St. Louis Blues Best Player In Each Number: 99-61
The St. Louis Blues have had some great players come through their doors. Here we will look at the best to wear each jersey number.
The St. Louis Blues have a proud history. They’ve had some pretty special players suit up wearing the note as well.
To celebrate their 50th anniversary, we’re going to look at the best player to wear each number. We’ll start things off high and work our way down.
To be honest, this part of the list is going to be a little easier. The St. Louis Blues have not had as many high numbered players in their history, so many of these numbers did not have choices. Nevertheless, here we go.
99. Wayne Gretzky
This is one of those numbers I was talking about that hasn’t had much use. However, even if it had, would anyone actually be able to beat out the Great One for this list?
Wayne Gretzky didn’t play with the Blues for long, but he still played here. While his career was on the downturn, he was still living up to his moniker.
Gretzky scored 21 points in 18 regular season games and 16 points in 13 playoff games. If not for the strange falling out with Mike Keenan, Gretzky would have likely ended his career in St. Louis.
Fans can only ponder what might have been now. Even so, he is the best to wear the number 99 for the Blues and not because he was the only one to wear it.
93. Petr Nedved
Don’t ask me how the Blues picked up Petr Nedved. They signed him as a free agent in March of 1994, but the NHL in the early 90’s was a strange place when it came to player movement.
The Blues benefited in this this case, but were hurt in others, such as the Scott Stevens case. Alas, like Gretzky, they only saw a brief glimpse of what might have been.
Nedved had 20 points in 19 career games with the Blues. He was an up and comer and seemed poised to do great things with the team.
He was coming off a 70-plus point season with Vancouver prior to joining the Blues. Unfortunately, he was one of the early players to get the ax as part of Mike Keenan’s reign.
Keenan did not trade Nedved himself necessarily, but the deal was done with the Rangers as part of compensation for Keenan breaking his contract with New York. Nedved went on to score 573 points after that brief stint.
Like so many before and after, the Blues’ fans only got a taste, but it was a good one.
91. Vladimir Tarasenko
Vladimir Tarasenko is still early in his NHL career. He will turn 25 in the 2016-17 season and will only be in his fifth season (fourth full season)
May 17, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko (91) against the San Jose Sharks in game two of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoff at Scottrade Center. The Sharks won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
In that short time, he has already cemented himself among the best to suit up with the Blues. In only four years, he’s already scored over 100 goals and more than 200 points. He’s had two 70-plus seasons in a row and seems poised to get even better.
There were complaints about his playoff production late in the 2016 playoffs, however he is still the current star of the team. There were calls for him to be named captain before it was ultimately settled.
For now, Tarasenko falls in the category of having no opposition for best #91. If he keeps his current pace though, you could easily see his jersey retired into the rafters thus cementing his place on this list.
82. Cade Fairchild
In case you’re wondering who Cade Fairchild is, you would not be alone. He’s the only player in Blues history to wear the number 82.
He played a grand total of five games in the NHL, all with the St. Louis Blues. Those games all came in the 2011-12 season.
Fairchild only scored one point in his brief career in the bigs. He only took one shot as well, but the point came off an assist.
He was in the Blues’ minor league system for a handful of years, mostly with the Peoria Rivermen. He played with the Chicago Wolves, Portland Pirates and briefly with the Kalamazoo Wings in the ECHL.
Now he plays in Sweden after two seasons in the Russian KHL. Fairchild never got the big break he would have liked in North America, but he’s got some consolation. He’s still playing professional hockey and he’s on our list.
80. Steve McLaren
Steve McLaren is another guy that barely had a cup of coffee in the NHL. He played a total of six games in the show, all of with St. Louis.
He bounced around quite a bit. Drafted by Chicago, he was signed as a free agent by Philadelphia in 1998 and again by St. Louis in 2001.
McLaren wasn’t used in the NHL until 2003-04. Unfortunately for him, a concussion derailed his career. He missed almost the entire end to the 2003-04 season after sustaining his injury in December.
The Blues let him walk and he signed with Tampa Bay in the offseason. However, he never returned to the NHL and only remained in the AHL for two more seasons.
79. Adam Cracknell
Adam Cracknell is one of those guys some felt never got his due shot with the Blues. He was constantly in and out of the lineup and never got to play outside the fourth line for a stretch.
