Gusarov was traded later in the season to the Blues, where he was able to revert to his familiar #5 for the final few games of his NHL career.

Gusarov's #5 Totals: 342GP 16G 63A 79P +66 200 PiM

Todd Gill

2000-2001: Todd Gill. Todd Gill played just 36 games with the Avalanche before his former-Red Wing ass was released by the club, so a photo of him in an Avalanche uniform wasn't easy to find. Like Gusarov, Gill wore #5 for the Avalanche and the Blues. Unlike Gusarov, Gill also wore 15 (Detroit), 23 (Toronto, Detroit, San Jose, Phoenix), 29 (Toronto, Detroit) and 46 (Chicago).

Gill's #5 Totals: 36GP 0G 4A 4P +3 25 PiM

Brett Clark

via www.itsallaboutlappy.com

2003-present: Brett Clark. Barring trade or injury, Brett Clark will pass Gusarov as the Avalanche who's worn #5 the most. Clark broke in with the Canadiens in 1997 wearing #29 (Stephane Quintal wore #5), playing in front of goalies Jeff Hacket, Jocelyn Thibault and Jose Theodore (note to self: prepare for future hirings of Frederic Chabot and Andy Moog). Clark was claimed by Atlanta in 1999 and wore 23 for the Thrashers (eerily similar to Todd Gill, here) and #5 for some IHL club called the Orlando Solar Bears. He kept that #5 for the rest of the way, from the Chicago Wolves to the Hershey Bears (where he served as captain), to, ultimately, the Avalanche.

Clark's #5 Totals: 316GP 29G 85A 114P -2 179PiM

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Comments

Goose

Gusarov was an underrated defenceman, in my opinion. Quiet, but always got the job done. He was a big part of the blue line in those early years, and allowed Sandis Ozo’ to float around a lot more and be a sniper.

I met him once when I delivered dinner to his hospital room when he was visiting the Steadman Hawkins clinic in Vail once. I think he tore his MCL at one point. Great guy, tipped well too.

GO CATS GO!!! Rob Madore shuts the door!

by tele-mon on Sep 1, 2009 5:22 PM MDT reply actions

5

The atomic number of boron.

Jim Nahikian, bitches.

by Pinchy The Lobster on Sep 1, 2009 8:52 PM MDT reply actions

whatchucallme?

Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Sep 2, 2009 5:40 AM MDT up reply actions

So that’s Brett Clark’s problem? Boron poisoning?

by chiavsfan on Sep 2, 2009 7:18 AM MDT up reply actions

A Michigan avatar?

More like Pinchy the Loser!

amirite?

(I do like the atomic number thing.)

The 2009-10 Colorado Avalanche: Aiming for the Charity Point
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time

by Jibblescribbits on Sep 2, 2009 7:31 AM MDT up reply actions

Ooooooh.

OOOOOOHHHHH!

Really?

Let me just show you something. It’s not much, really. It just a little something I like to call THE HELMET OF THE ALL TIME WINNING-EST COLLEGE FOOTBALL PROGRAM IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD AND THAT HELMET ITSELF HAPPENS TO BE THE COOLEST LOOKING HELMET THAT EVER GRACED THE PLANET AND THAT SO-CALLED PLANET SHOULD BE HAPPY TO HAVE THAT HELMET RESIDING ON ITS CRUST AND IT SHOULD BE DISSAPPOINTED THAT THERE ARE OTHER STUPID HELMETS ON IT!!!!

Jim Nahikian, bitches.

by Pinchy The Lobster on Sep 2, 2009 9:19 AM MDT up reply actions

The 2009-10 Colorado Avalanche: Aiming for the Charity Point
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time

by Jibblescribbits on Sep 2, 2009 9:37 AM MDT up reply actions

I know it’s a “buckeye” but these always look like marijuana leaves to me…

by Mrs @ MHH on Sep 2, 2009 9:56 AM MDT up reply actions

Me too. Buckeye leaves do actually resemble pot leaves.

The 2009-10 Colorado Avalanche: Aiming for the Charity Point
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time

by Jibblescribbits on Sep 2, 2009 10:02 AM MDT up reply actions

fittingly

Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Sep 2, 2009 11:15 AM MDT up reply actions

It does sort of have a despicable frat-boy pot leaf vibe to it sometimes.

The 2009-10 Colorado Avalanche: Aiming for the Charity Point
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time

by Jibblescribbits on Sep 2, 2009 11:45 AM MDT up reply actions

So

Just out of curiosity, how many numbers are there in Avs history?

by Mrs @ MHH on Sep 2, 2009 9:35 AM MDT reply actions

What the hell is a ‘solar bear’? It actually sounds kinda evil. Do they have frickin’ laser beam attached to their heads?

I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman---the official slogan of the 2009'-10' Colorado Avalanche. (and Homer Simpson).

by An Unmitigated Disaster on Sep 2, 2009 10:20 AM MDT reply actions

Complete guess here, but maybe the opposite of a Polar Bear? ;-)

by Mrs @ MHH on Sep 2, 2009 10:24 AM MDT up reply actions 1 recs

the answer is 65

Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Sep 2, 2009 10:29 AM MDT up reply actions

So it’s gonna take a while, huh?

by Mrs @ MHH on Sep 2, 2009 10:33 AM MDT up reply actions

heh. I make no claims to the contrary

Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Sep 2, 2009 10:35 AM MDT up reply actions

Don’t get me wrong. It is an interesting read, and a neat idea for a time filler. I imagine it’s pretty hard to find a lot of this info, especially on players like Gill and Nycholat.

by Mrs @ MHH on Sep 2, 2009 10:46 AM MDT up reply actions

it’s been a lot of fun researching it. more work than I thought it would be, though. I originally thought I’d bang out one or two a day, but now it’s going to be more like a weekly thing.

Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Sep 2, 2009 10:57 AM MDT up reply actions