My Blues Dream Team
Todd is here to bring us his All Time Blues Team! Make sure to check out the Offended Podcast and what is your All Time Blues Team?
*QUEUE “Saint Louis Blues” by W.C. Handy*
The start of the 2021-2022 NHL Season is right around the corner with preseason underway. The former Stanley Cup Champions, St. Louis Blues, look to begin their 54th season on a high note after being swept in the first round of the playoffs last year.
Before we talk about the future, I wanted to talk about our past and the players that made this franchise one of the most respected franchises in the NHL. I will go line by line on who I think would best represent the All-Team roster for the St. Louis Blues. I will go from the bottom lines first and work my way to the top lines. Forwards will be presented as forwards; no center or wing positions will be determined.
COACHES: Joel Quenneville & Craig Berube
- Hard to argue against these two. One coached a President’s Trophy winning team and the other helped us capture our first and only Stanley Cup. I firmly believe we should have won a Stanley Cup under Coach Q.
AWARDS:
- Joel Quenneville: 4x Stanley Cup Champion, President’s Trophy, Jack Adams Award
- Craig Berube: Stanley Cup Champion
Honorable Mentions: Red Berenson, Brian Sutter, Scotty Bowman
GOALIES: Grant Fuhr, Curtis Joseph & Mike Liut
- My best friend, Grant Fuhr (Check out the Offended podcast featuring Grant Fuhr), is one of the best goaltender’s to ever lace up a pair of skates.
- Cujo dawned some of the greatest goalie masks in NHL history. He is also 3rd all-time for the Blues in wins.
- But Mike Liut holds that honor by having the most wins by a Blues goalie with 151 wins. 2nd to Liut is honorable mention, Jake Allen.
AWARDS:
- Grant Fuhr: 5x Stanley Cup Champion, Vezina Trophy, William M. Jennings Trophy & Hall of Famer
- Curtis Joseph: King Clancy Memorial Trophy
- Mike Liut: Lester B. Pearson Award (Now the Ted Lindsay Award)
Honorable Mentions: Jake Allen (2nd in wins & 2nd shutouts for the haters), Brian Elliott (1st in shutouts), Jordan Binnington, Greg Millen, Glenn Hall, Jacques Plante
DEFENSEMEN LINE 3: Barclay Plager & Bob Plager
- I’ve always been told that when you would see these two hit the ice, you just knew fights and big hits were in store for that game. Barclay is known to be a great defender while his brother, Bob, is and forever will be known as the heart of the St. Louis Blues organization. Quite frankly, he’s hockey’s version of Stan Musial. Aside from winning the Stanley Cup, nothing will ever come close to the emotional night of when Bob Plager’s number was retired. As his brother’s number came down to meet him halfway, their numbers would go up to the rafters of Enterprise Center together.
DEFENSEMEN LINE 2: Alex Pietrangelo & Bob Gassoff
- Pietrangelo during the regular season may not be the best, but his performances in the post-season are truly remarkable. He helped seal the Stanley Cup in 2019 with a fantastic forehand/backhand goal to end the first period of Game 7. The Blues never looked back after that.
- Bob Gassoff played four seasons with the St. Louis Blues and was a great/mean stay-at-home d-man. At 24 years old, he tragically passed away in a motorcycle accident following his 4th season with the Blues.
AWARDS:
- Alex Pietrangelo: Stanley Cup Champion
DEFENSEMEN LINE 1: Al MacInnis & Chris Pronger
- Quite possibly one of the greatest, if not the greatest, defensive pairing in NHL history. Imagine how hard MacInnis’ slap shot would be with the sticks they have now… actually, how many sticks would he break?
- Pronger is undoubtedly one of the best captains the Blues have ever had. On top of that, he might just be one of the most complete d-men to ever play the game.
AWARDS:
- Al MacInnis: 2x Stanley Cup Champion, James Norris Memorial Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy
- Chris Pronger: Stanley Cup Champion, James Norris Memorial Trophy, Hart Memorial Trophy, Hall of Famer
FORWARDS LINE 4: Brendan Shanahan, David Backes & Al Arbour
- In my opinion, David Backes is the best captain in the history of the St. Louis Blues. He played with heart and passion on every shift he had with this team. May not have been the most skilled, but he was a leader in every sense of the word.
- Shanny is my personal favorite hockey player of all time. Really wish we could have kept him years ago as he went on to have a phenomenal career and is now the president of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- From the best to the first, Al Arbour was the first captain in Blues history and led the team to 3 consecutive Stanley Cup Finals appearances. He is one of 11 players to win 3 Stanley Cups with different teams. Arbour would retire after his 4th season with the Blues and become the head coach of the team for 3 seasons until joining the New York Islanders as their head coach, winning 4 straight Stanley Cups.
