Dec. 27—Numbers mean a lot in college basketball. There are the kind you put in front of a team's name when they're ranked, there are statistics and records, as well as things like Final Fours, Elite ...

Tony DaCosta spent days dreading the phone call. About a week prior, the Wild equipment manager told former Minnesota goaltender Niklas Backstrom he'd do his best to keep Backstrom's jersey number, 32 ...