St. Louis Blues: On The Seventh Day Of Bluesmas 2020

Keith Tkachuk

Keith Tkachuk was a star player by the time the Blues acquired him. He had a great career with Winnipeg/Phoenix before the Blues picked him up.

If you haven’t picked up a pattern here, just about all the number sevens either went on to bigger things or did just as many great things with other teams before they arrived. At least with Tkachuk, the Blues got nearly half his production.

Tkachuk ended his career with 1065 points and 538 goals. 208 goals and 427 points came with the Blues, which is not too shabby.

Tkachuck was regularly in the top six forwards. Even as he aged, Tkachuk was still pretty consistent.

The Blues missed out on the 50-goal seasons, but Tkachuk was still a good offensive force. He was one of the last true power forwards that had the talent to snipe goals but also park the bus in front of the net.

The thing that sucked for Tkachuk was that he came in right after the Blues made the Western Conference Final, so he missed out on that. While he played on some successful teams in St. Louis, the ownership went into flux during his time as well and players were sold/traded off.

Still, Tkachuk felt loyalty to the team and the city. Even after being traded to the Atlanta Thrashers, Tkachuk came back for three more seasons before retiring in 2010.

Beyond just being a player for the Blues, Tkachuk helped out the St. Louis hockey scene. He was a youth coach for awhile, in addition to being a scout for the Blues. Now, he has two sons in the NHL. Perhaps years down the road, they will become Blues too. Maybe even be the next great number 7.