Note: I just noticed today that I started this post on July 19 *last year* and thought I’d go ahead and finish it. I left the intro for irony’s sake. My attitude changed slightly too, since I started it, and I did end up skipping some numbers. Oh well
Hey! It only took me 9 months to write another post, wow, I’m getting good at this. Today’s post was inspired by an article of interest over at Fansided’s Puck Prose page where they list the best player to wear each number in NHL history. I’ve only been lucky enough to watch hockey for about 3 decades, so many of the earlier, notable players were before my time, but I figured I could probably find a favorite to wear each, if not most, numbers on the list, whether considered among the best or not. Here we go (and yes, this took forEVER)
Except for 0 (zero) because I’ve never heard of the only guy to ever wear it so…
1:Ā Mike Liut, one of the first Blues I can remember, goalie from the 1980’s
2: Al MacInnis, easy choice, one of the best ever, still with the organization
3: Al Arbour, obviously never saw him play, but he’s the link between Blues & Islanders
4:Ā Marc Bergevin. the original Bergie. Terrible GM now, but hilarious on the ice
5: Barrett Jackman, hope he continues working with young Blues players
6: Phil Housley, got his autograph once in the parking lot of the old barn
7: “Big Walt”Ā Keith Tkachuk, one of my favorite players ever
8: Mark Recchi, one of the few non-Blues on my list
9:Ā Gordie Howe, greatest of all-time
10:Ā Pavel Bure, one of the greatest Russians I’ve ever seen play
11: Brian Sutter, probably my favorite Blues coach too
12: Adam Oates, had he stayed with Hullie, both would’ve lifted the Cup with the Blues
13:Ā Pavel Datsyuk, despite playing for arch-rival Detroit, hard not to love his game
14:Ā Geoff Courtnall, wish he’d been a Blue earlier in his career
15: Stanley Cup Champion Robby Fabbri
16: “The Golden Brett” Brett Hull, obviously
17:Ā Basil McRae, a face only a mother could love
18: “The Twister” Tony Twist, toughest guy I’ve ever seen on the ice
19:Ā Brendan Shanahan, because I’ve already got 1 Red Wing on this list š
20: Stanley Cup Champion Alexander Steen #GOBLUES
21: Peter Forsberg, one of my generation’s greatest players
22: Mike Bossy, many of you may not know I’m an Islanders fan
23: Craig MacTavish, a classic
24: Bernie Federko, Blues Hall of Famer
25: Dave Andreychuk, a true NHL workhorse
26: Peter Stastny, I liked him far more than I liked Paul
27:Ā Stanley Cup Champion Alex Pietrangelo
28: Bob Bassen, Bobby B!
29: Stanley Cup Champion Vince Dunn (there may be a pattern here)
30: Martin Brodeur, wish he’d stayed with the Blues management
31: Curtis Joseph (CuJo!)
32: Mike Eastwood (most of the NHL “greats” who wore this # were assholes)
33: Patrick Roy, I had the luck to grow up watching the 2nd generation of greatest goalies
34: Murray Baron, stalwart of the Blues lean years
35: Brent Johnson, my 1st Blues jersey
36: J.J. Daigneault, another smooth, brief, Blues blue-liner, plus, just a cool name
37: Eric Desjardins, French-Canadian, defenseman, from my other favorite Eastern team
38: Pavol Demitra, RIP š¦
39: Doug Weight, another vet with a brief Blues stint, almost said Dominik Hasek
40: Fred Brathwaite, breifly a Blues goalie, good guy
41: Stanley Cup Champion Robert Bortuzzo
42: Former Blues Captain David Backes
43: Patrice Brisbois, another guy who I came to know & love thanks to NHL ’93 (game)
44: Chris Pronger, probably my favorite player of all-time
45: at this point I stop picking guys just because they played for the Blues, I got nothing
46: Roman Polak, the door’s been opened, and now I love to see the Blues beat him
47: Rich “the pylon” Pilon, maybe the slowest player ever to play in the NHL?
48: Scott Young, part of the last Blues team that shoulda won the Cup (before they did)
49:Stanley Cup Champion Ivan Barbashev
50: I’ll say Stanley Cup Champion Jordan Binnington, because the Cup
51-52:Ā did you know no Blues player has ever worn these numbers?
53-54: these were worn but by nobodiesĀ
55: Stanley Cup Champion Colton Parayko
56: Sergei Zubov, a legend
57: Stanley Cup Champion David Perron (3rd time WAS a charm)
58: Dan Hinote, tough not to like the guy once he was on “your”team
59: nope
60: another one no Blues player has worn (Vladi Sobotka wore it in BUF after The Trade)
61: Corey Stillman, another guy who should’ve helped the Blues win more
62: Ollie Jokinen, have you seen his face? lol
63: zilch
64: Stanley Cup Champion Sammy Blais
65: Erik Karlsson, not really a fan, but I respect his status as one of the best
66: Mario Lemieux, no contest
67: nada
68: Jaromir Jagr, another no brainer
69: heh, hehe
70: Stanley Cup Champion Oskar Sundqvist
71: Evgeni Malkin, beast
72: Matheiu Schneider, one-time Islander, gotta be one of the best US born players
73: Kenny Agostino, the kind of guy you figure will return to hurt the Blues someday
74: T.J. Oshie, still a fan, had to leave to win It
75: Ryan Reaves, Reavo will always be a fan-favorite in St. Louis
76: P.K. Subban, hated him playing v. the Blues, but he’ll kill it in NJ
77: Pierre Turgeon (I wasn’t a huge Ray Bourque fan)
78: Beau Bennett? Nice guy, had a cup of coffee with the Blues
79: Alexei Yashin, one of the Russian standouts from the 1990’s
80: Geoff Sanderson, mostly just because I like to say Gee-Off
81: Miroslav Satan, what a name!
82: Stanley Cup Champion Zach Sanford, barely counts though, he switched to #12
83-84: no Blues, nobody else I really even know
85: Petr Klima, sick mitts
86: Nikita Soshnikov, really thought he’d contribute for the Blues
87: Sidney Crosby, hard not to like the Kid
88: Eric Lindros, maybe my 2nd favorite player ever
89: Alexander Mogilny, another ’90’s Russian sniper
90: Stanley Cup Champion, Conn Smythe & Selke Trophy winner Ryan O’Reilly
91: Stanley Cup Champion Vladimir Tarasenko
92: yeah, no
93: Petr Nedved, another classic, one-time Blues player
94-96: zero interest in anyone who wore these numbers
97: I’m including Jeremy Roenick here, one of my LEAST favorite players ever
98: Brian Lawton was the only player to ever wear this one, never heard of him
99: and of course, Wayne “The Great One” Gretzky, who did play part of one season with the Blues, and who ultimately committed the turnover that led to their playoff ouster. The last game he’d play for them. Thanks for nothing, Gretz! š