Apr 3, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; St. Louis Blues center David Backes (42) waits for play to resume against the Dallas Stars during the first period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
The recent talk about David Backes’ current position as captain of the St. Louis Blues and whether or not it might be in jeopardy asks a lot of questions. What does it mean to be an effective captain? What are his responsibilities? How is he supposed to inspire a team after a heart-breaking loss? How does he keep them from getting over confident after a string of wins? What is the best way to lead?
These questions got me thinking about the past captains of the Blues– about who was the most effective in captaining their respective rosters.
After much deliberation, here are the five best captains in the history of the St. Louis Blues.
The St. Louis Blues acquired Al MacInnis through an offer sheet while he was still an RFA for the Calgary Flames, sending Phil Housley and two second-round draft picks back in compensation.
MacInnis began his time with the Blues with an injury, playing a limited amount of games his first season. He quickly managed to bounce back into form, and while he never achieved the same point totals with the Blues that he did with Calgary, he was still one of the most feared defensemen in the league.
He won his first and only Norris trophy with the Blues in 1999. On top of that, he also won a Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames in 1989, a Conn Smythe and seven Hardest Slapshot Competition victories. He finished his career third in all-time goals, assists, and points by a defenseman. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame two years after his retirement, and his number was retired by the St. Louis Blues.
Out of all of the other players on this list, MacInnis certainly had the shortest tenure as captain of the St. Louis Blues. The Hall of Famer only took the role on after the injury of teammate Chris Pronger, who then insisted on the title remaining with MacInnis upon his return.
However, his leadership abilities in St. Louis predates his captaincy. In fact, MacInnis could have never become captain in his entire time in St. Louis, and he would still be widely remembered as one of the best leaders the organization ever had.
He was seen as a leader by his teammates in the locker room and out on the ice. He was and continues to play a major role in the St. Louis community and Blues organization. “MacInnis” became a household name for Blues fans, and teams everywhere feared his legendary slapshot and passing abilities.
Even nearing the end of his career, which was only ended by an eye injury and the 2004-05 lockout, he served as an inspiration to young players on the team. The bottom line is that even though MacInnis was only technically the captain for a short amount of time for the St. Louis Blues, his legacy here is two-fold: his abilities and leadership, both of which were invaluable to the organization.
It feels weird to place Brett Hull in a spot on a list when he’s not number one.
In 1988, Hull was a part of a multi-player trade, where the St. Louis Blues sent Rob Ramage and Rick Wamsley to the Calgary Flames in exchange for Hull and Steve Bozek. After arriving in St. Louis, Hull immediately lead the team in goals, but his poor skating and defensive abilities left some to be desired by the organization.
Head coach Brian Sutter pushed Hull to become a more all-around better player, making him work on his conditioning in the offseason, and it worked. Hull returned the following season with a drive and passion that surprised everyone.
In addition to his improvements in his physical condition, Hull also acquired an exceptional center in Adam Oates when Bernie Federko was traded to the Detroit Red Wings. The two players formed such a prolific scoring line, that they earned themselves a famous nickname: “Hull and Oates” (named after the band Hall & Oates). With Oates’ help, Hull scored 228 goals from 1989-1992, the second-highest three season scoring record of any player ever.
He became the fifth player in NHL history to score 50 goals in 50 games in the 1990-91 season, and he did the same the next season.
Hull lead the league in scoring three different seasons. He won the Lady Byng, the Hart, and the Lester B. Pearson Award. He played in a total of eight NHL All-star games.
In 1992, Hull was named the 13th captain of the St. Louis Blues franchise. He was very competent in his captaincy, having held the position until 1995. In that time, he lead by example. Players knew that with just one shift, with just one pass, Hull could completely change the course of any game.
Just like MacInnis, Hull was also very active in the community, and he lead a lot of St. Louisans getting into hockey in a very big way.
Unfortunately, despite Hull’s success, the St. Louis Blues never even made it to the Conference Finals during his time with the team. Heated arguments between Hull and head coach Mike Keenan lead to Keenan’s firing, and Hull’s captaincy being stripped from him. In the media, Hull and Keenan spoke very poorly about each other, leading to a lot of tension in the organization.
Hull retained a leadership position, but he left the team when, upon his free agency, the Blues refused to include a no-trade clause. He signed with the Dallas Stars.
Hull was a great captain, and his legacy is cemented here in St. Louis as probably the best player to ever wear the blue note. But his temper often lead to issues with the organization, and frankly, the people above him on the list were just better captains. Still, he has recently joined the Blues organization, and fans here will never stop loving him.
