St. Louis Blues Showcased Some Great Father-Son Combos

The St. Louis Blues have had some of the league’s best father-son combos come through their doors. In honor of Father’s Day, let’s take a look.

Not everyone to come through the St. Louis Blues had their father come before them. Even so, the Blues have at least featured half of some of the better father son combinations that the league has seen.

Rick and Landon Wilson – It’s not often that the son surpasses the father. This was the case with Landon Wilson. His father Rick played only four NHL seasons, two of which were spent with the Blues. Known much more for his defense, he only scored a total of 14 points in his two years in St. Louis before they let him go and he saw one more season in Detroit. Landon bounced around as well, but saw a decade worth of NHL seasons. Drafted by Toronto, he started in Colorado, spent four years in Boston, four in Phoenix and one in Pittsburgh and Dallas before calling it quite.

Ray and Landon Ferraro – Landon has not had the pleasure of playing for the Blues yet, but his dad did. Although his time in the gateway city was rather short, Chicken Parm as John Buccigross liked to call him, had a decent run with the Blues. After getting traded to St. Louis for the playoff run, he scored six goals and four assists in 15 games. Landon started with the Detroit Red Wings. After two years of bouncing around between big club and minors, he got more time and scored five goals. He was then traded to the Boston Bruins, where he also scored five goals in 2015-16.

Bob and Hank Bassen – Both Hank and Bob played for the hated Chicago Blackhawks during their careers, which should make them enemy number one. However Bob redeemed himself by pulling on the bluenote sweater. He played four years in St. Louis with a couple 30+ point seasons before heading out. He returned for one season in the Lou before calling it quits in 2000. Hank wasn’t as well known as he was mainly a backup goaltender. He spent two years in Chicago and then all but one year of the rest of his career in Detroit.

Rob and John Ramage – Rob was one of the better defenders the Blues had in the early 80’s. He spent six seasons wearing the bluenote and amassed over 60 points three times in that span. Although Ramage was a good defender and well liked, the Blues had to give up something to acquire Brett Hull and that deal turned out pretty well for the Blues. Rob’s son John played one season in St. Louis, with the Bandits of the NAHL. He got drafted by the Calgary Flames and is now with the Columbus organization. He just won a Calder Cup with the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL, but only has two NHL games under his belt.

Perry and Travis Turnbull – Perry Turnbull entered the NHL with the Blues and played five productive seasons after scoring 75 goals in one season in the WHL. He scored 30+ goals in three of his seasons here before being dealt to the Montreal Canadiens. He never quite returned to the success he saw as a Blue, though his goals to games ratio soared once he went to Italy to play. His son Travis signed a two-way NHL contract in 2009, but only ever played three games with the Buffalo Sabres. He now plays in the top division in Germany.

Thomas and Alexander Steen – outside of our next father-son duo, the Steens might be the most prolific. Thomas scored 817 points in his career, all of which was spent with the original Winnipeg Jets. Alexander has been more of a two-way forward, so his point totals are about half (355 as of 2015-16). Even so, Steen was one of the main reasons the Blues went as far as they did in the 2016 playoffs. Thomas was also a good playoff performer with 44 points in 52 career playoff games.

Bobby and Brett Hull – If there was one duo that was going to top the Steens, it has to be the Hulls. Bobby spent almost his entire NHL career with the Chicago Blackhawks and then took up the player’s cause by bolting to the WHA and the Winnipeg Jets to spur free agency in the NHL. In the NHL alone, he scored over 600 goals and had over 1100 points. He had 638 just in the WHA. Following in his father’s footsteps, Brett made an impact almost immediately. He scored 50 points in 52 games in his first full year in Calgary. Then he scored 84 in his first year in St. Louis before rattling off four consecutive seasons of 100+ point years. Brett ended his career with 741 goals and over 1300 points. There isn’t a father-son combination that can even compare to their career numbers.

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Both Spent Time In St. Louis

Bob and Brent Johnson – Bob Johnson only played 12 games in St. Louis, but that’s still enough. Brent Johnson was thought to be the heir apparent in goal when his time rolled around. He had some good seasons in St. Louis, but as is the curse of the position in this city, he never achieved what many hoped he would. Interestingly enough, both Bob and Brent played for both St. Louis and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brent was also involved in a game that saw the first time two second-generation goaltenders faced each other.

Mike and BJ Crombeen – Mike was originally drafted by the Cleveland Barons (yes, Cleveland had an NHL team). However, after one season, he spent five seasons in St. Louis. He only got double digit goals twice, but in those days there were a lot more grinders and the Blues weren’t exactly lighting the world on fire in the late 70’s and early 80’s. BJ started his career in Dallas, but was claimed by the Blues off waivers in 2008. He immediately made an impact, scoring 11 goals and having people think he could be a valuable piece. He spent most of the rest of his time on the third and fourth line and was eventually dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

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Basil and Phil McRae – Basil McRae was somewhat of a fan favorite in St. Louis, but the interesting thing is he never played a full season in the city. He was either injured or simply not played. Basil gained some notoriety when he had a small role in the film The Mighty Ducks. His time with the Blues was never quite as grand. His son, Phil, played 15 games with the Blues in 2010-11 but never saw the NHL after that. He spent several seasons with the Peoria Rivermen and then went to the top Finnish league in 2013-14. He returned to the Blues organization with a one-year, two-way deal and played with the Chicago Wolves after that. He is now with the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL.

Peter, Paul and Yan Stastny – It’s pretty hard to find good father-son combinations, but when you can get both of your sons into the NHL, you’ve got good genes. The only other name that pops into mind is the Howe’s. Unfortunately, St. Louis fans never got to see the best of Peter. In his prime he scored 100+ points for fun. He scored double digit points in five of his 12 playoff runs as well. Age had caught up with him too much by the time he got to St. Louis. However, his sons came of age in the city and were associated with St. Louis enough to call it their hometown when the time came.

Yan had a bouncy career. He was drafted by Boston, started his career in Edmonton but only played three games and was then traded back to Boston. He was then traded to the Blues, where he saw the bulk of his games at the NHL level. Five of his six career goals came in a Blues sweater. Then came 2014. Uber-free agent Paul Stastny was wooed by the Blues. While there are arguments on both sides as to whether he’s lived up to the contract, Stastny has given the Blues a boost in the faceoff circle. He’s got to keep improving from a scoring standpoint, but what a family. Even two uncles (Anton and Marian) played in the NHL.

Next: Part III of Free Agents The Blues May Consider

Whether it’s the fans and players or the players and their own families, hockey really is a family affair. Fathers and mothers take their sons out to the ponds or rinks and the love affair is born. The Blues have been the beneficiaries of some pretty special hockey genes.

There are some more in the pipeline as well. Matthew Tkachuk is expected to be a high pick in the 2016 draft. Ryan MacInnis is still playing junior hockey, but is in the Arizona Coyotes’ organization. Maybe one day the Blues will have another MacInnis and Tkachuk to make this list even longer.

Whether you have the next NHL star or just the next Blues fan, Happy Father’s Day to all the dad’s out there.