Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  As such, it is important to us that the

St. Louis Blues have announced that Pavol Demetria, Mike Liut and Keith Tkachuk will comprise their second full class.

Pavol Demetria was traded from the Ottawa Senators in 1996 and the Slovak would blossom two years later with an 89-Point season.  Demetria continued to be a point-per-game player with St. Louis, and would win the Lady Byng in the 1999-00 Season and played in three All-Star Games.  He signed with the Los Angeles Kings in 2005 after scoring 493 Points in 494 Games.  Tragically, this is a posthumous induction, as he was one of the players killed in the Lokomotiv Yarozlavl plane crash in 2011.

Mike Liut played his first two seasons of pro hockey with the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA, and when that league folded, he joined the St. Louis Blues, who owned his NHL rights.  Liut immediately took over as the Blues primary Goalie, and held that for five-and-a-half years before he was traded to Hartford.  Liut’s first three seasons in St. Louis were excellent, peaking in the 1980-81 Season where he was the runner-up for the Hart, and the Lester B. Pearson winner.  He had a 151-139-52 record with a 3.59 GAA for the team.

Traded from the Phoenix Coyotes during the 2000-01 Season, Keith Tkachuk spent the second half of his career (save for 13 Games in Atlanta) with the Blues where he scored 427 Points.  He was an All-Star twice as a Blue.

The Blues Hall of Fame was incorporated last year with a large class that comprised Red Berenson, Scotty Bowman, Berne Federko, Bob Gassoff, Glenn Hall, Brett Hull, Dan Kelly, Al MacInnis, Barclay Plager, Bob Plager, Chris Pronger, the Solomons, Brent Sutter and Garry Unger

The team will honor the three during their home game on January 20 against the Washington Capitals.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the impending members of the St. Louis Blues Hall of Fame.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  As such, it is important to us that the St. Louis Blues have announced the formation of their franchise Hall of Fame.

It is a long time coming, as the team has been in existence since 1967, and they won their first Stanley Cup in 2019.

Immediately, the team has selected ten members of the Hall, comprising of eight players (all of whom who had their numbers retired by the team) and two other contributors.

Automatically inducted will be:

Bernie Federko

Bob Gassoff

Brett Hull

Dan Kelly

Al MacInnis

Barclay Plager

Bob Plager

Chris Pronger

Sid Solomon

Brian Sutter

In addition, the Blues are holding a fan vote which will help sway consideration for the other members of the first Blues Hall of Fame Class

Those who are on the fan ballot are:

Al Arbour

David Backes

Wayne Babych

Red Berenson

Scotty Bowman

Pavol Demitra

Glenn Hall

Barret Jackman

Curtis Joseph

Mike Liut

Adam Oates

Alexander Steen

Garry Unger

Keith Tkachuk

Pierre Turgeon

The inaugural class will be announced on October 15 during their home opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the first names announced to the Blues Hall of Fame, and the organization in general for taking this step. 

It has been said by many that Jay Bouwmeester is one of the most gifted skaters in hockey history.  We have to agree, and would gladly throw in that Bouwmeester is one of the more underrated players of the game.

The Canadian Defenseman was the third overall pick in 2002 by Florida, and was an All-Rookie after making the Panthers after being drafted.  Bouwmeester was a two-time All-Star with Florida, and he twice received Norris Trophy votes.  He would be traded to Calgary in 2009, and at the 2013 Trade Deadline, Bouwmeester was dealt to St. Louis, providing a veteran presence to the team that won the Stanley Cup in 2019.

Bouwmeester’s career ended abruptly when he suffered a cardiac arrest during a game against Anaheim in February of 2020.  He never played again, thus ending one of the most sneaky good careers in hockey.  As a professional, Bouwmeester scored 424 Points in 1,240 Games.

If Bouwmeester never becomes a serious contender for the Hockey Hall of Fame, the IIHOF could look at him, as he won five Gold Medals (one Olympics, two World Cups, two Worlds) while playing 57 Games for Team Canada.  That is one hell of an international career.

As the plans for the 2020-21 NHL season are still being hammered out, we know now that Alex Steen, Center for the St. Louis Blues, will not be part of it.  He announced his retirement from hockey today, citing back injuries.