Despite winning the Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings, he will forever be remembered as a St. Louis Blue
The St. Louis Blues acquired the rights of AHL player Barclay Plager from the New York Rangers in addition to offensive star Red Berenson in 1967 for Ron Stewart and Ron Attwell in return. The trade worked out very well for the Blues, as Berenson proved to be the first prolific scorer in the newly-created West Division. Plager proved to be an crucial part of the team’s sturdy defense, and the Blues went to three straight Stanley Cup Finals.
]In 1970, Plager was named co-captain of the St. Louis Blues, along with Garry Unger, brother Bob Plager, and Frank St. Marseille. Two years later, Plager became the permanent captain, and held the position for four years.
Plager’s physical play was very popular in St. Louis. Although his offensive abilities were also surprisingly good for a defenseman back then, Plager proved to be a strong defensive force on the Blues roster, in large part due to his fierce style of play. Even at 5’10, Plager was ferocious, being “the guy” on the team that opposing team members had to answer to if they laid out a nasty hit on one of Plager’s teammates, along with brother Bob.
After Plager’s retirement, he continued to play a part in the Blues system. He was named a player-coach for Blues’ CHL farm team in 1977, leading the team into the finals. After which, he completely retired as a player, and became the head coach of the St. Louis Blues.
Unfortunately, Plager’s ability as a player, player-coach and a captain did not transition into pure coaching, and the Blues had their worst season in franchise history. Plager was then relieved of his position.
Shortly after, Plager began experiencing dizzy spells, and, after further inspection, a brain tumor was found. His famous number 8 was retired, and Plager became the assistant coach of the team until his death in 1988. Three days later the All-Star Game, a moment of silence was held in the St. Louis Arena.
In his time with the Blues, Plager played a huge role in the city– fans loved him, players loved him, and the organization loved him. Scotty Bowman, the head coach of the Blues at the time loved Plager’s style of play, and always commended his hitting ability.
Along with players like Al Arbour, Bob Plager, and Red Berenson, Plager was able to bring the St. Louis Blues to the forefront of the hockey world almost immediately, and because of this, hockey came to St. Louis with a bang that has not yet dissipated.
Trading offensive star Brendan Shanahan to the Hartford Whalers for defenseman Chris Pronger seemed like a very risky move, but in doing this, the St. Louis Blues managed to acquire one of the best defenseman of all time, and one of the only players to be elected into the Hall of Fame while he was still playing.
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Pronger’s move to the St. Louis Blues proved to be exactly what he needed to develop into the player that all remember him as.
Under the guise of general manager and head coach Mike Keenan, the offensive prodigy was able to focus on improving his physical condition and working on his defensive skills, as he was playing with MacInnis, another offensive star. Together, Pronger and MacInnis formed a deadly pairing, quickly becoming two of the best defensemen in the league.
MacInnis won the Norris trophy in 1999, and Pronger won his the year after, along with the Hart. In fact, the 1999-2000 season was very important for Pronger and the St. Louis Blues.
In that season, Pronger recorded a career-high 62 points, a +52 rating, and lead the Blues to their very first President’s Trophy. Unfortunately, their regular season success was limited by very lackluster goaltending. Goaltender Roman Turek recorded an abysmal .882 SV%, and a destined St. Louis Blues roster, lead up front by Pierre Turgeon and Pavol Demitra, anchored by Pronger and MacInnis lost 4-3 to the San Jose Sharks in the first round.
In a similar vein to Plager, Pronger was tough. However, he was tough in an era of hockey that was beginning to tighten up on overtly physical play, so many people saw Pronger as dirty. Indeed, Pronger had five suspensions while playing for the St. Louis Blues, all of which were due to reckless and violent plays.
However, when he wasn’t getting suspended for illegal moves, Pronger’s aggression was very effective, and he almost created an art with it. Fortunately, his physical style of play was in direct counter to his teammates, so the Blues, during that time, didn’t have too much counting on that style of play. Everyone had a role, and Pronger knew his well.
During his captaincy, and leading into MacInnis’, Pronger lead the St. Louis Blues to the playoffs every single season, cementing the team’s 25 year long playoff streak. He took the team to heights that they had not yet experienced, and he reached many of his personal records while wearing the Blue Note. He did this with an aggressive style of play that was perfectly complemented by his teammates, and he continued to do all of it while riddled with injuries.
