Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope, where once there was despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination. –Nelson Mandela
St. Louis Blues are one of the only teams in sports history to never have won a championship in their almost 50 years of existence in the NHL since starting in 1967. The Blues are the most storied NHL franchise never to win a Stanley Cup and are long overdue to win a Championship along with the Chicago Cubs in baseball. The Blues were part of the 1967 NHL franchise expansion and one of six teams known as the Expansion Six. The Blues went to the Stanley Cup Finals in their first three seasons (1967, 1968, 1969-1970), but were swept in all three series.
Since that time, the St. Louis Blues have had many accomplishments including having six numbers retired, three more honored by the club, and 16 Hall of Famers. The Blues went on a streak of 25 straight playoff appearances, won the President’s trophy, but have no Stanley Cups to show for it. However, the Blues have had many great hockey players, coaches, GM’s wear the Bluenote during their careers including offensive stars Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, Adam Oates, Red Berenson, Gary Unger, Bernie Federko, Brian Sutter, Joey Mullen, Brendan Shanahan, Keith Tkachuk, and great defensemen like Doug Harvey, Bob Gassoff, Rob Ramage, Al MacInnis, Chris Pronger, Scott Stevens, Phil Housley, Jay Bouwmeester, Alex Pietroangelo, along with star goalies Jacques Plante, Glenn, Hall, Mike Liut, Curtis Joseph, Grant Fuhr, among many great, all-time winningest coaches like Scotty Bowman, Joel Quenneville, current coach Ken Hitchcock, and GM’s Ron Caron and Doug Armstrong.
In future Sport Digest articles, I will attempt to rank the best St. Louis Blues forwards, defensemen, goalies, and coaches. This is not a complete list and players are not ranked in order but the list does include most of the St. Louis Blues greats from their past history.
Photo with permission from Dave Herholz
Top All-time Blues:
- FOWARDS
- Red Berenson
- Gary Unger
- Glenn Anderson
- Dickie Moore
- Bob Plager
- Bernie Federko
- Wayne Babych
- Brian Sutter
- Joey Mullen
- Doug Gilmour
- Jorgen Pettersson
- Dale Hawerchuk
- Peter Stastny
- Brett Hull
- Adam Oates
- Brendan Shanahan
- Wayne Gretzky
- Rod Brind’Amour
- Geoff Cournall
- Pavol Demitra
- Keith Tkachuk
- Paul Kariya
- Blake Dunlop
- Larry Patey
- Frank St. Marseille
- Gary Sabourin
- Greg Paslawski
- Paul Cavallini
- Gino Cavallini
- Ron Flockhart
- Tony Hrkac
- Cliff Ronning
- Bob Bassen
- Craig Janney
- Rick Meagher
- Scott Young
- Geoff Courtnall
- Scott Mellanby
- Pierre Turgeon
- Doug Weight
- Lee Stempniak
- Brad Boyes
- Steve Durbano
- Kelly Chase
- Tony Twist
- Doug Wickenheiser
- Alexander Steen
- David Backes
- TJ Oshie
- Troy Brouwer
- Paul Stastny
- Vladimir Tarasenko
- DEFENSEMEN
- Doug Harvey
- Guy Lapointe
- Barclay Plager
- Jimmy Roberts
- Bob Gassoff
- Bruce Affleck
- Rob Ramage
- Jack Brownschidle
- Garth Butcher
- Al MacInnis
- Chris Pronger
- Scott Stevens
- Phil Housley
- Jeff Brown
- Barrett Jackman
- Jay Bouwmeester
- Alex Pietroangelo
- Kevin Shattenkirk
- GOALIES
- Jacques Plante
- Glenn Hall
- Emie Wakely
- Mike Liut
- Rick Wamsley
- Grant Fuhr
- Curtis Joseph
- Chris Osgood
- Manny Legace
- Roman Turek
- Martin Brodeur
- Brian Elliott
- Jake Allen
- COACHES
- Scotty Bowman
- Joel Quenneville
- Ken Hitchcock
- Red Berenson
- Jacques Demers
- Jacques Martin
- Brian Sutter
- Al Arbour
- Emile Francis
- Mike Keenan
- GM’s
- Ron Caron “The Professor”
- Doug Armstrong
Dr. Michael Fredrick is Associate Professor, Chair of Sport Studies at USSA and a native of St. Louis, Missouri. He can be reached at mfredrick@ussa.edu