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Best of the St. Louis Blues by Sweater Number: The Final Nine

Welcome to the final installment of our “Best of the St. Louis Blues by Sweater Number” series. It has been a joy this summer analyzing players, learning new things, and then getting the opportunity to share it with you. To all of you who joined for the ride, thank you. We wrap up the series by looking at the best St. Louis Blue to wear numbers 81-99.

Different Format

Throughout this series, we have looked at each sweater number in increments of ten. However, there are only nine jersey numbers that have been worn by Blues between 81 and 99. As such, it made sense to merge the final two blocks.

Best St. Louis Blues by Sweater Number: The Final Nine

#81 James Neal (Forward)

The former 40-goal scorer ended his career with the Blues in the 2021-22 season. Neal played in 19 games and scored two goals. At the very least, Neal provided an additional veteran presence in the Blues locker room.

#82 Zach Sanford (Forward)

Sanford only wore the number 82 his first season with the Blues. Sanford had an interesting career with the Blues. He struggled defensively, but had back-to-back seasons with at least ten goals. This includes a memorable game in 2020 when Sanford scored four goals. The Massachusetts native scored two career playoff goals as a member of the Blues. This includes the Blues final goal of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.

Speaking of the Stanley Cup Final, Sanford’s biggest moments for the Blues came in that series. Sanford entered the lineup for Game 3 and remained in the lineup for the remainder of the series. Sanford recorded a point in four of the five games he played in, including his Game 7 goal.

#86 Nikita Soshnikov (Forward)

Soshnikov only played in 17 games in two seasons with the Blues. He may have had a larger role with the team, but concussion issues ultimately caused a roadblock to more time on the ice.

#88 Adam Gaudette (Forward)

Gaudette played in two games last season and recorded no points. However, he is the only Blue to wear number 88. As Cal Naughton, Jr. once said, “I know it’s a technicality, but I tell you what: you try to take this away from me, I’ll sock you straight in the face.”

#89 Pavel Buchnevich (Forward)

A trade that has really paid off for the Blues, Buchnevich came to the Blues in the 2021 off-season. In three seasons with the Blues, Buchnevich has scored no less than 26 goals and has recorded no less than 63 points. The forward also plays physical and plays a strong defence.

The Blues locked up Buchnevich this off-season with a long-term contract. Buchnevich has easily become a core member of the team alongside Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. At 29-years old, Buchnevich is in the prime of his career. Expect many more goals to come from number 89.

 

#90 Ryan O’Reilly (Forward)

It is hard to not label this as one of the best Blues trades of all time. When the trade happened in 2018, it was apparent the Blues were going to be Stanley Cup contenders. O’Reilly led by example, even early in the season when the Blues struggled. The Selke-winning centre helped the Blues reach the Stanley Cup Final. We know the story from there. O’Reilly scored five goals in the final four games to help the Blues win the Cup as well as clinch the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

O’Reilly spent another three and a half seasons with the Blue Note. He became the captain following Alex Pietrangelo‘s departure from the team. Furthermore, O’Reilly continued to produce in the playoffs. With the exception of 2021, O’Reilly scored at least four goals in every Blues playoff run.

#91 Vladimir Tarasenko (Forward)

The Russian Tank quickly became an elite scorer in the league. In his first full season, the Russian forward scored 21 goals. The following seasons, Tarasenko scored 37, 40, 39, 33, and 33 goals respectively. Furthermore, Tarasenko proved to be an elite scorer in the playoffs as well. Prior to the team’s 2016 run to the Western Conference Final, Tarasenko had only played in 13 playoff games. However, he scored ten goals in those 13 games.  In the 2019 Stanley Cup season, Tarasenko scored 11 goals in the playoffs, including three in the Stanley Cup Final.

Despite some animosity and injuries arising in 2020, Tarasenko still found a way to produce for the Blues. Tarasenko scored 34 goals in the 2021-22 season and scored six more in the playoffs. Number 91 did a great deal for the Blues.

#93 Scott Gomez (Forward)

The two-time Stanley Cup champion played in 21 game for the Blues in the 2015-16 season. While his time with the Blue Note was short, Gomez did help the Blues. With the roster plagued by injuries, Gomez was used on the power play. The veteran recorded eight points for the Blues. Again, not a huge sample size. But, he did the job the Blues brought him in for.

#99 Wayne Gretzky (Forward)

It is fitting that the final player of this installment is none other than the “Great One” himself. Gretzky only played in 18 regular-season games and 13 playoff games for the Blues, but that does not change that fact that Gretzky was indeed a Blue. Furthermore, Gretzky was teammates alongside the best Blue of all-time, Brett Hull.

