Taylor Hall Picks A New Number With Boston Bruins
BOSTON (CBS) -- Taylor Hall is excited to be the newest member of the Boston Bruins, even if it means sporting a brand new number on his back.
Hall will be sporting the No. 71 with the Bruins, which is a new digit for the 29-year-old. Two of his previous jersey numbers aren't available in Boston, so before he makes his debut -- potentially on Tuesday against his former club, the Buffalo Sabres -- Hall had to pick out a new number.
Hall previously wore No. 4 after being the top overall pick by the Edmonton Oilers in 2010. He wore it throughout his time with Oilers, and then again in his brief stint with the Sabres. He did so because his mother's favorite player was Bobby Orr.
Of course, in Boston, that number is retired because of Bobby Orr. So that was not an option for Hall's new Boston sweater.
The No. 9 that he wore during his three-plus seasons with the Devils (Hall said it was a cool number worn by some great players upon his arrival in New Jersey) is also up in the TD Garden rafters, retired for an extremely cool and extremely great player: 'The Chief' Johnny Bucyk.
So when he does take the ice for the first time for the Boston Bruins, Hall will have the No. 71 on the back of his sweater. Only one other Bruins has ever sported those digits: Marc Savard in 2007.
That was just a temporary thing for Savard, too, as he changed to the No. 91 for the bulk of his Boston career. Savard sent out a Tweet Monday morning saying he'd be happy if Hall chose to follow in his No. 91 footsteps.
Hall told reporters on Monday that he would love to be a member of the Bruins for the foreseeable future, so perhaps another number change will be in his future as well.
