{"id":459859,"date":"2025-01-01T15:11:55","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T20:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=459859"},"modified":"2025-01-01T15:11:55","modified_gmt":"2025-01-01T20:11:55","slug":"an-analysis-of-the-st-louis-blues-quarter-century-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/01\/01\/an-analysis-of-the-st-louis-blues-quarter-century-team\/","title":{"rendered":"An Analysis of the St. Louis Blues Quarter-Century Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy New Year, hockey fans! 2025 is upon us. A quarter of the 21st century is now in the books. To commemorate the quarter-century, the NHL is announcing a First and Second Quarter-Century Team for each NHL team throughout January. The first two teams <\/span>were announced<\/span> at the <\/span>2025 Winter Classic<\/span><\/a> for the two teams participating in the event, the <\/span>St. Louis Blues<\/span> and the <\/span>Chicago Blackhawks<\/span>. Today, we are going to analyze the <\/span>Blues Quarter-Century Team<\/span><\/a>. We will talk about what we <\/span>like,<\/span> dislike,<\/span> and who we believe should have been on the team. We will conclude by giving our opinion on who would be on the Blues third Quarter-Century Team.<\/span><\/p>\n

An Analysis of the St. Louis Blues Quarter-Century Team<\/span><\/h2>\n

First Team<\/span><\/h3>\n

Forwards<\/span><\/h4>\n

Alexander Steen<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Keith Tkachuk<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Vladimir Tarasenko<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Defenceman<\/span><\/h4>\n

Alex Pietrangelo<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Chris Pronger<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Goaltender<\/span><\/h4>\n

Jordan Binnington<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Second Team<\/span><\/h3>\n

Forwards<\/span><\/h4>\n

David Backes<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Ryan <\/span>O’Reilly<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

David Perron<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Defenceman<\/span><\/h4>\n

Al MacInnis<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Colton Parayko<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Goaltender<\/span><\/h4>\n

Brian Elliott<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

What We Like from the Blues Quarter-Century Team<\/span><\/h3>\n

Winnington in Front of the Moose<\/span><\/h4>\n

In the summer of 2024, we did an article <\/span>ranking the Blues best goaltenders since 2000<\/span><\/a>. We ranked Jordan Binnington second, behind Brian Elliott. It was a hard choice, but we went with the Moose at the time. Now that Binnington is the franchise wins leader, <\/span>in addition to<\/span> the Stanley Cup, we feel it is appropriate to put him over Elliott.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both Binnington and Elliott have played <\/span>big<\/span> parts <\/span>not only<\/span> in the 21st century for the <\/span>Blues<\/span>,<\/span> but in<\/span> the <\/span>franchise’s<\/span> entire history.<\/span> Under Elliott, the Blues returned to being a Stanley Cup contender from 2012-16, something they had not been since before the lockout. We know <\/span>Binnington’s<\/span> story and how he helped <\/span>bring the Stanley Cup to St. Louis<\/span><\/a> at last<\/span>. Both goalies could have won multiple Stanley Cups with the Blues. Thankfully for Binnington, his story is not done with the Blues.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Man Who Wore Many Hats<\/span><\/h4>\n

Alexander Steen is 100% deserving of being on the Blues Quarter-Century Team. Steen wore many hats in his Blues career. He was a 33-goal scorer in the 2013-14 season. In 2018-19, he adjusted to being a fourth-line player and was effective in helping shut down other <\/span>team’s<\/span> top lines en route to winning the Stanley Cup. Whether it was picking the pocket of Jonathan Quick in overtime in 2013 or helping to shut down offences in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, Steen was always doing what it took to help the team win.<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, Steener <\/span>is not done<\/span> yet. <\/span>Steen has begun the transition into becoming the <\/span>team’s<\/span> next general manager<\/span><\/a> in a few seasons. Steen has worked with current general manager Doug Armstrong this season and has no doubt had his say in the <\/span>team’s<\/span> decisions this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

What We Do Not Like and Who Should Be on the Team<\/span><\/h3>\n

As it is, there is only one player on this roster we <\/span>do not agree<\/span> with. However, it is not that this player is not deserving. We just think others should have received the honour first.<\/span><\/p>\n

Colton Parayko is the longest-tenured Blue, <\/span>having made<\/span> his NHL debut in the 2015-16 season. He is the only Blue to play in all three Winter Classic games. His 10-year career has had lows, but the highs have far outweighed them. However, there are three defencemen we believe should have gotten the honour over Parayko.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jax, Jax, Jax<\/span><\/h4>\n

Barret Jackman<\/span><\/a> was not the offensive presence Parayko was, but he was a reliable defenceman for the Blues. <\/span>Remember, Jackman won the Calder Award as the <\/span>league’s<\/span> top rookie as a defensive-minded defenceman, despite offensive workhorses like <\/span>Henrik Zetterberg<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Rick Nash<\/span><\/a> being in the running as well<\/span>.<\/span> That is something that stands out. Furthermore, Jackman helped lead the Blues through a rebuild in the late 2000s and helped them become Stanley Cup contenders again.<\/span><\/p>\n

2015 All-Star<\/span><\/h4>\n

Another defenceman who could have gotten the honour over Parayko is <\/span>Kevin Shattenkirk<\/span><\/a>. With the Blues, Shattenkirk became one of the <\/span>league’s<\/span> top defencemen. He recorded 40 points five times and <\/span>was named<\/span> to the 2015 NHL All-Star Game. <\/span>He only played for the Blues for six seasons<\/span>, <\/span>but <\/span>he<\/span> was a big part of the <\/span>team’s<\/span> run to the 2016 Western Conference Final.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I<\/span> am Iron Man<\/span>.”<\/span><\/h4>\n

Lastly, <\/span>Jay Bouwmeester<\/span><\/a> could have gotten the honour over Parayko. Bouwmeester has won an Olympic Gold Medal, a World Championship, and a Stanley Cup, something only a handful of players have accomplished. Furthermore, Bouwmeester has one of the <\/span>league\u2019s<\/span> longest iron-man streaks, appearing in 737-consecutive games between 2004 and 2014. Bouwmeester was part of a key defensive pairing for the Blues in their 2019 Stanley Cup run. Paired with Parayko, the duo shut down some of the <\/span>league\u2019s<\/span> best players and top lines of their opponents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of the three, Bouwmeester has the best case to get the honour over Parayko. However, we want to stress that Parayko is not a bad choice by any means.<\/span><\/p>\n

Blues Quarter-Century Team: Third Team<\/span><\/h3>\n

The NHL only announced a First and Second Team. <\/span>Just for<\/span> fun, we are going to choose <\/span>who<\/span> we think could be on a Third Team.<\/span><\/p>\n

Forwards<\/span><\/h4>\n

T.J. Oshie<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Pavol Demitra<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Jaden Schwartz<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Defenceman<\/span><\/h4>\n

Jay Bouwmeester<\/span><\/p>\n

Barret Jackman<\/span><\/p>\n

Goaltender<\/span><\/h4>\n

Jake Allen<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Main Photo: Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy New Year, hockey fans! 2025 is upon us. A quarter of the 21st century is now in the books. To commemorate the quarter-century, the NHL is announcing a First and Second Quarter-Century Team for each NHL team throughout January. The first two teams were announced at the 2025 Winter Classic for the two teams […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3464,"featured_media":459882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,4547,4548],"tags":[39],"class_list":["post-459859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-hockey","category-nhl","tag-st-louis-blues"],"modified_by":"Tommy Bennett","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3464"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459859"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":459883,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459859\/revisions\/459883"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}