14 is a fabulous number!

Today is March 14th so I want to point out some great 14's.
14 gold medals for Canada at the Winter Olympics!
NO nation has ever done better than that standard. Close - but no cigar, winning 13 gold in 2002 was Norway while the Soviet Union did that as well in 1976. 12 gold medals were won a couple of times by Germany - once in 2002 and four years earlier in 1998.

My son Jordan is 14 - but in 15 days he turns 15. We enjoyed the BCHL playoff game last night between the Westside Warriors and Penticton Vees. Westside won a thriller in overtime, 4-3, to tie the playoff series at 2 games each. Number 14 for the Warriors is Kyle Singleton while Penticton's #14 is Alex Szczechura. He scored a goal Saturday night and was born in Wayne Gretzky's hometown of Brantford, Ontario. Szczechura has committed to playing Division One hockey next season at Ohio State.
  
After 14 straight road games, the Vancouver Canucks played Ottawa last night and won easily at GM Place, 5-1. Ottawa managed only 14 shots
on goal. It was an NHL-record 14-game road trip for Vancouver and
the Canucks share a bunch of memories here. More realistically, it was divided into eight- and six-game stretches with a two-week Olympic break sandwiched in between. The Canucks were impressive on the road, going 8-5-1. They have one of the best number 14's in the league:
Alex Burrows got his 31st goal against Ottawa. He was born in Quebec, just like Philadelphia's #14, Ian Laperriere.

14 must be a number of significance in the Czech Republic because four players born there currently wear that number in the NHL. This includes these two 20-goal scorers:

• Tomas Fleischmann, Washington Capitals 
• Tomas Plekanec, Montreal Canadiens
• Martin Havlat, Minnesota Wild (15 goals so far)
• Radek Dvorak, Florida Panthers (11 goals this season) 

But most of the #14's in the NHL were born in Canada.
Besides Burrows and Laperriere, add these to the list:

• Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars' rookie (with an impressive 16 goals) and Kelowna Rockets alum 
• Joffrey Lupul, Anaheim Ducks
• Chris Kunitz, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Taylor Pyatt, Phoenix Coyotes
• Chris Campoli, Ottawa Senators
• Justin Williams, Los Angeles Kings  
• Dustin Boyd, Nashville Predators
• Derek Meech, Detroit Red Wings
• Trevor Gillies, New York Islanders (31 years old. Five games played in his career)

Other players wearing #14 in the NHL but not born in Canada include:
Sergei Samsonov, Carolina Hurricanes (221 career goals) - born in Moscow
Patrick Davis, New Jersey Devils - born in Michigan
Andrej Meszaros, Tampa Bay Lightning - born in Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia