Bleedin' Blue
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My Four Favorite Random St. Louis Blues Of All Time

By Todd Panula

13 Jan 1999: Tony Twist #18 of the St. Louis Blues stretches out on the ice before the game against the Buffalo Sabres at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York. The Blues defeated the Sabres 4-2.
13 Jan 1999: Tony Twist #18 of the St. Louis Blues stretches out on the ice before the game against the Buffalo Sabres at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York. The Blues defeated the Sabres 4-2. /
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SOCHI, RUSSIA – FEBRUARY 12: Petr Nedved of Czech Republic in action during the Men’s Ice Hockey Preliminary Round Group C game on day five of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at Bolshoy Ice Dome on February 12, 2014 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Vladimir Rys Photography/Getty Images)
SOCHI, RUSSIA – FEBRUARY 12: Petr Nedved of Czech Republic in action during the Men’s Ice Hockey Preliminary Round Group C game on day five of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at Bolshoy Ice Dome on February 12, 2014 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Vladimir Rys Photography/Getty Images) /

Petr Nedved

Here’s where we really get into the true random players. Petr Nedved was one of those players earmarked for stardom and then, similarly to today’s players with talent but something missing, he bounced around the league like a hot potato.

In reality, I don’t have a solid reason why I liked him. There was something about when the Blues picked him up that had me excited as a kid, though.

Maybe it was based on hockey cards. Around 1991, I was really into collecting hockey cards and I would arrange them by team.

As guys moved around the league, I would do my best to move their cards to the appropriate team page, even if it was a card from another team.

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So, in theory, there was plenty to be excited about when the Blues got Nedved. He was coming off a season where he exploded for 38 goals and 71 points at just 21 years old.

He came in and got 20 points in 19 games for the Blues after signing just prior to the trade deadline. He had been in a contract dispute with Vancouver that season and missed most of the year.

As with many on this list, his stay was too brief. He didn’t score a goal in the playoffs and definitely was not a Mike Keenan style of player, whom the Blues brought in as coach that offseason.

Nedved was quickly dealt to the New York Rangers for Esa Tikkanen and Doug Lidster. Tikkanen would get an honorable mention on this list, as he ended up being a favorite of mine, but I still was not happy they gave up on Nedved.

Maybe it was for the best. His career went up and down.

He scored 45 goals and 99 points in 1995-96 with Pittsburgh, but that might have had as much to do with playing with the Penguins as anything. He returned to New York after two seasons in Pittsburgh and had some good years.

I continued to follow him a bit, but it was hard to root for anyone on a New York team.

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