St. Louis Blues: Best American Players In The Note
The St. Louis Blues have plenty of great players from all over the world. In honor of America’s birthday, we take a look at some of the best red, white and blue players to wear the Bluenote in St. Louis.
The St. Louis Blues have had plenty of fantastic players over the years. Some were here for a cup of coffee, like Wayne Gretzky.
Others spent a long time with the team. Bernie Federko comes to mind.
However, like most NHL teams, their best players are predominantly Canadian. That’s to be expected.
Our neighbors to the north invented the game after all. So, why wouldn’t they have the most talented players?
Imagine the NFL not having the majority of their great players come from the United States. It would be strange.
In either situation, that does not mean there are not great players from elsewhere. Once a game takes hold in a place, it is bound to produce some good players.
With that in mind, and it being the birthday of the United States of America, why not take a look at some of the best players from the U.S. Without further ado, here are some of the best Blues to come from the red, white and blue.
First line
Keith Tkachuk
Craig Janney
Brett Hull
Talk about talent. Just think of the goals available here.
Keith Tkachuk was a talented player in his own right. He was also one of the last power forwards in the game before the league went to more of a speed-based style where all the guys were shifting and stopping on a dime.
That is not to say Tkachuk did not have skill and skating ability, because he did. He had good hands and could skate, but he was tough, physical and went to the front of the net like someone’s life depended on it.
Tkachuk scored over 200 goals with the Blues.
Craig Janney was one of the better centers the Blues had regardless of nationality. His problem was he was the successor to Adam Oates and then became embroiled in a behind-the-scenes mess that ended his time with the team too early.
Janney was clearly a playmaker first and foremost. He benefited greatly from playing with one of the best scorers of all time, but he was solid in his own right too.
Janney set up 185 goals for the Blues. He also scored 48.
That might not sound like much, but he really only played slightly over two seasons worth of games even though he was with the Blues for parts of four seasons.
Last, but definitely least, is Brett Hull. You can’t go for a list of the best Americans without having the team’s best scorer.
Some might not consider Hull a full-blooded American since he was born Canadian. However, his mother was American and Hull chose to play for the U.S. national team when they called and there is no doubt he had the talent to play for Team Canada if he wanted.
If you take his Blues career alone, it’s probably better than many players’ entire careers. He had 527 goals and 936 points in a Blues uniform.
Second line
T.J. Oshie
David Backes
Scott Young
This line would be a really interesting one. T.J. Oshie and David Backes have a lot of history together.
Backes and Oshie played for the Blues together from 2008 through 2015. Backes had an extra season or two on either end, but those were the meat years of a pretty good sandwich.
Backes was always one of those players you never quite knew what to expect. The talent was there, as shown by two 31 goal seasons and a 64 point season. However, some years the focus was more on defense, which he did quite well.
One thing you could never fault Backes for was heart and effort. Maybe the execution was not on, but he still put the effort in.
The same was true of Oshie. Again, Oshie’s problem was not his own. He was utilized in a way where the team expected him to be a leading scorer. He has a lot of skill and good sniping ability, but he was never going to be someone to put up incredible numbers.
Even so, he put up really good numbers. In seven years with St. Louis, he had 110 goals and 310 points. Put that with 206 goals and 460 points for Backes in The Note and you’ve got a good duo.
Add to that Scott Young and you have a very intriguing line. Despite being a scrappy, but talented scorer, Young never stuck in one place. He always ended up being trade bait or the odd man out.
Still, the Blues got the best out of him. He scored more goals with the Blues than any other team, with 125 in five years. He also set career highs with goals with a 40 goal season and 73 points in that same year.
Young played on some very good teams, but offense was never their forte. So, his stats stand well on their own and he would be a very complimentary piece to a line that would be built on effort as much as talent.
Third Line
Joe Mullen
Paul Stastny
Lee Stempniak
The line is an odd one, but full of talent. The main reason it feels odd is because it feels like none of the players were with the Blues very long, but that was not quite the case.
Joe Mullen is a Hall of Fame player and a multiple time Stanley Cup winner, but he still accomplished a decent amount with the Blues, whom he came into the NHL with. Mullen scored 40-plus goals twice with the Blues, in addition to 25 goals in his rookie year. His last full season with the Blues saw 92 points put up on the board.
Mullen basically had a goal every other game, scoring 151 goals in 301 games with St. Louis. His time was cut short as the team traded him to Calgary for peanuts – no offense to Gino Cavalini.
Paul Stastny‘s main problem was he came in with a lot of hype. The team brought him in to basically do what Ryan O’Reilly and Pat Maroon did, but it all just worked against him. He couldn’t be the hometown hero and couldn’t deliver the same way O’Reilly did.