However, since 10 points is his career high, perhaps the coaches were right in the amount of time Cracknell was given. He’s never played more than 44 games and only cracked (no pun intended) the lineup for the Blues 65 times in four seasons.
Even so, he was always a hard worker and a player willing to put in the effort. You liked to see him on the ice because he would at least give you a hard shift and good minutes for the brief time he was out there.
If nothing else, he can point to his 100% shot conversion in 2011-12 as a definite highlight during his Blues career.
78. Evgeny Grachev
Evgeny Grachev has been a bit of a disappointment even though he makes our list. Clearly that is due to him being the only player to ever wear 78.
Now most will not even recognize Grachev’s name, but there were still some of us that had high hopes for the Russian.
The Blues picked him up in a trade for draft picks with the Rangers in 2011. Prior to the 2011-12 season, he had a very good preseason with the team.
Grachev was not likely to make the team that season, but he seemed poised to make his move to the NHL soon if he could build from there. Unfortunately, he has not and has labored in the minors ever since.
His lone time in the NHL was eight games with the Rangers and then a goal and four points in 26 appearances with the Blues. After two more seasons in the AHL, Grachev returned to Russia where he still plays today.
77. Pierre Turgeon
Hey, hey! I actually got to pick from several players at this number. Pierre Turgeon, Jay McKee and T.J. Hensick all wore the digits of double 7’s for the Blues. It’s hard not to pick Turgeon though.
Despite playing on some teams that missed the playoffs, McKee could have a case. After a lengthy career in Buffalo he came to St. Louis and played a solid defensive game. He was usually near the top of the team in blocked shots.
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It’s near impossible to go against Turgeon though. Turgeon played five years with the Blues and had 355 points in that span.
He was a key player during their President’s Trophy run and was a solid scorer during a time the Blues needed a top center to step up. He even scored 82 points in his final year with the Blues before they strangely let him walk and sign with Dallas.
Turgeon still averaged about 15 goals and 45 points over his last four seasons. One has to wonder if he might not have retired a Blue if the team had not sold off much of its team when they were selling the club.
75. Ryan Reaves
Show us all the stats you want, but until the NHL officially bans fighting (which they may one day), we all love a fighter. Thus, enter Ryan Reaves.
Reaves is the modern day fighter. Unlike his predecessors, who were more goon than hockey player, Reaves possesses enough skill to make him a viable player in situations that don’t require his fists.
May 3, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues right wing Ryan Reaves (75) gestures to the Dallas Stars bench during the third period in game three of the second round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. The St. Louis Blues defeat the Dallas Stars 6-1. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Nobody is ever going to mistake Reaves for a scorer. He’s only got 38 career NHL points.
Even so, he has been a contributor to the Blues in many ways. He seems to always play well in his hometown of Winnipeg. He’s been a physical force that steps up when other players are getting bullied. He’s also a fighter, which is still valuable in today’s game.
Of course, there are those that don’t care for Reaves. Mostly, they are the misguided that think there are enough scorers out there to have four lines of 20 goal scorers.
The truth is that Reaves has been good for the Blues both on and off the ice. There have been instances where coaches favored another player when Reaves would have been the perfect solution. Reaves has just kept on keepin’ on, so to speak and built a good career in St. Louis.
74. T.J. Oshie
Surprisingly, this number also gave me a choice. For those wondering, McKee was originally 74 and then gave up the number for 77 when T.J. Oshie came around.
There’s no way we aren’t putting Oshie in this spot though. Whether you believe he had worn out his welcome or are still steaming the team got rid of him, there is no denying Oshie’s popularity within the city.
Compared to what we wanted from him, Oshie underperformed for most of his career. He was a consistent performer overall though, and a constant worker.
Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
His detractors will ask what his work achieved since he sometimes put himself in some trouble spots, but this isn’t the place for that debate.
Despite a few injury hiccups along the way, Oshie put up over 300 points in seven seasons with the Blues. He became more of a leader at the end of his run with the team and really matured once he married and had a family.
Nobody thought David Perron would return to the team, so perhaps one day Oshie could come back. Even if he does not, he left his mark on the team.
70. Jeremy Yablonski
Jeremy Yablonski wasn’t even in the NHL long enough for a cup of coffee. The Blues signed him as a free agent on December 30 in 2003. He was placed onto waivers a month later.
