St. Louis Blues Mount Rushmore Would Be Impressive
By Todd Panula
Brett Hull
This one is pretty much a no brainer. Unless you just hated Brett Hull for his brash personality or the fact he won elsewhere, there was nobody else to be the first face on the sculpture.
Hull would not be comparable to George Washington in the idea that he was the first. However, though there is clear debate, many still classify Washington as one of the greatest and most well known. That’s why he was the first and most prominent face on the mountain.
That description fits Hull to the letter. Say what you will about the man himself, but the guy was a rare commodity on the ice.
He had some of the greatest hockey sense we’ll likely ever see in a Blues uniform. He always knew where to be to get an open pass and usually made defenders pay for not marking him more tightly.
Compared to today’s players, Hull might not be able to hang in terms of pure skating ability or do the fancy dangles. He was a goal scorer though, pure and simple.
Hull ranks tied for 22nd in all-time points. He’s fourth all-time in goals scored with 741.
To put that in perspective, Alex Ovechkin is considered today’s purest goal scorer. As great as Ovi has been, he has 558 career goals. That’s almost 200 goals behind and Ovechkin will turn 32 by the start of the 2017-18 season.
Whether it was with Oates, Janney, Gretzky or much lesser names, Hull just managed to hit the back of the net. In 11 seasons in St. Louis, he only failed to score 40 goals twice and one time was during a lockout shortened year.
By the end of his stay, he had somewhat worn out his welcome. The talent was waning just a bit and the mouth was becoming a little more than fans wanted to deal with.
In hindsight, it would have been better had he stayed. He never scored 40 after leaving the Blues, but won a Cup immediately after.
You have to wonder what Hull could have done playing with some of those teams the Blues had right after his departure. Even after winning titles elsewhere though, he is still widely considered the face of the organization.