A little sidelight on the way NHL teams were run in those days:
In 1946, when Gordie Howe first made the Red Wings, he wore number 17. All road trips were by train then, and the players spent a lot of nights in sleeper cars. Players were assigned their berths in numerical order, with the smallest numbers getting the more comfortable lower berths. There were fewer players on a team then, so 17 was one of the highest numbers and had to climb into an upper berth.
Early in Howe's rookie year, number 9 became available, and the Red Wings offered to let him switch. He wasn't inclined to change numbers at first, but when they pointed out to him that number 9 got a lower berth on the train, he took it gladly.
That's why we remember Howe as number 9, and not 17. Blame it on the trains.
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