On The Fifth Day Of Christmas The St. Louis Blues Gave To Me

Five golden Europeans! The St. Louis Blues have been fortunate to have five different European born players that have helped contribute to the team’s success.

Many players have originated overseas in the NHL, and the St. Louis Blues have acquired a handful of international talent that has helped provide success in St. Louis over the past decade.

Before I go any further, I want to preface this article by saying that I know Alexander Steen was born in Winnipeg, Canada but he does play his international hockey in Sweden, so he will be mentioned in this article.

We’ll start with Steen, the 34-year-old has been with the Blues for 11 seasons now and has been a staple in the Blues lineup over that span. The former first-round pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs has given Blues fans some great moments.

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Seen is not the 30 goal scorer that he was back in 2013-2014, but he is still one of the best two-way forwards in the league.

Although Steen has been shuffled around the lines a lot this season due to the new forward additions, he still has found a way back into the top-6.

He may not have the best contract on the team, but Steen is one of the true professional’s on the team, and his absence will be missed when the time comes.

Oskar Sundqvist has been one the surprise players for the Blues so far this season. He has already scored more goals this season than he has in his entire NHL career combined.

But what sticks out about Sundqvist this year, is his penalty killing ability. The 24-year-old Swede has been one of the best defensive forwards for the Blues this season and has been a huge part of St. Louis’ success on the penalty kill.

Ivan Barbashev has also been a stand out player this season. Barbashev broke into the league two years ago and only appeared in 30 games. He scored five goals and registered seven assists and eventually finished out the year at the minor league level.

This season, Barbashev has turned it around. He is contributing both offensively and defensively and has contributed to the identity of the fourth line. In 29 games so far this season, Barbashev has scored five times and has nine points overall.

Barbashev has been one of the only players on the fourth line who has played the majority of the season. Many players on the Blues bottom six have been swapped in and out of the lineup, but the young Russian has been consistently in the lineup.

Carl Gunnarsson, like Steen, has split his career between the Blues and the Maple Leafs. Gunnarsson was drafted in the seventh round by Toronto and was acquired by the Blues in 2014.

There aren’t many players that can make such a great career after being drafted in the seventh round, but the Swedish born defenseman has been the exception.

Unfortunately for the 32-year-old, injuries have been the story of his season in 2018. Gunnarsson has only played in seven games this year after playing in 63 the year prior.

Gunnarsson is a crucial piece to the Blues defensive core, and when healthy he has historically been in the Blues top-4 defensive pairing. He isn’t expected back into the lineup until at least the new year, so until then, the Blues will have to rely on their depth to stay above water.

Possibly one of the most notable Russian born players not named Alex Ovechkin, Vladimir Tarasenko has been one of the Blues all-time greats. He is approaching 200 career goals and 400 points.

Currently, Tarasenko is in a funk, and it seems like he cannot score to save his, or the team’s life. No one denies that Tarasenko can be a 50 goal scorer in the NHL, but he has just not figured out how to be consistent quite yet.

He has been a 40 goal scorer in the past, but ever since he reached that mark in 2015-16, he has scored 39 and 33 goals in the two seasons since. Now, I am in no way saying that a 33 goal season is bad, but the Blues need him to step up his game and reach a new level of greatness.

Next. Fourth Day Of Christmas. dark

International flavor is great, and many of the players that come from overseas have personalities that Blues fans fall in love with. There are many more players in the Blues system that come from Europe, and hopefully, we will be writing about them shortly.

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