WARNING: The fourth line gets gritty. If you do not believe fighting has a place in hockey, feel free to skip this slide and move onto the next article linked at the bottom of the page.
LW: 1998-99 Tony Twist
The legendary hockey fighter Tony Twist will always hold a special place in the hearts of Blues fans. We all know that there cannot be an All-Star fourth line that excludes Twist.
In this instance, we just picked the season where he racked up the most penalty minutes. Ironically enough, it was also the season that he scored the most points (8 points).
He’s not in this lineup to score though. He’s in this lineup to play hard-nosed hockey.
In 1998-99 Twist compiled 149 penalty minutes in just 63 games played. On average, he received roughly 2.37 minutes in the box per game.
This beast was nearly unbeatable in a hockey scrap and struck fear into the hearts of the other team night in and night out. Twist is a valuable addition to a team that is primarily focused on scoring.
C: 1990-91 Bob Bassen
Bob Bassen from the 1990-91 season was chosen to be the fourth line center because of his scoring ability combined with his ability to rack up minutes in the penalty box.
In 79 games, Bassen put up 16 goals and 18 assists for a total of 34 points. That may not sound like much but, for a gritty fourth-line center, it is respectable.
Bassen also averaged 2.32 penalty minutes per game (183 minutes total). A guy who can score and play this brand of hockey is incredibly rare. Not to mention he contributed 1.4 points to the team with his defense (DPS).
The then 25-year-old center would be expected to spark some scoring in an offensively challenged fourth line while also providing a strong physical presence.
RW: 1993-94 Kelly Chase
Last but not least we have 1993-94 Kelly Chase filling in as the fourth-line right-winger.
Chase played in 68 games during that season, racking up just seven points on two goals and five assists. He paired those numbers with a minus-5.
Good thing we are looking for All-Star caliber tough guys though because, boy, was Chase good at that. By the end of the season in 1994, the then 26-year-old forward had 278 penalty minutes under his belt. Like Twist, Chase was nearly unbeatable in a hockey scrap.
He was a bit of a liability in 1993-94 with -1.1 point shares. This number was so low because of his inability to find the scoring sheet but was not all that bad defensively.
This fourth line would be unnerving for anyone playing the Blues. Teams would have to hire an extra physical trainer to tend to all the extra pain afflicted by these bruisers. It might get even worse if Bassen can spark offense to supplement the physical play.