Former St. Louis Blues Forward Going Into Hall Of Fame

For those of us that have followed the St. Louis Blues long enough, we have entered a slightly odd period. For the most part, there just aren’t going to be a ton of players either eligible or selected for any sort of Hall of Fame.

That’s why it was a little bit of news to hear a former Blues forward will be getting enshrined. Jamie Langenbrunner is going to be recognized by the US Hockey Hall of Fame.

Langenbrunner played a total of 18 seasons in the NHL, 16 of which were full seasons at the highest level. He would only feature with the Blues for two seasons, but he was still an impact player of sorts.

In his full season in St. Louis, even at the age of 36, Langenbrunner still managed six goals and 24 points. Unfortunately, despite some decent personal and team success, that was one of the years the Blues ran into the buzz saw that was the Los Angeles Kings on route to a Stanley Cup.

Langenbrunner was relegated to a veteran leadership role the following year. Some injuries, combined with a lockout-shortened seasons where the Blues were looking to get more games for players such as Vladimir Tarasenko and other young guys, meant only four games for the veteran in 2012-13.

Langenbrunner would retire after that season. Though he would not feature in the team’s success, you still felt his presence played a part in the Blues transitioning to an actual contender, which would be realized when they made the Western Conference Final a few seasons later.

The Minnesota-born forward would finish his career having played for the Blues, Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils. He captained the Devils, won a Stanley Cup in Dallas and New Jersey and also wore the C with USA Hockey in their 2010 silver medal tournament.

Unfortunately for Langenbrunner, and all those involved, that was the fateful game where the United States lost in overtime to the Canadians. Even so, Langenbrunner featured for a goal and four points in six games in the Vancouver Olympics.

He ended his career with 243 goals and 663 points. According to his US Hockey HOF page, he was selected in the NHL Draft after his junior year of high school.

That’s a pretty incredible feat in and of itself. Unfortunately, he is now involved as an assistant general manager with the Boston Bruins, but we’ll let that slide.

Like many big names in the league, the Blues only saw Langenbrunner for a cup of coffee. Nevertheless, even diminished by age, you still got the sense of what he provided and the skill he possessed.

It is still very fitting that he goes into the Hall of Fame for US Hockey. If this were baseball, he clearly would not be going in with a St. Louis cap, but we can still celebrate the fact he put on the Bluenote.

Congratulations to Jamie Langenbrunner on a good career and a great honor.