Still, Stastny was not a disappointment – he just played on some disappointing teams – he just did not put up the same numbers as Colorado. Blues fans wanted the 28 goals and 78 points. Instead, the best they got was 18 goals and 49 points. Nevertheless, Stastny was very consistent despite some injury plagued seasons.
Lee Stempniak was always an intriguing player. He would give you just enough to think there was more in there, but he almost never got to settle into a team long enough.
Even so, he had a season with 27 goals and 52 points out of nowhere for the Blues. He finished his four years in St. Louis with 56 goals and 150 points. Not eye-popping stuff, but enough to be included on a third line where he would not be the focal point and would also play with a solid, play-making center and a winger that would take off all the pressure.
Defensive pairs
Joe Micheletti
Rik Wilson
I’ll be honest. Defense was hard to pick. There were some good players, but not quite the quality of the forwards.
Even so, that should take no shine off players like Joe Micheletti and Rik Wilson or any of the other blue liners.
Unfortunately, Micheletti’s career was cut short. He only had six years in professional hockey and only three years were in the NHL. His first three years were with Calgary and Edmonton in the WHA before they were merged.
Still, Micheletti brought a more energetic style for the day. The Blues brought him in hoping for the 14 goals he had scored with Edmonton, but he struggled with the transition to the NHL. In his second season with the Blues, he fared better with four goals and 31 points.
His defense shined better that season too. He was a plus-13 that season. It doesn’t hurt Micheletti’s case that he still remains one of the team’s best color commentators too.
Like Micheletti, Wilson was not an offensive dynamo, but he was consistent. In four full seasons, he averaged five goals with the Blues and 19 points. Not mouth watering stats, but very solid and something you could count on from a defensive player.
Gordie Roberts
Kevin Shattenkirk
When Gordie Roberts came into the league, he was a pretty big player. 6’1, 195 lbs doesn’t sound big, but it was for the 1970’s. Roberts was another player that flourished offensively in the WHA and didn’t get that offense to move to the NHL.
Still, he was a pretty good player for the Blues. Like Wilson, he was consistent, even if he did not put up big numbers.
His role on this particular team would be more defensive oriented anyway. Kevin Shattenkirk is your offense.
Shattenkirk’s offense was something the team came to count on. When healthy, and playing non-labor shortened seasons, he regularly scored double-digit goals and 40-plus points. Shattenkirk’s years in St. Louis remain the most productive of his career finishing with 58 goals and 258 points in parts of seven seasons.
Rick Zombo
Dwight Schofield
Rick Zombo is not a player you bring in for offense, but that’s why he fits so well on this third pairing. He was a bruiser that would pin you up in the corners.
Zombo could help with the offense with an assist here or there, but those were more from zone exits and then the forwards scoring on the rush. Nevertheless, his defense contributed to the team.
With the Blues, Zombo had really good defensive point share numbers. That basically means his team was able to generate offense based on him stopping the other team’s offense. Like Garth Butcher, Zombo was one that became somewhat of a favorite with Blues fans based on his effort more than actual ability.
As far as Dwight Schofield goes, I’ll be honest that I thought about putting Bret Hedican in this spot. Hedican was a better player overall, but upon reflection, we didn’t really get to see it with the Blues.
Schofield did a little more with less, so he gets the nod. Interestingly, they both had similar points with the Blues, but Schofield had 19 in two seasons and had five goals to go along with it. Hedican had one goal and 19 assists in parts of three seasons and then found his stride in Vancouver.
Schofield’s time in St. Louis was short, but still reasonably productive. He had career highs in goals, points and penalty minutes.
Goaltender
Brent Johnson
The funny thing about goaltender is the Blues had a ton of American goaltenders. They might have had almost as many goalies from America as on ice players.
The difference was time of service, which is why Brent Johnson get the nod. If we go based on pure talent alone, you would probably pick Ryan Miller.
You also have talented guys like Ben Bishop, Jon Casey and Tom Barrasso. None were the starter and none were here long enough.
So, Brent Johnson is the best American goalie to actually play and start for the Blues. Like almost every Blues goaltender of the past 40 years, his time between the pipes was contentious with the fans, but he was very good when at his best.
There is a case to be made that the Blues might have fared better in the 2001 playoffs if they had Johnson in net as opposed to Roman Turek. The year after that, with Johnson firmly the starter, he had 34 wins, .902 save percentage and a 2.18 goals against.
Despite only going 5-5 in the playoffs that year, he had even better numbers. He had a .929 save percentage and a 1.83 goals against and that looks even better considering he had to face Chicago and Detroit.
In parts of five seasons, Johnson went 76-47-12. He might not go down as one of the best ever for the Blues, but he was definitely one of the best American’s to suit up in the net.
Next. Forgotten Blues: Paul Kariya. dark
So, what do you think of our list. Are there any stars and striped players we missed or any other players that had you chanting USA!?
Let us know in the comments or on social media.