St. Louis Blues Mount Rushmore Would Be Impressive
The St. Louis Blues might not have the length of history other teams do, but they have plenty of greatness in their past. With that in mind, let us start a friendly debate about who would be on your Blues Mount Rushmore.
The St. Louis Blues have never won a Stanley Cup. That painful fact is already well known by fans of the organization and rubbed in our noses by rivals at every turn.
Not winning a championship does not mean your team and franchise does not or did not have great players. Look at other sports. Some of the best players in history never won.
Dan Marino never won a Super Bowl. Karl Malone and John Stockton never won a title together because they kept running into the Bulls. For years the Chicago Cubs had teams with players more individually talented than the one that won in 2016, but could never put it all together.
The same is true of the Blues. Whether it’s the teams of the late 60’s or mid 80’s or late 90’s/early 2000’s, the Blues had plenty of great players. They just couldn’t find that little bit extra, as a team, to win the big one.
Still, there are plenty of guys that were all-timers. So, in honor of Independence Day, why not think of who would belong on the Blues version of Mount Rushmore?
It’s an intriguing discussion because it forces you to examine what you value most. You can only pick four names, so the choices between certain players get tough.
Of course, there will be names that jump out to everyone right from the get go. Those final selections will differ greatly between older and younger fans, those that value scoring or defense or those that want goaltening in there.
So, let the fireworks begin.
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.
Bernie Federko
To those of us under 40, it’s hard to know Bernie Federko as anything but a broadcaster. The man known in St. Louis by his first name as much as his last is not old, by any means, but played in a time long enough ago that it is easier to forget.
Federko came in the “in-between time” as I like to call it. He was not far enough back to have played on those original teams that garnered so much fame. He’s not recent enough to have been seen by the younger generation or have as many highlight reels available either.
None of that takes away from Federko’s greatness though. Much like the second face on the real Mount Rushmore, Thomas Jefferson, Federko is often forgotten but as important (if not more so) than any on this list.
Federko is in the top-20 of all-time regular season point scorers with 1130 points. He is actually still the leading point scorer in Blues history as well, putting up 1073 of his points in a Blues uniform.
His teams might not get the notoriety of some previous or latter Blues squads, but he led some decent teams. The Blues won their division in his rookie season. While they missed the playoffs the following two years, they never missed again while Federko was there.
Federko and the Blues got all the way to the conference finals in 1985-86 before falling to the Calgary Flames. Federko had 102 points that year, just five shy of his career high. He also had 21 playoff points that season.
Like Hull, there was no storybook ending for Bernie. He was traded away to get Adam Oates onto the team.
Some nagging injuries and a lack of production by his own standards led to his somewhat early retirement at age 33. Federko almost immediately returned to St. Louis and has been here, for the most part, ever since.
Like Ernie Banks with the Chicago Cubs or Ozzie Smith with the Cardinals, Federko might not have been the absolute best to ever suit up. He was damn good though and made a connection with the fans and the city that continues today.
Chris Pronger
Here’s where I’m going to start diverting from fans and the real discussion can begin. Everyone will have their own choices for the last two faces on the mountain, but it’s hard to not put Chris Pronger on there for me.
There are plenty of other options for this spot, of course. You can’t go wrong with guys like Al MacInnis or Bobby Plager.
For this discussion, I chose Pronger over MacInnis due to time served in St. Louis compared to other teams. MacInnis was actually in St. Louis longer, 10 seasons compared to nine. However MacInnis is just as known, if not more, for his time in Calgary.
MacInnis was in Calgary for 13 years and was a prominent part of teams that won championships. While Pronger won a title elsewhere – seems to be a theme on this list – he played the longest in St. Louis.
Pronger was the team captain and a stalwart on some very talented teams that fell just short. The Blues went to the conference finals one time under Pronger.
His teams went up against some of the best in the game too. The Blues lost to the eventual Cup champion five times while Pronger was on the team as well.
Another theme that seems to be with my selections was an end to their time in the city that was less than satisfactory. Pronger was done right by the Blues in that they sent him to a cup contending team right away.
However, the reason he was dealt was sickening to begin with. The Blues became embroiled in an ownership switch and Bill Laurie felt it was best to gut the team to make it more attractive to prospective buyers.
Pronger was one of the first to go and one of the most heartbreaking. He sill had good years in front of him and it was the first time in quite some time the Blues had given up on a player in their prime.
Plager is more beloved by those in St. Louis because of his involvement with the team and the community. However, Pronger was just an overall better player.
He was not an offensive dynamo, but he could score when necessary. He also formed one of the best top pairing duos in NHL history when he played with MacInnis.
356 points doesn’t sound impressive, but for a defense-first guy it is pretty good. Pronger ended up with 698 points in his career and a Stanley Cup.
Much like Teddy Roosevelt, his inclusion might be the most divisive but it is still warranted.
Vladimir Tarasenko
This choice was the most difficult personally. Both my want to put other guys on here or the youth of Tarasenko almost kept him off but the guy just has that it factor.
Being a goaltender myself, it was hard not to put someone from the masked men on here. The Blues goaltending history is just so checkered though.
Most people think of Glenn Hall, Jacques Plante or Curtis Joseph when they think of Blues goaltenders. The first two played here only briefly and made their names with other teams. Joseph will always be a favorite, but didn’t even play half his career with the Blues.
Some of CuJo’s best years were in St. Louis. However, he played in a time when goalie numbers were not as great and despite the spectacular saves we all remember, he didn’t have much defense and let in quite a few overall.
So, why not include Tarasenko? He clearly does not have the clout or history of an Abraham Lincoln yet, but if he stick around he very well might.
After taking some time to get used to a severe culture shift, Tarasenko has blossomed into one of the league’s stars. He’s become one of the NHL’s better scorers and someone quite marketable as well, which is important in today’s game.
Tarasenko gained national fame by being the coverboy for EA Sports’ NHL 17 video game. It was the first time a member of the Blues had been on the cover of the game since Pronger graced the cover in 2000.
As far as on-ice accolades go, Tarasenko is still finding his game but he’s done pretty good for a start. He’s had three straight 70-plus point seasons. At only 25 he already has 145 goals with the Blues as well.
Many consider Tarasenko a playoff failure, but his only problem so far is being streaky in the postseason. In terms of overall performance, he’s already third on the Blues all-time postseason goals list with 22.
Fans have gotten used to his presence since he’s been around for parts of five seasons. However, he’s still very young. Tarasenko has already shown the talent for greatness and is just entering the prime of his career.
Even more impressive about the Russian’s performance is his ability to do it himself. We all love everyone that suits up in the Note, but he’s had nothing even close to a number one center in his NHL career.
His only failure in the regular season so far is not measuring up to Hull. Still, his goal totals in each season have put him in the top tier of scorers. Fans just always want that little bit extra because the grass is always greener on the other side.
Vladimir Tarasenko has more future ahead of him than past behind him. Even so, he’s quickly become one of the Blues best.
There are surely names that other people will want on their own Mount Bluesmore more and that’s fine. That’s what these discussions are about.
There really is no right or wrong answer. We all have our own reasons for each name we would put up there. Some might put Chase or Twist up there. Some might throw up Pavol Demitra.
Others might put up some of the older generation like Berenson or Sutter. It’s all good. So, who would be on your Mount Bluesmore? It might be a tougher decision than you think.