In that time, he played one game and saw 7:53 of ice time. He only played for the Blues though as neither Nashville, Ottawa or the Islanders ended up using him in the NHL.
Yablonski played a few seasons in Russia before hanging up the skates.
68. Eric Nickulas
At first, I thought this guy should be designing golf courses with his dad Jack. Then I looked closer at the spelling.
Even more surprising was how many games Eric Nickulas actually played. He played eight games for the Blues in 2002-03 and then 44 games in the next season. Increasing the shock was the fact he scored seven goals and 18 points in that season.
In case you can’t remember Nickulas, it’s likely because he played in that time we would all like to forget. The team was being sold and stripped down to bare bones.
Scottrade was half empty and the Blues had some of their worst seasons in history.
Nickulas ended his career in Germany after failing to replicate his St. Louis numbers in Chicago or Boston. Nobody is going to go out and buy a Nickulas jersey, but when any player had their best year in St. Louis it is something to be proud of.
65. Cam Paddock
Like several other names on this list, Cam Paddock went over to Europe at the end of his time in North America. Like Nickulas before him, he also had his best numbers in St. Louis.
Granted, that’s because he only played with the Blues in the NHL, but still. Paddock had three points in 16 career games with the Blues. He did average over 10 minutes on the ice though.
Paddock was a good representation of modern hockey players. His numbers continuously got smaller as he progressed to higher levels of the game. Still, he played more NHL games than most and got his name on our list.
64. Nikita Nikitin
Nikita Nikitin was one of those players many thought could be the next big thing with the Blues. He never panned out in that aspect, but he still proved to be valuable.
After a decent rookie campaign, the Blues expected good things from Nikitin after that. However, the chance to acquire Kris Russell from Columbus was too much to pass over and Nikitin was shipped out.
Russell is no longer on the Blues, but the trade has proved to be a good one still. Nikitin has only played over 60 games once.
He took a big step back with only 11 games in 2015-16 with Edmonton, a team not known for its stout defense to begin with. It’s up to him to restart his NHL career now.
He still showed some good promise with the Blues and was also the only player to wear 64.
63. Justin Papineau
Justin Papineau is a player that both didn’t make his own breaks and could not catch a break. He played in 12 total games with the St. Louis Blues before being shipped out.
The Blues turned him into Chris Osgood, who they hoped would be their franchise goaltender for several years. That didn’t quite pan out, but Papineau couldn’t either.
He finally had a break with the New York Islanders in 2003-04. He scored 13 points that season, doubling his previous career high.
Alas for poor Papineau, the lockout hit directly after that. He signed with New Jersey, but never again saw the bright lights of the NHL.
Papineau went to Europe to ply his trade. He scored 99 points in two seasons in Germany.
62. Martin Rucinsky
This was one of those few numbers you wished only had one player. By default, it pretty much has to go to Martin Rucinsky.
Rucinsky was signed by the Blues as a free agent on two separate occasions. Both times he came from the Rangers, interestingly enough.
Rucinsky had a decent first season with the Blues. He scored 30 points in 61 games before leaving for the Big Apple again.
After bouncing around a couple times, he returned to St. Louis to end his NHL career. He scored 33 points in 2006-07. However, that was disappointing since he had 55 with New York the year prior.
Rucinsky only had 16 points in limited action his final year. Rucinsky would have been a much easier pick had he played the bulk of his career with the Blues, but his efforts – and the lack of those by the others – earn him his spot here.
61. Cory Stillman
Start with a good name and end with a good name. Nothing against Pat Hickey or Lars Eller, but their time with the Blues was too brief to bump Cory Stillman off this spot.
Stillman is one of those guys you felt played in St. Louis much longer than he did. In actuality, he was only in town for parts of three seasons.
In that time though, he still managed to score 119 points in 171 games. Not too shabby really.
Stillman was traded to Tampa Bay before the 2003-04 season. While his 80 points that year stung, the Blues turned the draft pick acquired into David Backes.
He had a couple more 60-plus point seasons before slowing down. However, the combination of his play in St. Louis combined with him being involved in the deal that brought Backes to the Blues make him the only choice for the best player to suit up with 61 on their back.
Overview
So, there are the best players to wear 99-61. There will be more choices and perhaps more controversy with the numbers further down the list.
What about the list so far? Let us know in the comments and keep the conversation going.
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