From Sweden, Steen began his NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs where he played for three-and-a-half years before he was traded St. Louis early in the 2008-09 campaign. Steen had five 50-Point years for the Blues, and in seven seasons, he received at least one vote for the Frank J. Selke Trophy.  Late in his career, Steen was a veteran cog on the Blues’ first Stanley Cup win in 2019.

Internationally, he won a Silver Medal with Sweden at the 2014 Olympics.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Alex Steen the best in his post-playing career.

While Gordon “Red” Berenson would win a Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1965, he really did not have much to do with that title.  Unable to find a permanent spot on their roster, he would be traded to the New York Rangers but it was when he was traded to the expansion St. Louis Blues early into the 1967-68 he would not just find a place in the professional ranks but in a starring capacity.

Rob Ramage was the first overall draft pick in the NHL in 1979, though by that time he had already played professionally for the WHA’s Birmingham Bulls where he already established himself as offensively potent blueliner.  Ramage had a 62 Point season in his second year in Colorado though it was somewhat frustrating as the Rockies were terrible overall.  Ramage put his overall skills together in St. Louis where he was more of a complete Defenceman.  He had three 50 Point Seasons and was twice an All Star as a Blue but a trade to Calgary allowed him to win his first Stanley Cup in 1986.  Ramage would win a second Cup with Montreal seven years later.

Regular visitors to our website know that we are SLOWLY working on our Top 50 players of each major team.  The end game will eventually showcase how each team honors their former players, coaches and executives.  As such, it is news to us that the St. Louis Blues retired the number of Bob Plager last night. 

A New York Ranger for the first three years of his career, Plager was traded to the expansion Blues, and was a member of the original team.  Plager would have an opportunity in St. Louis to be a starter and would be a dependable force on the blueline corps. 

Plager was not an offensive star, but he did score 141 Points over 615 Games with the Blues; a stint that lasted 11 seasons.  He would also play 74 Games for St. Louis in the NHL Playoffs. 

The #5 of Bob Plager will join the #2 of Al Macinnis, #3 of Bob Gassoff, #8 of Barclay Plager, #11 of Brian Sutter, #16 of Brett Hull and #24 of Bernie Federko.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Bob Plager at this time.

It was announced this weekend that former five time Stanley Cup Champion, Jimmy Roberts passed away from a long battle with cancer at the age of 75.

Roberts would first join the Habs in the 1963/64 season and in the following two seasons would help Montreal win two Stanley Cups.  The Torontonian would be taken by the St, Louis Blues in the 1967 Expansion Draft, but he would return to the big dance helping the expansion team make (though lose) the Stanley Cup Finals in the franchise’s first three years of existence.

The defenceman would be traded back to the Montreal Canadians and would again help the team to win three more Stanley Cups in 1973, 1975 and 1976.  He would score 320 Points in total during his NHL career.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Jimmy Roberts at this time.

A very good goalie that lost out on the Hart trophy to Wayne Gretzky in 1981, Mike Liut seemed destined for a stellar career after his amazing 1980-81 season. That year he won the Lester B. Pearson award (MVP as selected by their peers) and would be the starting goalie for the 1981 Canada Cup Canadian contingent. Liut’s career tapered off and he was unable to keep up the prediction that so many made about him in the early 80’s. Still, he racked up 294 career NHL wins and was one of the top net minders of the 1980’s.

If you think about statistical enigmas, Curtis Joseph would top our list.  As we have yet to rank that category, we are struggling to find the right place to rank him on the list that we actually do.

Before his record was broken by Doug Jarvis, Garry Unger was considered the NHL’s Iron Man. Unger played in 914 consecutive games which was a phenomenal accomplishment, considering the rough nature of Professional Hockey. Unger did not just play in those games; he was a seven-time All-Star who was able to acquire 804 career points. Because Unger was dependable, he was not considered flashy. The latter might be what has caused people to forget about the first true “Iron Man” of the NHL.

One of the slickest playmakers ever to come out of the United States, Doug Weight reached the magical 1,000 career point mark predominately with assists. Weight was a consistent offensive threat throughout his career and once reached a 100 point season with the Oilers. He achieved the ultimate in team sports, capturing the Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes in 2006 and was awarded the King Clancy Award which is given to the man who exemplifies leadership and humanitarian activities. A good man on the ice and off, Doug Weight may not make the Hall of Fame in Toronto, but we would not be surprised to see him make the version in the United States.

In the mold of a player he grew up watching (Cam Neely), the Massachusetts born Keith Tkachuk become the American power forward of his generation.