Hockey Night in Canada has created a book compiling the best hockey players by number and including the runner up players as well. The top player at No. 19? Steve Yzerman.

But once upon a time a young Steve Yzerman wore a different famous number.

“When I was a little, little kid, I was number four for Bobby Orr,” he said.

But as he was growing up near Ottawa, long after Orr had retired, Yzerman added another favorite player to his list and, as a result, switched his allegiance to 19.

“I think I first wore it in Tier II in Nepean as a 15-year-old,” he says. “And the reason I chose it, is that is when Bryan Trottier first came into the league I followed he and Mike Bossy very closely and they became, after Bobby Orr, my two favourite players.

“I became a centreman about the same time Bryan came into the NHL and I just admired and liked the way he played. I was a big New York Islanders fan and always wanted to be like him. Back then, when I was a kid, the numbers only went up to 15. So it wasn’t until I went to Tier II, where there were higher numbers, that I could make the switch to 19 and I did. I was always 14 before that.”

Runner ups include Joe Sakic, Bryan Trottier, Larry Robinson, and Joe Thornton among others.