2 St. Louis Blues Get Recognition, 1 Snubbed By NHLPA

The St. Louis Blues had a couple players recognized by the NHLPA in their yearly player vote. One member of the organization got the cold shoulder.

I feel like we have hit the bottom of the barrel when forced to discuss the yearly player survey. However, this is the world we live in, St. Louis Blues fans.

With that in mind, let’s get into it. The NHLPA does a yearly survey where they ask a bunch of questions that have slightly more merit than those surveys that go around Facebook.

The Blues did not get a ton of love, but why would they really? St. Louis is one of those cities that if you have not played here, it is easy to overlook. Even after winning the Stanley Cup, we get overlooked, but no matter.

The member of the Blues that got the biggest snub was poor Louie. Of all people…er, things? Fuzzies? Anyway, of all whatevers, Gritty won the vote for best mascot.

More from St Louis Blues News

• St. Louis Blues Giving Nick Ritchie A Look Is No Lose Situation
• St. Louis Blues Torey Krug Already Injured Before 2023-24 Season
• Former St. Louis Blues Forward Going Into Hall Of Fame
• Can Hofer Upstage Binnington in Starting Goalie Spot for Blues?
• St. Louis Blues 2023-24 fourth line depth chart could be surprisingly strong

In all honesty, Gritty is actually somewhat entertaining. He is the mascot version of that movie that is so overhyped that by the time you see it, you’re already over it. Plus, he’s probably the only mascot players could even think of other than whatever one is for their own team.

Louie fits in with St. Louis. He’s entertaining without being mean. Gritty is very much Philly.

As far as the players that got recognition, it was David Perron and Ryan O’Reilly. They got voted as the league’s best bromance and why not?

Back on Halloween in 2019, the two actually dressed up as one another. What made it even more funny was neither one did it on purpose. They did not organize that beforehand.

The friendship might have come first, but their chemistry on the ice solidified their duo. O’Reilly set up plenty of Perron goals in 2019-20, including some of his seven goals in the playoffs. As St. Louis Gametime, and the video below, pointed out, Perron and O’Reilly couldn’t help but gush.

"Perron on O’Reilly: ‘It’s unbelievable to play with a guy like that’David Perron says linemate Ryan O’Reilly deserved every bit of the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the Stanley Cup playoffs MVP."

So, at least the Blues got a little love – beyond just themselves, of course.

Beyond that, there were a few interesting results.

Sidney Crosby got voted as the most complete player. I’m not sure I would agree, but it probably depends on your individual definition of complete.

I would lean more towards a type like O’Reilly or the man who finished second in the voting, Patrice Bergeron. Those two spend more effort helping on the defensive end.

Perhaps Crosby has become a better defender at this stage of his career. I’ll be honest and say I don’t have the opportunity to watch many Pittsburgh Penguins games these days. However, earlier in his career he did not pass the eye test as a defender and that makes up being complete in my estimation.

Brad Marchand was named both best and worst trash talker. Not sure how that makes sense, but whatever.

The Chicago Blackhawks won…oh, excuse me…

via GIPHY

Sorry. The Blackhawks won for best jersey.

I guess. The white one does have a certain something about it.

43.7% of the players would be in favor of custom skate design. I think that would be fairly interesting.

It would give the NHL a little bit of an NBA feel. Maybe Nathan MacKinnon skates could be like Jordans, but slightly less popular since you can’t wear skates anywhere but the rink.

Also, 73% of players would like a relaxed dress code on game day, i.e. no suits and ties. No offense – perhaps I’m getting too old even though I’m classified as a millennial – but I don’t want to see guys arriving to the arena in board shorts and flip flops, which someone would definitely do. Stick to the classic look and find ways to mix that up.

The only other interesting category was nickname. Tomas Tatar won that vote with his nickname “Tuna”. Really?

Tomas “Tuna” Tatar? I get the connection – fish, tartar sauce, but c’mon. How in the world you could pass up the opportunity to call him Tatar Sauce?

But, all in all, it’s all just a bit of fun. The players don’t really take these things seriously, so there isn’t much reason we should either.

The Blues got some recognition and given some of the categories, maybe this was the best one to win. Everyone needs a little love after all, right?