Cinco de Mayo, NHL Style

In light of the headline, it may surprise you that this blog actually isn't about Scott Gomez. Although it could have been ... had he chosen to wear No. 5 for the Devils.

The 5th of May is a perfect opportunity to explore the storied history of players in the NHL with the No. 5 on their backs. OK, maybe "storied" is a bit of a stretch; most of the players who wore No. 5 were average defensemen not good enough for No. 4 and certainly not for No. 77. Players whose nameplates were easily unattached for the next No. 5 of middling abilities to join the roster. (Save for Matt Cullen of the Rangers, one of the only non-defenseman wearing the number in the league this season.) Guys with names like Bryan Allen, Matt Jones and Greg Zanon; and, before them, guys like, Kerry Huffman, Neil Sheehy and Normand Rochefort.

Yet for every Igor Ulanov, there will be players of great abilities rocking the Cinco. Kim Johnsson and Darryl Sydor today; Steve Smith and Mike Ramsey back in the day. With that, we begin our countdown of the Top 5 Greatest Numero Cincos in NHL History:

5. Aubrey Clapper, D, NHL career: 1927-47 - In an age when we celebrate a player who stays with one franchise until he's an unrestricted free agent, it's staggering to imagine Clapper playing for the Boston Bruins - and only the Bruins - for two decades. (Of course, being that there were only five other employment options during those years, maybe not so much.) Clapper's No. 5 is retired by the Bruins, and he is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. His nickname was "Dit"; according to Wikipedia, this is because he would lisp his middle name "Vic" as "Dit" when he was a child. Also notable were the 133 ditories he had in five years as a coach.
4. Rod Langway, D, NHL Career: 1978-93 - Rod Langway has given me two of the greatest fan road trips of my life. First was my virgin voyage to the Hockey Hall of Fame for his induction, a weekend filled with banquets, beverages and Bettman blowing off my questions about fighting in the NHL during a cocktail party. Second was a jaunt down I-95 to see him coach the heralded Richmond Riverdogs of the UHL a few years later; a bus trip with a hockey-fan-club-that-shall-not-be-named which included so many tequila shots on the way down that we treated the Riverdogs' regular season game like it was the seventh of the Stanley Cup Finals when we arrived in the stands. Oh, yeah - Langway was a pretty good defenseman, too; his No. 5 is retired by the Capitals.

3. Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, RW, NHL Career: 1950-64; 66-68 - Another forward who wore No. 5, a number his Montreal Canadiens retired last year on the day of this death. Led the Habs to six Stanley Cups while battling stomach ailments, constant injuries and Maurice "Rocket" Richard for the fans' affections. "Boom Boom" perfected, and some say invented, the slap shot; Jamie Langenbrunner of the Devils is currently trying to un-invent it by missing the net on the power play every time he touches the puck.

2. Denis Potvin, D, NHL Career: 1973-88 - Hockey Hall of Famer, the cornerstone of four Cup winners for the New York Islanders - the only team he played for, and one that retired his No. 5 - and the first NHL defenseman to score 1,000 career points. But the real measure of his legacy? That in 2007, they're still cheering his name in the blueseats at Madison Square Garden. OK, maybe "cheering" isn't the right word.

1. Nicklas Lidstrom, D, NHL Career: 1991-Present - Too early? Too soon? Nonsense. The guy's going to have a minimum of five Norris Trophies and three Stanley Cups to go along with being - without question - the best defenseman of his generation. They should just skip the formalities and raise his No. 5 to the rafters at the Joe along with the next completely meaningless division title banner they hang.