In Grant Fuhr's rookie year with the Edmonton Oilers he wore #1, but next year he changed his number to the more famous #31. Why the change?

gtho4

The roster for 1981-82 is on these pages http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0000411982.html http://www.databasehockey.com/teams/teamyear.htm?tm=EDM&yr=1981">http://www.databasehockey.com/teams/teamyear.htm?tm=EDM&yr=1981 http://oilfans.com/stats.php?id=1981-82R">http://oilfans.com/stats.php?id=1981-82R That last site shows Fuhr wore both #1 and #31 during the season. I went through all the other players, but none of them wore #1 or #31, so Fuhr could've chosen either number when he arrived .. #1 wasn't a retired numbered, so that's not a reason either. Do the lists of players on those 3 sites look like the complete roster? Here's proof he wore the number one! http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=p200301&page=gallery&pic=1&list=ByName">www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey Maybe the number 31 jersey wasn't ready? Sep 08 05, 6:23 AM

gtho4

NHL Rookie card for Fuhr is for sale on ebay, and it shows him wearing the number 1 jersey. The seller may know why he changed to 31 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5237679169 This web site is dedicated to Fuhr. There's an email address to contact the author/owner, at the bottom of this page: http://www.angelfire.com/ri/riz31/page1.htm">www.grantfuhr31.com Sep 08 05, 6:44 AM

gtho4

This looks like your answer; I put the question to member AdmiralShark, who came back with this: Eddie Mio had been wearing #31 with the Oilers the previous two seasons. In 1981-82, even though he didn't play a single game with the Oilers, he still belonged to them, and may have even dressed for some games (I don't know). So the number was definitely reserved for him in any case. Mio was traded to the Rangers on December 11, 1981, so only then did the number become available (and only for the following season, since I believe there is now a rule that says you can't wear different numbers for the same team during a season). Sep 12 05, 6:29 PM

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