His determination to come back from each and every injury just showed Pronger’s passion and commitment for his teammates, the fans, and hockey in general, and that’s why he’s one of the best St. Louis Blues captain of all time.
In 1976, the St. Louis Blues drafted Brian Sutter 20th overall in the second round of the draft. He started off his career a little bit slowly, as his rookie and sophomore year saw his point totals at 14 and 22, respectively. Most of the games he played, he was mainly a more defensive forward, often dropping the mitts as well; he put up 82 PIM in just 35 games his rookie years. The Blues loved his heart and soul, so they began using him more and more.
In his third year, their choice paid off– Sutter’s offensive output exploded, and he scored 80 points in 77 games, two games less than he played the year before that.
At the same time, his PIM didn’t drop in the slightest– in fact, it kept rising. Sutter continued to drop his gloves when he took exception to plays from the opposing team’s players. From that year onward, Sutter was a consistent 70 point scorer, as well as a huge physical presence on the team (and I don’t mean “huge” literally; Sutter was only 5’11.)
In 1979, after his big season, Sutter became the eighth captain in St. Louis Blues history. While his two-way game was amazing, and his physical presence was devastating, what really pushed Sutter over the edge was his passion. Sutter bled for the Blues every single night– he shrugged off his injuries, because the most important thing in the world to Sutter was winning.
Sutter took losses very personally, and has even said in the past that no one should be around him after a loss. However, he would be completely 100% for the very next game, trying just as hard to win it. While some players may look at a 4-0 deficit and subconsciously concede, Sutter would play the entire game as if they were down one goal in the third period.
It wasn’t all easy for Sutter, though. In 1977, following poor financial decision, the franchise was sold to Ralston Purina. The company began to take monetary losses in the following years, and feeling as if they had purchased the team out of civic responsibility, began to resent the franchise while searching for a buyer.
Purina finally found one who planned to move the team to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Upon hearing this news, the Blues roster (including players like Sutter and Federko) began showing their support to stay in St. Louis, citing how much they love the city and how it reminds them of their homes.
The NHL refused the sale, almost unanimously. Purina essentially threw a fit, padlocked the arena, and refused to continue any hockey operations. In fact, they didn’t even send a representative for the 1983 NHL draft, and the Blues were unable to select anyone, fueling a string of lawsuits between the company and the league. The franchise was handed over to the NHL, who then managed to find a buyer that would keep the team where they were in Harry Ornest.
Ornest, not the wealthiest of businessmen, had to run the team on a tight financial budget, so the team wasn’t the most stacked. In fact, many players took salary cuts simply to remain with the St. Louis Blues. During this time, Sutter still managed to lead the Blues to consecutive playoff runs, and the entire roster broke everyone’s expectations year after year.
Possibly the greatest example of Sutter’s determination and passion is the “Monday Night Miracle.” This was game six in a series against the Calgary Flames in the 1986 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Western Conference Final. This was the closest the St. Louis Blues had been to a Stanley Cup Final since 1970.
The Blues lineup was not as stacked as the Flames’ due to financial issues. They were not the most skilled team in the league, and they knew that. So they had to work unbelievably hard to reach their position in the playoffs.
In the game, the Blues were down 5-2, with 12 minutes left in the third period. These situations are usually hopeless, but Sutter looked at it differently. He kept skating with the same fervor he’s always had, and because of this, he was able to score off of a deflection, beginning the Blues’ comeback.
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Another goal was scored, and with only one minute and 17 seconds left on the clock, the Blues were down 5-4. Miraculously, Greg Paslawski managed to tie it up on a dirty and lucky goal. The game then went into overtime, in which Blues center Doug Wickenheiser scored the final goal.
This is what many consider to be the greatest St. Louis Blues moment in history, and it was all fueled by Sutter.
Following a series of injuries later in his career, Sutter finally hung up his skates after 9 years of captaincy with the St. Louis Blues to fill the coaching void left by Jacques Demers. He eventually went on to coach the Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, and Chicago Blackhawks with mixed success.
There has never been a captain who has so perfectly encompassed the Blues identity. In fact, Sutter may have very well established that identity during his time with the Blues.
Sutter was that player who wanted his team to win so badly that he would stand in front of the net, often getting mangled by sticks and fists, simply in an attempt to get lucky and redirect a puck into the net. He was that player who would argue with a teammate, and the very next game throw down his mitts for him. He was that player that seemingly came out of nowhere. Before hockey, all he wanted to do was help his father on the farm, but he became an absolute star, and the best captain the St. Louis Blues have ever had.