Some think that Gretzky’s time in St. Louis was just a footnote in his career with no real meaning in the bigger picture. Yes, no one will hear the name and think of the Blues, unless maybe your name is Steve Yzerman. However, Gretzky has maintained his ties to St. Louis. The legend owns a house in St. Louis and also participated in the 2017 Alumni Game and the 2020 All-Star Game Festivities.

Recapping The List

Once again, thank you to everyone for joining the fun for this series. We conclude by recapping our entire list of the best of the St. Louis Blues by each sweater number.

First Half

#1 Mike Liut (Goaltender)

#2 Al MacInnis (Defenceman)

#3 Al Arbour (Defenceman)

#4 Noel Picard (Defenceman)

#5 Bob Plager (Defenceman)

#6 Larry Patey (Centre)

#7 Red Berenson (Centre)

#8 Barclay Plager (Defenceman)

#9 Doug Gilmour (Centre)

#10 Brayden Schenn (Centre)

#11 Brian Sutter (Forward)

#12 Adam Oates (Centre)

#13 Bill Guerin (Forward)

#14 Doug Wickenheiser (Forward)

#15 Craig Janney (Centre)

#16 Brett Hull (Forward)

#17 Jaden Schwartz (Forward)

#18 Tony Twist (Forward)

#19 Jay Bouwmeester (Defenceman)

#20 Alexander Steen (Forward)

#21 Jeff Brown (Defenceman)

#22 Jorgen Pettersson (Forward)

#23 Bill Plager (Defenceman)

#24 Bernie Federko (Forward)

#25 Chris Stewart (Forward)

#26 Paul Stastny (Centre)

#27 Alex Pietrangelo (Defenceman)

#28 Brad Shaw (Defenceman)

#29 Jamie McLennan (Goaltender)

#30 Jacques Plante (Goaltender)

#31 Curtis Joseph (Goaltender)

#32 Mike Eastwood (Forward)

#33 Eric Boguniecki (Forward)

#34 Jake Allen (Goaltender)

#35 Brent Johnson (Goaltender)

#36 Troy Brouwer (Forward)

#37 Jeff Finley (Defenceman)

#38 Pavol Demitra (Forward)

#39 Kelly Chase (Forward)

#40 Carter Hutton (Goaltender)

#41 Jaroslav Halak (Goaltender)

#42 David Backes (Forward)

#43 Mike Van Ryn (Defenceman)

#44 Chris Pronger (Defenceman)

#45 Chris Beckford-Tseu (Goaltender)

#46 Roman Polak (Defenceman)

#47 Torey Krug (Defenceman)

#48 Scott Young (Forward)

#49 Ivan Barbashev (Forward)

#50 Jordan Binnington (Goaltender)

Second Half

#51 Matthew Kessel (Defenceman)

#52 Noel Acciari (Forward)

#53 Jonas Junland (Defenceman)

#54 Dakota Joshua (Forward)

#55 Colton Parayko (Defenceman)

#56 Magnus Paajarvi (Forward)

#57 David Perron (Forward)

#58 Dan Hinote (Forward)

#59 Jeff Hoggan (Forward)

#61 Cory Stillman (Forward)

#62 Martin Rucinsky (Forward)

#63 Jake Neighbours (Forward)

#64 Sammy Blais (Forward)

#65 Alexey Toropchenko (Forward)

#68 Mike Hoffman (Forward)

#70 Oskar Sundqvist (Centre)

#71 Vladimir Sobotka (Forward)

#72 Justin Faulk (Defenceman)

#73 Kenny Agostino (Forward)

#74 T.J. Oshie (Forward)

#75 Ryan Reaves (Forward)

#76 Zachary Bolduc (Forward)

#77 Pierre Turgeon (Forward)

#78 Evgeny Grachev (Forward)

#79 Adam Cracknell (Forward)

#80 Steve McLaren (Defenceman)

#81 James Neal (Forward)

#82 Zach Sanford (Forward)

#86 Nikita Soshnikov (Forward)

#88 Adam Gaudette (Centre)

#89 Pavel Buchnevich (Forward)

#90 Ryan O’Reilly (Centre)

#91 Vladimir Tarasenko (Forward)

#93 Scott Gomez (Forward)

#99 Wayne Gretzky (Forward)

Main Photo Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Andrew Willis

Andrew Willis

Andrew Willis has been a hockey and St. Louis Blues fan since 2007. Andrew's passion for the Blues, hockey, and writing have come together multiple times. Andrew wrote hockey articles for his high school newspaper from 2011-2015 and had a brief stint with LWOH in 2020.

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