Its a tradition practically as old as the sport itself: a hockey team led onto the ice by a goaltender wearing No. 1. From Jacques Plante to Glenn Hall to Johnny Bower, goalies wearing the simple number were the starting point of rosters for decades.If you were a goalie, you wore No. 1. Thats just how it was.Operative word here being was.Todays goalies have gone in a different direction when it comes to the digits on their back. And the result has almost eliminated the No. 1 altogether.As a kid, I always had 1, said former goaltender and current broadcaster Brian Hayward, who wore the number for almost his entire 11-year NHL career. Every time the goalie was 1, so I just stuck with it. It almost became like an expectation for me.The No. 1 goalie wore 1. Another reason why you wanted that number. You wanted to say, Im the No. 1. Thats the way I looked at it.Its believed that goalies were given the No. 1 because they were the first player on a rink when looking from the net outward. When a goalie was injured, for instance, the replacement goalie would also wear No. 1.The numbering system changed when roster expansion required teams to field two goaltenders. The most notable change occurred in 1964, when legendary goaltender Terry Sawchuk joined the Toronto Maple Leafs. With Bower already wearing No. 1, Sawchuk went with No. 24 before taking on No. 30 and forever changing the numbers associated with goalies.The Chicago Blackhawks Tony Esposito wore No. 35, and goaltenders began gravitating increasingly toward the 30s thanks to Patrick Roy, whose usual No. 30 was worn by Chris Nilan when he joined the Montreal Canadiens as a rookie, forcing Roy to go with No. 33. Roys legendary exploits in Montreal and with the Colorado Avalanche truly began a wave of iconic goalies wearing numbers that were uniquely theirs.When you saw a guy wearing 33 youd go, Wow, hes wearing 33, Hayward said. Im sure a lot of kids wear 33 because of Pat. Ken Dryden was 29. A lot of guys, if they had a favorite [goalie], would go in that direction.Today, the No. 1 has mostly gone the way of the two-pad stack. At the beginning of December, only seven goalies were wearing the number. Its a dramatic shift from just 25 years ago, when more goalies wore the number during the 1991-92 season, despite the NHLs fielding only 22 teams. Six teams have retired the No. 1 (not including the?Minnesota Wild, who retired the number in honor of their fans), which also pushed goalies to be creative when it came to picking a number.After being forced to abandon the number last season with the Canadiens, who retired the number in honor of Plante, Mike Condon was thrilled to get it back this season. He took back the number with the Pittsburgh Penguins and retained it after being traded to the Ottawa Senators.Its just the number I wore in high school and the number I wore in college, he said. Any chance I get to wear it, Im going to grab it. I think its old-school. I just like it.The number is certainly a throwback, especially with the Florida Panthers Roberto Luongo, who at 37 is the leagues oldest goaltender, wearing it. In fact, there are almost as many goalies in the league wearing No. 40 and No. 41 (four each) as there are wearing the number that historically defines the position. Others wearing the No. 1:?Jonathan Bernier of the Los Angeles Kings, Brian Elliott of the Calgary Flames, Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche, Keith Kinkaid of the New Jersey Devils and Thomas Greiss of the New York Islanders.But some goalies forced to take on the single digit have come to love the loneliest number.Ive loved No. 1 since Ive gotten it, said Kinkaid. I like the single digit. Its grown on me quite a bit. Its simple. My last name is only seven [letters], so I think if I had two numbers, it would go outside the seven.Kinkaid wore No. 1 when he starred at Sachem High School East in Farmingville, New York. The school even retired the number in his honor. But he switched to No. 30 when he enrolled at Union College, a number he couldnt wear with the Devils thanks to a certain goalie named Martin Brodeur. Kinkaid switched to No. 35, which was eventually taken by current starter Cory Schneider after he was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks. With the Devils still among the few teams restricting which numbers players can wear, Kinkaid was given his old high school number.But not every goalie forced by the Devils to wear the number took so kindly to the change.I didnt like it. I think its a boring number, said former NHL goaltender and current broadcaster Kevin Weekes. Its just a boring-looking number, but I respect the history of the guys who have worn it, of course.Weekes was first assigned No. 1 by the Panthers when he came to the NHL in 1997-98, but he had worn double zero in junior hockey and the minors. The NHL doesnt allow the single or double