A Series: Looking into Avalanche and Nordiques Player Numbers: Number 40

Although the number 40 has been in steady rotation with the Colorado Avalanche since 2000, there have only been seven players to sport the number for the Quebec Nordiques and the Avs.


Ron Tugnutt (1988): Ron was drafted by the Nordiques in the 1986 Draft. Although he played in Quebec until 1992, he only wore the number 40 in his first season: 1988. That year he played 6 games, had 2 wins and 3 losses. He had a GAA of 3.38 and a save percentage of 0.870.

Tony Hrkac (1991): Tony joined the Nordiques in 1990, his first season he sported the number 28, in 1991 he switched to the number 40. He would play 70 games that season and earned 16 goals and 32 assists had 16 penalty minutes and was a -22.

Kevin Kaminski (1992): Kevin was drafted in the third round of the 1987 Draft by the Minnesota North Stars. In 1989 he was traded to the Nords for Gaetan Duchesne. It wasn't until 1992 that he started sporting the number 40. He played 5 games that season and was held pointless, although he did manage to get 45 penalty minutes during that time.

Brad Larsen (1998): Brad was drafted twice. First by the Senators in the third round in the 1995 Draft, then by the Avalanche during the fourth round in the 1997 Draft. Brad would stay with the Colorado Avalanche family up to, and including, the 2004 season. However, he only word the number 40 for the 1998 season. In that time he played one whole game and had no points, nor penalty minutes and was a +/- 0.

Alex Tanguay (2000-2003): Alex was drafted 12th overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 1998 Draft. The 12th overall pick originally belonged to the San Jose Sharks, but they gave him and Shean Donovan up to get Mike Ricci and a 2nd round pick. Tanguay would stay with the Avalanche until he was traded to Calgary in 2006, however he was traded while wearing the number 18. While in the number 40 he played 310 games, had 83 goals, 160 assists and 131 penalty minutes during the regular season. He won a Cup with the Avs in 2001. He played 66 playoff games, in those games he had 14 goals - two of them in Game Seven against the Devils including the game winner- 26 assists and 14 penalty minutes. He was also nominated for the Calder Trophy.

Marek Svatos (2004-2010): Svatos was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in the 7th round of the 2001 Draft. Marek would play 316 regular season games for the Avalanche scoring 96 goals, 68 assists and spending 207 minutes in the sin bin. He played 14 playoff games and had 2 goals and 5 assists in those games. His rookie year he had nine game-winning goals - which tied a NHL record for most game-winning goals by a rookie.

Mark Olver (2011 -12): The Burnaby native was drafted by the Avs in the 5th round of the 2008 Draft. Thus far Mark has played 42 games and has earned 6 goals, 10 assists and 33 penalty minutes.