Bare in mind that the Sheffield Steelers, the Manchester Phoenix and later this month the Edinburgh Capitals will have already retired his number (even if the Steelers version is #16). Given the fact that the respect for him already seems to be present I canвЂ™t see why not.

So back to the original questionвЂ¦ Should we retire his number 9 country-wide? Apparently the award as voted for by players, coaches and journalists was unanimously in his favour, showing the respect held for him in the UK hockey community.

Source: ДЄnd to top it all off he was awarded вЂBritainвЂ™s Player Of The CenturyвЂ™ this year following his retirement. Tony has also received an MBE from the Queen for his services in British ice hockey along with countless other awards for his on ice contributions. He skated well: his intelligence on the ice stood out. After famously turning this down and returning to Scotland due to homesickness Sather remarked вЂњAt the training camp I could see that he had a great ability to read the ice and he was the smartest player there other than Wayne Gretzky. He completed a two week training camp with the 1986 Edmonton Oilers and impressed head coach Glen Sather enough to be offered a contract. Stats aside this is the man who holds the honour of being the first British born player to be drafted in the NHL. Sure there were moments where IвЂ™d be screaming at him because he would always pass over taking a shooting opportunity, but thereвЂ™s a reason he earned the nickname вЂMr AssistвЂ™ and again this is reflected in his figures. Being a Phoenix fan myself and having the pleasure of watching this legend ice every weekвЂ¦ I can whole heartedly say he really was great. Obviously his time with the Murrayfield Racers are where the crazy numbers sit but even those in his final role with Manchester Phoenix are pretty damn impressive. CanвЂ™t we just focus on the fact that heвЂ™s a bit of a legend over here? Just look at the numbers over his career for a start. Wayne Gretzky being the greatest player in the world and holder of many world records etc is somewhat different to Tony Hand being the best player in Britain where the standard of hockey is considerably lower and itвЂ™s a very niche sport.Д«ut what the hell, why shouldnвЂ™t we honour him? There doesnвЂ™t actually need to be a comparison made to вЂthe great oneвЂ™.

I suppose given the nickname, youвЂ™re automatically going to look at Gretzky himself and say вЂ“ well yup, 99 is retired in the NHL and widely not worn anywhere else as a mark of respect for arguably the greatest player the world has ever seen вЂ“ Why canвЂ™t we do the same for arguably the BritainвЂ™s greatest player? So how do we feel about this? Should number 9 be retired across the UK in memory of one of the most decorated players to ever come from its rainy shores? ItвЂ™s a subject thatвЂ™s come up a few times recently since the man dubbed вЂThe Scottish GretzkyвЂ™ announced heвЂ™d be hanging up his skates following the 2014/15 season with the Manchester Phoenix.

Weather november 11 2015