doughnut because they cannot be registered in the leagues database. So, when he came to the New York Islanders in 1999, Weekes switched to No. 80, which he figured was as close to double zero as he could get.When it comes to traditional numbers, the Devils and Kinkaid have proved to be the exception. Whereas goalies typically expressed themselves through the art on their mask, some of the NHLs best have taken to doing that through their number.Maybe its not cool anymore to wear No. 1. For me, I always look for it, Hayward said.Many star goalies have gone off the conventional radar when it comes to their number, including the Blackhawks Corey Crawford (No. 50), the Columbus Blue Jackets Sergei Bobrovsky (No. 72), the Tampa Bay Lightnings Andrei Vasilevskiy (No. 88) and the Washington Capitals Braden Holtby (No. 70). Their influence could ultimately make the traditional No. 1 even less popular with todays up-and-coming goaltenders.I think a lot of guys with big numbers have them for a reason, Condon said. They have a story behind it.I dont really have anything like that. I just want the simplest number out there. Simple, to the point, succinct. No wasted energy there.Of course, Condon said there is one other number he would consider.Im just old-school, but Id do double zero if I could.Cheap Vapormax For Sale . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. Nike Vapormax Wholesale China . LOUIS -- Attorneys for the St. http://www.cheapvapormaxwholesale.com/ . Neymar curled home a free kick from just outside the area to put the 2014 World Cup host ahead in the 44th minute. Three minutes after the break, a simple through pass from Paulinho freed Oscar and the Chelsea star rounded goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong to extend Brazils lead. Cheap Vapormax Wholesale . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. Cheap Vapormax China . The catch: It needs a lot of money, and it needs it fast.AUBURN, Ala. -- The Auburn Tigers have put themselves in position to contend for a division title and possibly set up a huge showdown with No. 1 Alabama.Coach Gus Malzahn wants to put the brakes on any such talk. He declares that the 11th-ranked Tigers are zeroed in on Saturdays matchup with Vanderbilt, not pondering the kind of ambitions fueled by a five-game winning streak.The only thing weve talked about is Vanderbilt, Malzahn said Tuesday. Weve got our hands full. Hypotheticals in this league -- if you look ahead in this league, you get burned. Weve got our hands full. Our players know that, our coaches know it. Weve not said one word about anything left in the schedule.I dont know what everybody else is saying but in our house, in our little room here with our coaches and players, were locked in on Vanderbilt. Thats it, 100 percent.Fans can be excused for perhaps getting ahead of themselves after two straight disappointing seasons for Auburn and a rough start.The Tigers (6-2, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) do figure to be favorites in the next three games before the regular season-ending Iron Bowl. None of the opponents before that have winning records.Auburn is favored by 26 points against Vandy (4-4, 1-3), then travels to Georgia (4-4, 2-4) before hosting FCS team Alabama A&M (3-5).The Tigers have been hot since surviving an 18-13 win over No. 15 LSU. Theyve won their last three SEC games by 24 points over Mississippi State, 53 points over Arkansas and 11 points over Mississippi .Auburrn cornerback Josh Holsey said players cant get caught up in the buzz on campus.dddddddddddd He said the team has embraced the one game at a time approach since a 1-2 start that included losses to No. 3 Clemson and No. 7 Texas A&M.You just cant get too bigheaded into those type of things, Holsey said. Youve got to stay focused, stay level-headed. You cant start getting too ahead of yourself when you start winning. Thats when teams start to slip up.Were hungry right now still. Weve still got a lot to prove.Quarterback Sean White and tailback Kamryn Pettway have led the offensive resurgence after a 1-2 start. Pettway is leading the SEC with 133.3 rushing yards per game, including a nations best 199-yard average in October.White has remained the SECs most efficient passer but also kept a pair of scoring drives alive against Ole Miss with third-down runs. That included a 16-yard scramble to set up the go-ahead score late in the third quarter.The third-and-13 (run) was unbelievably huge, Malzahn said. He sacrificed his body and found a way. There was a third and 5 early in the game, (where) he found a way to get a first down when they were playing man coverage.Hes starting to really evolve as a quarterback in this league and really starting to establish himself as a really good quarterback in this league.---More AP college football coverage: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '