Probably the most memorable sweater number retirement ceremony in Boston Bruins history occurred on Dec. 3, 1987, when Raymond Bourque surprised the legendary Phil Esposito and delighted the fans at the old Boston Garden. Bourque removed his number 7 sweater, the one Esposito made famous, to reveal that he would now be wearing number 77 so 7 could be raised to the rafters forever.
Esposito and Bourque were among seven Bruins who wore number 7 before it was retired. However, there have been 11 numbers worn by just one player in the team’s storied 96-year history, including Bourque’s 77, which was also retired on Oct. 4, 2001 following a career that saw him suit up in four separate decades. Coincidentally, 11 numbers have also been retired or honored by the team, with a handful falling into both categories.
Of the retired numbers, 2, 3 and 77 were only ever worn by one Bruins player. We’ll start with that elite few in our look back at the numbers that were only ever chosen by one player.
#2: Eddie Shore (1926-1940)
Eddie Shore’s name is synonymous with the phrase “old-time hockey.” Joining the Bruins in the team’s infancy, his number 2 jersey was retired the same year he hung up the skates. As a result, the well-known brawler never gave another player the chance to choose that number.
#3: Lionel Hitchman (1924-1934)
Hitchman’s name may not be as easily recognizable as Shore’s among modern-day fans, but he played with the Bruins from the team’s inception. Like his defensive partner Shore, Hitchman’s number 3 was retired soon after he retired in 1934. He was a member of Stanley Cup winning teams with the Ottawa Senators in 1923 and the Bruins in 1929.
#77: Ray Bourque (1988-2000)
Bourque amassed 1,579 points in his 1,612 career that was played almost exclusively with the Bruins. Although he sought and was granted a trade to a contender to finish out his career, Bourque’s number 77 will never again be worn by another Bruin. He was selected by Boston eighth overall in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft and is listed by the league as one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players.
#80: Dan Vladar (2020)
Dan Vladar was drafted by the Bruins in the third round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Since then, he has split time between the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Providence, R.I., and its Atlanta Gladiators ECHL affiliate. Vladar was considered one of the top goaltender prospects in the organization and appeared in five games for the Black and Gold in the 2020-21 56-game shortened season.
He went 2-2-0 with a 3.40 goals against average (GAA) with a .886 save percentage (SV%). He was traded in the summer of 2021 after the Bruins signed Linus Ullmark to a free-agent contract to team up with Jeremy Swayman as the future in Boston.
#84 – Jarred Tinordi (2021)
Jarred Tinordi had a short career with the Bruins, and not even short in terms of just being one season, he also only played in 14 games during his tenure in Boston. After he started the 2021 season with the Nashville Predators, Tinordi was claimed by the Bruins off waivers.
While in Boston, he played in 14 games and collected one point on an assist. He made four appearances in the postseason, but did not put up any points, and subsequently became a free agent in the offseason where he was signed by the New York Rangers.
#86: Kevan Miller (2014-2021)
Kevan Miller was an important member of the Bruins’ defensive core before suffering a knee injury during the 2018-19 season. Since then, numerous setbacks have kept him out of action for more than a year.
The undrafted University of Vermont product has played for only the Bruins in his 324 NHL games before his injury, but despite injury issues, Miller played one more season in 2020-21 on the third pairing with prospect Jakub Zboril. He played in 28 games that year with one goal and four points. Following the season, he announced his retirement.
#88: David Pastrnak (2015-Present)
One number currently worn by a current Bruin will almost certainly join those already hanging high above the ice. That is the number 88 sweater worn by superstar forward David Pastrnak. So far, the 27-year-old Pastrnak is the only one to have worn that number in team history.
Even though Pastrnak is still young, there is no doubt that the Czech phenom is one of the best scorers in the league. In fact, he claimed a share of the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for the shortened 2019-20 regular season, tying Washington Capitals captain and scoring machine Alex Ovechkin with 48 goals. He was also named the Most Valuable Player of the 2020 All-Star Game. In 2023-24, he had 61 goals and 52 assists and played in all 82 games, and in 2023-24, he has 26 goals and 35 assists. In 635 career games, he has 327 goals, including 110 on the power play.
#89: Zdenek Blatny (2006)
Blatny may well be the least-known name on this list. The Czech winger was drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers in the second round of the 1999 draft. His NHL career consisted of 25 games, five of which were played in Boston during the 2005-06 season.
In Boston, he put up one goal and two assists in 10 regular-season games. However, he really made the acquisition count in the team’s deep 2019 playoff run by contributing 11 points in 22 games.
#91: Marc Savard (2007-2011)
Savard finished his 14-year NHL career with 807 points, with his stellar contributions spread out over stints with the New York Rangers — who drafted him in the fourth round of the 1995 draft — Calgary Flames, Thrashers and Bruins. Unfortunately, Savard may be best known for the fact that his career was ended after a hit to the head inflicted by Matt Cooke left him with long-term, severe post-concussion symptoms.
#94 – Jakub Lauko (2022-2024)
Jakub Lauko made his NHL debut in 2022 sporting the mid-90s sweater number and it clung to his back going into his second season as a member of the Bruins.
As a fixture on the fourth line, Lauko played in a combined 83 games scoring six goals, and racking up 11 assists (17 points). Following his second season in Boston, Lauko was traded to the Minnesota Wild along with a fourth round pick for Vinni Lettieri and the Wild’s fourth round pick.
#95 – Vinni Lettieri (2022-23 and 2024-25)
Coming back on his second stint after getting traded back to the Bruins by the Wild, Lettieri is looking to make the NHL roster in this coming season.
In his previous tenure with Boston, he played in one game at the NHl level and collected zero statistics. However, with AHL Providence he played in 48 games tallying 49 points (23 goals, 26 assists).
However, in the 2023-24 season, Lettieri set a career-high in games played at the NHL level with 46. He also scored five goals to go along with four assists.
More to Come
A total of 13 numbers have not yet been worn by any player in Bruins history. Those numbers are 66, 69, 78, 84, 85, 87, 93, 96, 97, 98 and 99 (which is universally retired). However, with players born in even the late 2000s now old enough to break into the NHL, and with so many of the lower numbers being retired after being worn by the stars of yesteryear, you’d have to think a lot of those will start to be snatched up soon.
