One of the most important decisions any hockey player has to make when they first start playing is picking what jersey number they want to wear.

In most cases, young players want to wear the same number their favourite NHL stars wear, but in some cases, players want to be unique and wear an uncommon number like 98, for example.

Codie McLachlan/Getty Images

Our last jersey number-related article focused on the 7 least-worn jerseys in the NHL since the 1950-51 season, but this time we're going in the other direction, so here are the 9 numbers worn the most in the NHL since the 1950-51 season.

9. Number 14 (443 players)

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Getty Images/Gregory Shamus

Notable Names to wear 14 - Brendan Shanahan, Dave Keon, Theo Fleury, Jamie Benn

8. Number 24 (448 players)

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Getty Images/Dave Sandford

Notable Names to wear 24 - Chris Chelios, Bernie Federko, Terry O'Reilly, Doug Wilson

7. Number 17 (456 players)

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Getty Images/Codie McLachlan

Notable Names to wear 17 - Jari Kurri, Wendel Clark, Ilya Kovalchuk, Rod Brind'Amour

6. Number 23 (463 players)

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Getty Images/Phillip MacCallum

Notable Names to wear 23 - Bob Gainey, Milan Hejduk, Brian Bellows, Eddie Shack

5. Number 15 (469 players)

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Getty Images/Jim Rogash

Notable Names to wear 15 - Milt Schmidt, Ryan Getzlaf, Bert Olmstead, Bobby Smith

4. Number 18 (469 players)

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Getty Images/Rick Stewart

Notable Names to wear 18 - Denis Savard, Serge Savard, Marian Hossa, Dave Taylor

3. Number 20 (476 players)

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Getty Images/Noah Graham

Notable Names to wear 20 - Luc Robitaille, Ed Belfour, Dino Ciccarelli, Bob Pulford

2. Number 21 (476 players)

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Getty Images/Justin Edmonds

Notable Names to wear 21 - Peter Forsberg, Stan Mikita, Borje Salming, Brent Sutter

1. Number 22 (476 players)

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Getty Images/Jim McIsaac

Notable Names to wear 22 - Mike Bossy, Brad Park, Daniel Sedin, Steve Shutt