Oh, John Tavares. Everyone in the entire hockeyverse loves you. Other players want to be you. Even that hockey-haas Nathan MacKinnon hangs out with you. And now, you’re being commemorated by your OHL team.
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On September 28th, the Oshawa Generals finally made good on the announcement they made earlier in the summer; that number 91, which was worn by superstar forward and now-New York Islanders captain John Tavares, would be retired. It was hung from the rafters at Generals Motors Centre in Oshawa this afternoon, alongside the numbers of only three other OHL players- Bobby Orr, Eric Lindros, and Red Tilson.
The honor is a big one, but unsurprising- Tavares was one of the rare breakout players granted permission to play in the OHL at fifteen. (As a matter of fact, that exception is now named after him- literally. It’s called the John Tavares Rule. Look it up.) He was also the reason for a huge movement to allow him to both participate in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and play for the AHL at seventeen- neither were successful, but were indicative of his skill level and influence in the hockey community.
Less than a decade later, he’s sitting pretty as the captain of an NHL franchise, having been given the honor at the start of this past season. He’s scored 136 goals in his five seasons with the team already, and has a career scoring average of almost a point per game.
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