The St. Louis Blues have a few players whose records will likely never be broken, and this cannot be stressed enough in terms of penalty minutes. These days, you don’t see players spend too much time in the sin bin, but if you know the NHL’s history, that isn’t the case for those who have long since walked away from the game.
For the Blues, each player listed in their top-ten list of single-season penalty minutes logged at least 231 in the box, but Reed Low is the most recent name. In 2002–03, Low logged 234 penalties in minutes, which ranks eighth all-time in one season.
Other names in the top ten include Steve Durbano, who recorded 231 minutes in 1972-73. As for others who also graced the top ten, we won’t name them just yet because they also landed in the top five, starting with Brian Sutter.
Brian Sutter, 1982-83
In 1980-81, Brian Sutter registered 232 penalty minutes, which puts him ninth on the list. One year later, he spent seven more minutes in the box, giving him 239 on the season, which ranks seventh all-time for the Blues. But in 1982-83, Sutter’s 254 minutes puts him tied for fourth alongside Bob Gassoff, who we’ll talk about later.
Getting into 20 fights that year helped his cause, but ironically, Sutter wasn’t your typical fighter who are often otherwise forgettable names. That season, he finished with 46 goals and 76 points in 79 games, taking 16th for the Selke and 10th for the Hart.
Bob Gassoff, 1975-76, 1976-77
Bob Gassoff’s untimely death in 1977 cut short his NHL career to just four seasons, but through 245 games, he sat at 866 penalties in minutes following the 1976-77 season. In three of those seasons, he logged 222-plus minutes, including 306 in 1975-76, which will likely always be a franchise record. He was involved in nine fights that season, and in 10 the year after when he finished with 254 minutes.
Like Sutter, Gassoff was rather productive, as the blueliner accumulated 24 points and six goals in his final season, plus a 5.5 shooting percentage.
Kelly Chase, 1991-92, 1993-94
And finally, we have Kelly Chase, whose name appeared on the Blues top ten list in penalty minutes four times, with two campaigns seeing him finishing in the top five. His 1991-92 outing places him third in single-season penalty minutes in Blues history, behind only his 1993-94 season and Bob Gassoff.
That year, he finished with 264 minutes and saw himself involved in 20 fights, the same number of fights he got into in 1993-94. That season, he added another 278 minutes to his pro hockey resume, and it ended up being a career-high.
(Statistics powered by Hockey-Reference, Fights tracked by Hockey Fights)