Who Wore It Best: The 60s

We're almost done here. Since we're in the rare are of the upper register, we're going to bundle the remaining entries by groups - 60s first.

#60 Andy Rymsha - Rymsha is a defenseman drafted by the Blues in 1987 but never cracked the NHL with the Blues. St Louis sent him to Quebec in 1991 as part of the Tony Twist deal. He played 6 games that year with Quebec wearing #60. He had no points, but did register 23 penalty minutes. Those 6 games were it for him NHL-wise, but he did have a long career in the AHL as well as overseas.

#60 Travis Brigley - Brigley was drafted by the Flames in the 2nd round of the 1996 draft (don't laugh - the Avs drafted Yuri Babenko that year). He had a couple of brief stints with the Flames in the late '90s but didn't pan out. After that, he bounced around with several different organizations, including a few months in the UK. He was traded by the Mighty Ducks to the Avalanche in 2003 and appeared in 36 games for the Avs that year, scoring 7 points. The following season he played in Norway, came back to the AHL for two more years, and finally finished up his career in Germany.

#60 Jose Theodore - Jose Theodore was traded to the Avalanche in the spring of 2005, right around the same time I was getting my start in blogging (so get off my lawn). Theo spent three hot and cold seasons in Denver, with 91 appearances and 2 playoff series wins marking his tenure. He departed for Washington in 2008 as a free agent and is currently playing for the Florida Panthers.

#62 Paul Stastny - When Stastny made the Avs' roster in 2007, his pop's old #26 was being worn by John-Michael Liles. So, SOS flipped the numbers around and proudly wore #62...for, like, 7 games. During an early road trip he and Liles finally found a chance to "negotiate like gentlemen". Liles called up Rob Blake and asked if it would be cool if he took Blake's old #4. Blake refused and threatened to seek revenge on the Avs someday if he did, but Liles made the change anyway, freeing up #26 for Stastny. Some of that story might be made up.

#62 Wes O'Neill - O'Neill was a former Islanders farm hand, signed by the Avs as a free agent in 2007. He played 3 games for the Avs that year, wearing #62 in tribute to Paul Stastny. After hanging out with Stastny and deciding he was kind of a dick, he decided to change to #2 the next year, his last with the Avs. Some of that story might be made up.

#63 Joel Prpic - Tragically born with a missing vowel, Prpic overcame the odds to play 15 games with the Boston Bruins in the late '90s. The Avalanche signed him as a free agent in 2000 and he played 3 games with the Avs that year. He spent the next year with the Sharks' affiliate and then moved overseas...but his story is a bit different from the norm as he actually went to Japan where he played for 7 years (at 6'6 he held the record as the tallest played to play in Japan until 6'8" Steve McKenna surpassed him in 2007). After Japan, Prpic played for a Croatian team up through last year. It doesn't appear that he is playing this year, indicating that the 38-year old may have hung up the skates.

#65 Tim Hunter - Hunter was drafted by the Flames - the Atlanta Flames - in 1979 and spent 11 years with Calgary after the move up north and was a member of their 1986 Cup winning team. He's the Flames all-time leader in penalty minutes, and 8th all-time for the NHL with over 3,000. In 1992, the Lightning took Hunter in the expansion draft and Tampa almost immediately traded him to Quebec for future considerations. He didn't last long in Quebec though - just 48 games before getting waived and claimed by the Canucks. Since retiring, Hunter has been an assistant coach for 15+ years with San Jose, Toronto and, his current team, the Washington Capitals.