St Louis Blues Best Draft Class: 1976
One of the great moments in any new franchises’ life is when they draft their first star. Even better when they spend the next 13 years with the team. Even better than that is when he is traded away at the end of his career and brings back a 100-point/season centre. Bernie Federko wasn’t the only good thing that happened in St. Louis’ 1976 draft, either.
Bernie Federko – 1st round, 7th overall
Sure, it took Federko a little while to get going, including a 42-game stop in the Central Hockey League. Getting called up to the NHL mid-season, he scored 14 goals in 31 NHL games. Oh, and recorded three hat-tricks. The next year, he scored 17 goals and 41 points – and came in second in team scoring. St. Louis hadn’t had a whole lot of scoring to cheer, despite Red Brenson’s and Gary Unger’s best efforts.* But soon Federko, Wayne Babych, and Brian Sutter were serious threats to opposing teams.
In his third season, Federko scored 31 goals and 95 points on an 18-win team. He maintained his high quality of play, and the wins soon followed. Federko broke the 100-point mark four times in the next seven seasons and carried those numbers into the playoffs with him. In 91 playoff games, he scored 35 times and registered 101 points. All told, when Federko retired he played exactly 1,000 NHL games and is a huge part of St. Louis Blues history.
Brian Sutter – 2nd round, 20th overall
Told you Federko wasn’t the only good thing out of this year. Though few of his opponents would describe the eldest of the Sutter brothers as “good”. The rough-and-tumble Sutter is an integral part of the Blues best draft class because of not only his scoring but his will. He patrolled the wing with ferocity to go with his skill. After 779 NHL games – all with St. Louis – Sutter retired with 303 goals, 636 points, and 1,786 penalty minutes.
Mike Liut – 4th round, 56th overall
Amazing as it seems, Mike Liut is the Blues’ all-time leader in games played by a goalie – and they were his second choice. Back when the World Hockey Association still existed, both leagues would draft available players, and Liut was drafted by the New England Whalers. They flipped him to the Cincinnati Stingers where he played his first two professional seasons. When the WHA folded into the NHL, he joined the other team that drafted him in 1976.
His first NHL season was in 1979-80, and he played 64 games right away. Clearly, the team liked what they saw as he also collected a league-leading 32 wins. In six seasons with St. Louis, Liut played in 347 games with a 151-133-52 record. He played 663 NHL games over his career – and another 81 WHA ones – which is a pretty good run with your fourth pick.
Mike Eaves – 7th round, 113th overall
Mike Eaves never actually played for the Blues, having been sold off to the Cleveland Barons. Yes, sold: the team was in dire financial straits and came within a hair’s breadth of moving to Saskatoon. It was interesting times. As for Eaves, he started his career in Minnesota (same team – see also “interesting times”) and stayed in the league for eight seasons. He played 324 NHL games, scoring 83 times and collecting 226 points.
Anders Hakansson – 14th round, 134th overall
The last pick to make a substantial impression on the league, Anders Hakansson also avoided playing in St. Louis. In this case, he simply decided to remain in Sweden until he was a free agent, then he signed in Minnesota. So he started late, but still played 330 NHL games as a 14th(!) round pick. The big winger finished with 52 goals and 98 total points.
The Others
Second-round pick John Smrke reached the Bigs, getting in 103 NHL games. Most of his career was in the minors, though. Goalie Paul Skidmore, taken five spots behind Liut, played just two NHL games. Perhaps ironically, he was drafted by the Stingers – the team Liut started for. That could have factored in why he went the minors route with St. Louis.
Honourable Mentions
1988 – 12 picks in 12 rounds
Some great finds in here, including Rod Brind’Amour, Bret Hedican, comic book (and lawsuit)-inspiring Tony Twist, and Adrien Plavsic.
2003 – 12 picks in nine rounds
One of the league’s great “heart-and-soul” guys was picked up in the second round, David Backes. Also a player every team wanted, but apparently not for long in 10-team playing Lee Stempniak.
1978 – 31 picks in 14 rounds
Included because of the now mind-boggling number of selections they had. Five of the Blues’ first 13 picks made it; no one in their next 18 selections played a single NHL game. We know the practice is to get as many draft picks as possible, especially if your team is broke, but… wow. Previous owners would have been horrified with just four picks in 2021 – but they have some consolation now they didn’t have then.
