What's in a number? The story of how 61 became 61

In a different world, the Blue Jackets might be raising No. 13 or No. 16 to the rafters on Saturday night at Nationwide Arena.
Rick Nash has always been No. 61 to CBJ fans, and that number will belong to franchise lore when it becomes the first one permanently retired by the team before the team's game vs. the Boston Bruins.
Yet if he had his way more than two decades ago, Nash's iconic CBJ sweater might have had 13 or 16 on the back.

Those are the numbers Nash asked for when he arrived in 2000 with the London Knights of the OHL, but neither of them was available with the storied junior team. He ended up with 61 and the rest is history -- literally, as that number has become as much a part of Columbus hockey as the cannon and Stinger.
It's a unique number, one that has never been retired by another team. Mark Stone wears it in Vegas while Riley Stillman dons the number in Chicago, following in the footsteps of his father Cory, but few would argue that when you think about the No. 61 in hockey, you think of Nash.
And while one might think there was a deeply held personal reason for it given what it has come to represent, it came about as a matter of chance.
"I always wore 13 with the Toronto Marlies growing up," Nash said. "I was a huge Mats Sundin fan growing up in Toronto. I got to London, asked for 13, and the trainer at the time, Don Brankley, said, 'It's bad luck, you can't wear 13.' So I said, 'I'll wear 16.' My birthday is on the 16th. He said, 'A veteran (player) already has 16.'
"At that point, I said, 'Put any number you want in my stall.' I showed up the next day and he said, 'I reversed 16, and it's 61.'"
READ MORE: Visit CBJ61.com to read about Nash's career, wish him well, share memories and more
Brankley, better known as "Branks," spent nearly four decades with the Knights before passing away in 2017, so there's no way to ask him what was going through his mind when he made that decision. But there is one other person to talk to who had a hand in Nash becoming associated with 61.
Matthew Albiani was a second-year center with the Knights at the time, and he happened to be the veteran wearing No. 16. A grinder with some size and some scoring touch, Albiani had 11 points in 63 games the year prior with London and returned for his second season in 2000 still wearing the number.
Brankley never approached Albiani at the time, simply turning aside Nash's request for No. 16. More than two decades later, Albiani can only laugh as looks back and realizes his unknowing place in the story.
"The true story on how it all played out, I was unaware of until it has come to the forefront here," he recently told BlueJackets.com. "It's neat that I could be somewhat connected to it. It's part of history, obviously. Rick is a great person. He was a phenomenal hockey player, but first and foremost he's a good guy, so it's neat to be part of that in some way, shape or form."
Albiani himself didn't get the number he wanted when he first arrived in London, asking for No. 9 only to find it had been retired by the Knights in honor of Darryl Sittler, who would go on to become a Hockey Hall of Famer after three standout seasons with London in the late 1960s and early '70s.
Albiani was 16 years old at the time, so he asked for 16 and got it. All the while, he had no idea Nash would make the same request a year later -- not that he would have given it up at the time had he been asked.
"No, I wouldn't have given it up because I was a veteran and he was a rookie coming in," Albiani says now with a laugh. "Obviously young kids, you still have to prove yourself. Looking back on it, had I known where things were headed, maybe I would have, but then we wouldn't be talking about this unique number. He paved the way for No. 61."
Nash did just that, sticking with the number throughout what became a celebrated career. After two standout seasons with the Knights -- who have since retired 61 -- Nash was chosen No. 1 overall in the 2002 NHL draft by the Blue Jackets, then tied for the league lead in goals in his second season. He played nine seasons in Columbus, setting franchise records for games played as well as just about every scoring mark, and is now in the front office after retiring after 15 NHL seasons.
There was one chance for him to go back to 16, though, as Albiani ended up being traded to Ottawa midway through Nash's first season in London.
"I remember Branks coming up to me and saying, 'You can have 16 now,'" Nash said. "I was having a good season and I just said, 'I'll stick with 61.' It seemed to work out. My mom was born in '61, and as the years went by, we found so many reasons why 61 has meant so much."
Nash and Albiani stayed in touch, and the latter has many fond memories of the little bit of time they spent together in juniors before they went their separate ways. Albiani has since returned to his hometown of Sudbury, where he works as a partner at a financial planning firm and also as treasurer for the NEO Kids Foundation, a cause close to the heart of another former CBJ captain in Nick Foligno.
Somehow over the years Albiani's Columbus ties have added up, and if he one day makes it down to a Blue Jackets game, he'll be able to look up and know the little part he played in helping No. 61 find a home in the rafters.
"It's going to be cemented in history moving forward," Albiani said, "so at some point, maybe I'll take my kids to a Jackets game and I can tell them the story when they get a little bit older."