AWARDS:
- Brendan Shanahan: 3x Stanley Cup Champion, King Clancy Memorial Trophy, Hall of Famer
- Al Arbour: 8x Stanley Cup Champion, Jack Adams Award, Hall of Famer
FORWARDS LINE 3: Vladimir Tarasenko, Pavol Demitra & Red Berenson
- While some may not like Vladdy at the moment, there’s no question about his success as a member of the Blue-note. Up until 2019, he was only 2nd behind Ovechkin for most playoff goals scored from 2014-2019 and was in the top 5 for goals in the regular season for those years as well. Watch for Tarasenko to have a major bounce back year this up-coming season.
- Demitra’s time in St. Louis was a fun one as he was a fan favorite. In 2000, he helped the Blues get their first and only President’s Trophy. Look up the Blues comeback win against the Maple Leafs from 2000.
- Bereneson was a 5-time 20 goal scorer and an overall fantastic team player for the Blues. He would retire in 1978 to become one of the best coaches in hockey history with the University of Michigan.
AWARDS:
- Vladimir Tarasenko: Stanley Cup Champion
- Pavol Demitra: Lady Byng Memorial Trohpy
- Red Berenson: Jack Adams Award, 2x NCAA National Champion
FORWARDS LINE 2: Adam Oates, Ryan O’Reilly & Brian Sutter
- Hull & Oates. Adam Oates is huge factor to Brett Hull becoming one of the greatest goal scorers of all time. In the 1990-1991 season, Oates had 90 assists with only playing 61 games. Most of those assists were to Hully, of course.
- Ryan O’Reilly joined the Blues in 2019 and the rest was history. He was the Conn Smythe winner of that post-season. In the next few years, ROR could overtake David Backes, in my opinion, as the best captain in franchise history.
- Sutter was drafted by the Blues in 1976 and, just three seasons in, he would become the team’s best goal scorer. His entire playing career would be played with the Blues until an injury forced him into retirement in 1988. Immediately following his retirement, he would become the Blues head coach for the next 4 seasons.
AWARDS:
- Adam Oates: Hall of Famer
- Ryan O’Reilly: Stanley Cup Champion, Conn Smythe Trophy, Frank J. Selke Trophy, Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
- Brian Sutter: Jack Adams Award
FORWARDS LINE 1: Brett Hull, Bernie Federko & Garry Unger
- The Golden Brett. 50 goals in 50 games, Brett Hull would be the last player ever to accomplish such feat. Hull is widely regarded as the greatest American ever to play hockey. In the 1991-1992 season, he came just short from breaking the Great One’s goal record of 92 goals with 86 goals. A fun fact, Hull never scored an empty net goal in that season. Gretzky had 4 empty net goals. He went Blues.
- Widely considered the best player ever to play for the Blues, Bernie Federko was a force on the ice. He still holds multiple team records including the most points at 1073. Bernie was also the first player ever to get 50 assists in 10 straight seasons.
- The “Iron Man”, Gary Unger, played 914 straight games and in the 8 seasons with the Blues, he would get 30 or more goals. Unger always came to play and it showed.
AWARDS:
- Brett Hull: 2x Stanley Cup Champion, Hart Memorial Trophy, Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, Lester B. Pearson Award (Now the Ted Lindsay Award), Hall of Famer
- Bernie Federko: Hall of Famer
Honorable Mentions: David Perron, Jay Bouwmeester, Keith Tkachuk, Doug Gilmour, Alexander Steen, TJ Oshie, Jaden Schwartz, Brayden Schenn, Barrett Jackman, Scott Stevens, Pierre Turgeon, Garth Butcher, Dallas Drake, Doug Wickenheiser, Rob Ramage, Joe Mullen, Doug Weight, Dale Hawerchuk
For 54 years, the St. Louis Blues have represented the city of St. Louis with pride, enthusiasm, and the support of its die-hard fans. As the 54th season in franchise history approaches, we look to create more memories and hopefully win another Stanley Cup in the not-too-distant future. And on October 16th, we need to MAKE SOME NOISE! Because it will be time once again, FOR BLUES HOCKEY!
PLAY GLORIA!
Make sure to check out the “Offended Podcast” for new episodes of Hockey Talks. Returning soon wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and all other podcasts platforms.
LET’S GO BLUES!
