Retired Numbers

This may seem like a silly question, but I'm baffled and can't seem to find the answers from my little seat in Section D. Has Cornell ever retired any numbers of any players? If so, whose numbers? If not, who would be your top choices for whose numbers to retire?

Cornell has never retired a number. It goes against the spirit of the team being bigger than the star, and all that jazz.

In general, retired numbers are very rare in college. (Makes sense, considering the turnover.) The only ones I know of are Travis Roy at BU and Bill Cleary at Harvard (and they only did that last year).

Of course, Cornell does have one number out of circulation.

And that would be what?

13.

We'll soon find out if that's a hard core tradition or just happenstance, because one of our prospects wears that number for his current team. It's not the sort of number you get unless you request it.

This has to be one of hockey's stupidiest traditions. Who's the prospect who wears 13? My hat's off to him and I hope he wears it for Cornell.

The only Cornell player I ever remember wearing 13 before was Jim Wallace in the 60s, and I think he only wore it for one year.

Actually, I'm fond of that tradition; just another little thing that makes Cornell hockey different. (Not to mention a bit of trivia for us cognoscenti to carry around.) I did completely fail to convince the Canadian hockey fan/player I had lunch with that there was anything good about the tradition of not having a #13, or any number 40 or higher. (He pointed out to my chagrin that Dryden wore the non-goalie number 29 with the Habs.)

Actually, another neat numbers thing that I noticed this season is lining up in numerical order for the national anthems. I haven't noticed very many other teams doing this. Anybody know if there's some particular reason for it - has it been going on for a long time, or is it just a quirk of Schafer's and/or the team's?

McCutcheon's teams lined up in order also. I don't recall whether they did during the Reycroft era.

RPI used to line up in numerical order. I don't know if they do it now.

I remember reading on the old Round Table that Clarkson lined up by the numbers. Anyone notice Saturday night?

Clarkson lined up in numerical order, with the low numbers by their bench and the high numbers by the scorer's box. Cornell lines up in the opposite direction. I hadn't noticed any of the other opponents lining up in sequence.

I have noticed some of our opponents "honoring" the Color Guard by standing in place until the Color Guard has left the ice. Princeton did so, and so did Clarkson. The Red does not.

Ken '71

Cornell has lined up by numbers for as long as I can remember. but then again I graduated last year so I only go back to 97

I noticed this a long time ago and started looking at the other teams. They all do it as far as I can remember. At least, I don't specifically remember any team not doing it. So don't think we're too special in that regard. I think it's generally a hockey thing to do.

I've seen several teams this season that did not line up in number order. one of Dartmouth/UVM, both of Princeton/Yale, UAH (I think, it was awhile ago), Harvard, and maybe Brown didn't, at least as far as I remember. That's the only reason I noted it as something that Cornell does.

did Cornell line up by number at Vermont this year? I seem to remember commenting to Melissa about them not doing so. Of course, I'm kinda tired right now so my memory is shot.

stupid vermont cowbell cheer...I see now how it haunts people.

no, Harvard doesn't line up by number, have a pic of them and Cornell from LP semis during the anthem.

Has there ever been a great NHLer with the number 13?

Bill Guerin wears 13.

I'll add Mats Sundin to the list of active NHL players who wear #13 and are great hockey players. If we only consider those who have retired (so we can evaluate their entire careers), Ken Linseman was the best #13 I can think of. I'd put him in the good, but not great, category.

I didn't notice clarkson, but st lawrence did not go by number. I remember commenting on it friday.

Cornell has lined up by numbers since at least 1977 per my viewing.

Dartmouth's lined up by number both years I've been here, assuming they'll continue to do so for the forseeable future.

I know Nebraska (the big one in Lincoln, not UNO) retires jerseys of their football players but not numbers, mostly because if they retired numbers they'd have run out by now. Actually now that I think about it, I believe there is one number retired, I just forget whose.

As far as I know, Cornell lined up by the numbers with Ned. Since, not even I was there before that, I don't know any further back. Briefly later they stopped doing it. Maybe it was during Reycroft, but I don't remember.

Another interesting sidelight was that Coach Harkness used to have the players swarm around him rather than the goalie, just before the faceoff. That continued for a while after he left, but again I don't remember for sure when it stopped. Again was it Reycroft, or did Bertrand stop it during his tenure?

Another sore point, to some of us long time season ticket holders, was when they flipped the ends of the ice we were attacking during the first and third periods. Some of us, like myself, lost sleep standing in line to get tickets for two offensive periods, only to see them flip them one season without telling us ahead of time. But I like my seats on the aisle and have never tried to switch back. With the defensive flavor recently, and our great goalies, maybe it's just as well.

Lastly, I also thought it was nice to see the players stay for the Color Guard leaving. There was a time when the Cornell players would start skating even before the National Anthem finished. McCutcheon stopped that.

As long as we're on the subject, let me ask about a practice I've never seen anybody but myself observe. Way back when, in an elementary school assembly, they told us it was considered inappropriate to applaud after the national anthem. I don't think they explained it, but it makes a certain amount of sense in terms of the republic for which it stands being more important than the individual performace of the song, and so I've never applauded the national anthem. Has anybody else ever heard of this?

Yep.

What I'd heard (I think) was that you didn't applaud a recording but it was OK to applaud a live performance (where you were applauding the performers, but not the anthem itself). But I might be remembering that wrong and your version could very well be right.

(Now didn't that help a lot?)