St. Louis Blues Monday Matchups: Adam Oates vs Bernie Federko
By Todd Panula
The St. Louis Blues have been fortunate to have some of the league’s best players grace their ice, even if briefly. So, which one would have been better if they stayed their entire careers?
When looking at this matchup on the surface, it is hard not to just blindly pick Bernie Federko. The man essentially played his entire career with the St. Louis Blues. There was that one season where he played in Detroit, but that’s sort of like Michael Jordan playing on the Wizards. You just sort of acknowledge it happened but not really.
Adam Oates, on the other hand, basically had a cup of coffee and a donut in St. Louis over the course of his 19 year career. Despite the relative shortness of his time in the city, he made an unbelievable impact with the team when paired with Brett Hull and fans who were around during that period still awe over the duo.
So, it begs the question of which one would have been better to keep over the course of their careers. Which one would have been plugged into any era and succeeded. Which one wins our Monday Matchup?
Bernie Federko
Outside of Brett Hull, Federko is probably considered Mr. Blue. He spent almost the entirety of his career in the city and stayed here after. He has joined the team as part of their television coverage and been a champion for the team in all aspects such as charity and the idea that this team will one day win a Stanley Cup.
He had a fairly remarkable career as well. Drafted 7th overall in the 1976 Draft by the Blues, Federko came in the very next season. He played 31 games and had 23 points. That would be the lowest amount of points he would ever score in his career.
He averaged 85 points per season for the rest of his career and that included a 41 point season in his second year. From age 22 to 29 he only failed to score 30 or more goals once and only failed to score 20 or more goals three times in his entire career.
On an interesting side note, Federko was also drafted by the Edmonton Oilers, who were in the World Hockey Association at the time with the 6th overall pick of their 1976 Draft. So, Federko could have been playing with Wayne Gretzky had he gone that route.
Adam Oates
Oates only got to play parts of three seasons with the St. Louis Blues, but what an impact he made during that brief time. During his first two seasons with the Blues he scored over 100 points, which was a feat he only accomplished two other times in his career.
Oates was a true setup man. He only scored 58 goals in two and a half seasons with the Blues compared to 228 assists.
Much of that was due to Hull. Hull and Oates, a play on Hall and Oates, became the talk of the town and had people envisioning championships. It was the Blues version of what the Blackhawks have now with Toews and Kane.
Oates was a fantastic player, but his peaks made his valleys look worse than they were. When you show you are capable of putting up over 100 points, with a career high of 142, then scoring in the 70’s doesn’t look as good.
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There was no denying his compete level though. Even at age 39, he put up 78 points and still managed 45 points at 40 in a diminished role with the Mighty Ducks.
Oates could well have spent more time with the Blues if he had kept his mouth shut. He had just signed an extension with the Blues and then felt underpaid when seen the money given to Brendan Shanahan and Garth Butcher. So, he threatened to walk if the team did not re-negotiate. So, it ended in him getting traded.
An interesting side note for Oates is that he was part of the deal that sent Federko Detroit. It was a trade that occurred in the summer of 1989 that included Paul MacLean.
Overview
It’s difficult to put these two on an even playing field. Federko didn’t get to play as long as Oates but kept his point average per season much higher due to that.
Federko retired because he scored 57 at age 33. Oates kept playing into his 40’s.
If you cut off their numbers to the same age gaps then Federko scored 971 points from age 23-33. Oates had 914 during that same period of his career. It should be noted that Oates also had to sit through a work stoppage that cut one season short.
The interesting thing about this matchup was the goals scored. I expected Oates to be far behind, but Oates ended up with 341 career goals and Federko had 369. Granted, Oates played much longer but still
Oates had 1420 career points and Federko had 1130. Again, Oates played a bit longer so you would figure that.
Final Thoughts
The winner of this match really depends on what you value. I’ll be honest and say when I came up with this bout, I had the idea of declaring Oates the winner because I wanted to see he and Hull play together for their entire careers.
On second viewing though, I am leaning toward the man who already spent almost an entire career with the Blues. Federko and Hull did not have that dynamic partnership, but Federko was in decline and Hull was not yet the Hull we came to know when they played together.
Oates and Hull had a special partnership together, but from a purely singular view point, he may not have provided as much as Federko. For as great as Oates was, he only scored 30 or more goals in a season on two occasions (both with Boston).
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In the end, I think Federko wins this. He had as many 100 point seasons, playing with players less talented than some of those Oates was fortunate to link with. He scored more goals than Oates in a shorter career. While he may not have put up 90 assist seasons, if he was able to play with Hull during the primes of their careers, it is hard not to imagine similar numbers or better put up by Federko.