Deryk Engelland only wore #5 when he was with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hell, he wore that number with the Moose Jaw Warriors; he’s worn it for most of his career. When he got to the Flames, that number was, obviously, taken.
So… #29 it was, apparently. It was freshly available once he arrived in Calgary, and with the traditionally lower defenceman numbers pretty much all already taken, was as good a fit as any.
#29 on the Flames
Engelland is the 16th player in Flames franchise history to ever wear #29:
- RW Greg Meredith
- LW Mike Dwyer
- G Tim Bernhardt
- LW Jeff Brubaker
- C Joel Otto
- D Cale Hulse
- C Erik Andersson
- RW Wade Belak
- G Mike Vernon
- G Jamie McLennan
- LW Craig MacDonald
- LW Brandon Prust
- D Brendan Mikkelson
- RW Akim Aliu
- G Reto Berra
- D Deryk Engelland
This number has everything! Forwards! Defencemen! Goalies! This is one of the most versatile numbers we’re gonna get.
Engelland is just the third defenceman to wear #29 for the Flames; even more goalies (four) have taken it on. Although obviously, Vernon didn’t have it long enough to be known for it…
The best #29
For all the diversity in this group, there really aren’t that many standouts. There’s Otto and… yeah, there’s Otto.
As for the goalies, this is more of a reflection of the growth of the position over the decades than it is an evaluation on each of the four goalies to wear this number (nobody is going to take Berra over Vernon). Vernon picked up #29 in his return to Calgary.
Previous numbers
#1 – Brian Elliott | #3 – Jyrki Jokipakka |
#5 – Mark Giordano | #6 – Dennis Wideman |
#7 – T.J. Brodie | #10 – Linden Vey |
#11 – Mikael Backlund | #13 – Johnny Gaudreau |
#15 – Ladislav Smid | #17 – Lance Bouma |
#18 – Matt Stajan | #19 – Matthew Tkachuk |
#23 – Sean Monahan | #25 – Freddie Hamilton |
#26 – Tyler Wotherspoon | #27 – Dougie Hamilton |
#28 – Emile Poirier |
