Best Blues Lineup
Hello St. Louis Game Time readers,
I have been following along on this site for about a month now, but have yet to really post anything significant, because I have refused the urge to post anything until now, when I think I have something significant to contribute. I looked through the archives and did not see anything about this topic.
The topic I’m here to discuss today is this: If you could put together a team (20 players – 12 forwards, 8 defensemen, and 2 goalies) from St. Louis Blues past as a team, who would be on it. Now, I’m going to make a limitation or two. Looking over at www.hockey-reference.com, I found out that 108 players have played two full seasons (164+ games) in a Blues uniform. Only 69 players have played three full seasons (246+ games). Even though I would have to knock out some of my all-time favorites, I think at least three seasons (or 246 games played as a St. Louis Blue is needed in order to make this team. Starting goaltenders usually play less games, so I’m using 3 years at 60 games played = 180 minimum games for a goalie.)
FORWARDS:
1st Line – Brendan Shanahan / Bernie Ferderko / Brett Hull
2nd Line – Jorgen Pettersson / Pierre Turgeon / Joe Mullen
3rd Line – Brian Sutter / Garry Unger / Jamal Mayers
4th Line – Wayne Babych / Doug Gilmour / Pavol Demitra
The first line averaged, respectively, 1.1/1.16/1.26 points per game as a Blue.
The second line averaged, respectively, .91/1.09/1.11 points per game as a Blue.
The third line averaged, 2.29/1.12/1.27 PIM per game as a Blue, and still could put the puck in the net regularly. I could not put Sutter or Unger on line 4, so this line goes here. Another note: Mayers made it over Keith Tkachuk (and others) because he is one of only 7 Blues to play a decade of hockey in STL.
The fourth line averaged, respectively, .87/.92/1.00 points per game as a Blue.
DEFENSEMEN: (or defencemen, as those tricky Canadians would say. J)
1st Pairing – Al MacInnis / Chris Pronger
2nd Pairing – Barclay Plager / Bob Plager
3rd Pairing – Jeff Brown / Barrett Jackman
I think the first two are two of the best defensemen ever, so there was no doubt in my mind that they deserved the top pairing. The second grouping went together because they were both in the Blue Note for 10 or more seasons and played fantastically when they were. Plus, you can’t split up the brothers if you can avoid doing so. The third pairing was very difficult for me to decide. Jeff Brown actually leads all Blues defensemen ever with .89 points per game. Part of that, I’m sure, was being on a power play with Brett Hull to pass to. He held his own, though, scoring 80 goals in 4+ seasons as a Blue. Barrett Jackman is probably my favorite post-lockout player on the Blues roster, so that was my deciding factor there.
GOALTENDERS:
Curtis Joseph & Grant Fuhr
My reasoning is this: CUJO was my favorite player growing up in the Brett Hull era. He made more ridiculous glove saves than any goalie I can remember. Patrick Roy had the butterfly, Dominik Hasek had the stacked pads, Joseph used the glove as well as Ozzie Smith. He carried the team in a time where top line defensive defensemen did not really exist here in St. Louis. My apologies go out to Murray Baron, Rick Zombo, and Garth Butcher…but they are fantastic 2nd and 3rd line defensemen. Grant Fuhr had the luxury of Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger clearing the way for him.
(Note: even with the 180 games played caveat for goalies, only 4 played as a Blue long enough to be on this team – the two I chose, plus Mike Liut and Greg Millen.)
stlfan
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11 comments
Comments
I personally will have a soft spot for Adam Oates forever, but he didn’t have a long tenure in St. Louis. Same thing with Scott Stevens.
Red Berenson probably deserves to be on the list. What about Craig Janney?
I am not a fan of leaving Demitra on there, but I don’t have a good alternative.
by Brad Lee on Feb 2, 2009 9:45 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Ah, I can live with Pavol on that line.
He was always my favorite on those turn of the century teams, and I remember being at the game in which he detached his retina against Phoenix and crying because they dramatically took him off the ice. (I was only six at the time, back off.)
So he may not have been the best, but I love em to death.
by Thelonious Dunk on Feb 2, 2009 10:49 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
best Blues 3rd line ever was Pellerin/Conroy/Atcheynum
by Dooks on Feb 2, 2009 10:56 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
CPA Forever!
Fuck Detroit
by Poor College Student on Feb 2, 2009 10:58 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Yes ...
I was in high school at the time and I loved that line, even though they were pretty useless on offence.
Used to be Aaron, but some douchebag Celtics fan has that one already.
by Fuck Detroit on Feb 3, 2009 4:42 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Well thought out stuff here . . .
but I’ll admit, it’s kinda missing something without Red Berenson. I know he didn’t play for us for TOO long, but damn . . . HE SCORED SIX GOALS IN ONE GAME FOR US! That should count for something, I think.
And while Craig Janney was not nearly as good as Adam Oates was when paired with Brett Hull . . . but the dude was a wizard nonetheless. Even if he WAS a softie. So if I were to put this together, I’d have to give him strong consideration (I’m sure you did as well).
Past those, I’d have to say this is a solid lineup.
I’d post my own, but I don’t have NEARLY that much time on my hands today.
"Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile." -- Vince Lombardi
(No, I'm not a Packers fan)
by Donut King on Feb 3, 2009 9:55 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Since dad picked favorite kids, I'll pick favorite Blues
Which means Jamal is off the squad. Also, in my world I must make a rule exception from the eligibility list for people like Oates and Stevens, since they’re impact was the equivalent to at least three seasons’ worth, even if Ed J. Houston and Oates’ agent decided otherwise.
The following lineup is filled with sentiment and regret:
Forward lines
1: Shanahan / Oates / Hull
2: Tkachuk / Berenson / Mullen
3: Brian Sutter / Federko / Babych
4: Courtnall / Gilmour / St. Marseille
Lots of scoring, lots of grit, and a few guys who can teach the rest of them about “backchecking.” Can you imagine Hull playing in Sutter’s prime? It might not have taken him 5 seasons to discover our zone. Hull’s book would have been “Shootin’ and Smilin’ … and Skatin’ too.”
Kills me to leave Turgeon or Unger off, but oh well. Slip them in if Oates is DQ’d or decides to hold out again.
Defense:
1: Stevens / MacInnis
2: Barc / Bob
3: Ramage / Richter Pronger
(If Stevens must be DQ’d, put Jackman in to bump up the depth chart. Bill Plager is waterboy.)
Goal:
Hall / Joseph, with Liut and Fuhr fighting for the practice squad.
I didn’t see Hall play live (nor St. Marseille nor the Plagers), but I was taught to regret that I missed them.
Uniforms, Owners, GMs
While we’re at it, they must all dress in either the original version of the whites and the late ‘70s/early ’80s version of the road blues. And Mike Shanahan and the Solomons are co-owners. Bill Laurie gets to clean the locker room with his tongue. And “Civic Regress”/Kiel Center Partners have to stand outside naked selling Game Time while forfeiting any gratuities to the creators. Ron Caron gets to be GM: he’ll probably deal half of these guys away, but he’ll make me laugh and cry while doing it. Hey, if there’s meat on the burner, might as well enjoy the meal.
Lighthouse Hockey: an SB Nation New York Islanders blog with hip issues.
by Dominik on Feb 3, 2009 1:08 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

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