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.