St. Louis Blues Center Pierre Turgeon The Forgotten Man

The St. Louis Blues have had plenty of great players come through their doors, but some get forgotten. Lost in the shuffle is one particular center.

It is odd how St. Louis Blues players get forgotten at times. Even some of the best to wear the sweater can slip into the “wow, I forgot he played here” category.

One of those guys, for whatever reason, is Pierre Turgeon. Despite his involvement in one of the best teams in the franchise’s history, he gets lost in the shuffle.

If you ask many Blues fans who some of the best centers in team history were, Bernie Federko pops to mind. After that, even though he was only here a brief time, Adam Oates quickly flows from fans lips.

Some people even remember Doug Gilmour started his career with the Blues. He actually put together a solid five years and 354 points.

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Yet, Turgeon had some of the biggest moments with St. Louis. Though he played 19 years in the NHL, only five were spent in the Blue Note.

However, he scored the most points with the Blues out of any he played for. He was in St. Louis longer than any spot too. He did play five seasons in Buffalo, but had five more total games with the Blues than the Sabres.

Turgeon did have more goals with the New York Islanders. However, that number got a huge boost from his 58 goal, 134 point season on Long Island.

Turgeon was actually at his most consistent with the Blues. He had higher highs elsewhere, but he was steady in St. Louis despite never playing a completely full season.

Oddly enough, Turgeon’s best season with the Blues was his final. In 2000-01, he had 30 goals and 82 points and had five goals and 15 points in that year’s playoffs.

Turgeon was also clutch when he needed to be. Despite being known as a playmaker, he could score and came up with a huge goals.

Turgeon eliminated the Phoenix Coyotes in 1999 with an overtime winner.

He scored his 1000th point wearing a Blues sweater.

Turgeon is just outside the top-10 in Blues history for assists with 221. He is also fifth in team history for points in their first 100 games with the Blues.

Turgeon fell just short of a point per game pace with the Blues in the playoffs. He finished with 45 points in 50 games.

Really, one of the few strange things about his career in St. Louis was the fact he did not record a single point in the team’s monumental comeback against the Toronto Maple Leafs on November 29, 2000. When I first saw that, I thought he had to be injured, but he played over 19 minutes in that game.

To be fair, Scott Young did not have a point either. Pavol Demitra only had two assists.

Despite all that – all the heroics and all the Brett Hull goals he helped with – Turgeon gets pushed aside in Blues history.

Everyone talks about Federko, with good reason, and Oates. We even remember the few months Wayne Gretzky was here.

But, until someone jogs your memory, Turgeon sometimes slips through the cracks.

Part of that is because he was one of the many that could not win in St. Louis. The poor guy was always just off.

He went to Dallas just a couple years after they won a Stanley Cup. He ended his career with the Colorado Avalanche when their championship window was just about closed.

Nevertheless, we should not forget he was one of the better centers to lace up skates with the Blues.