Changing the Game

by Stephen Laroche

  With the odds stacked against them, the Blues faced the Canadiens, an incredibly talented club in the middle of a five-year run that featured four championships interrupted only by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1966–67. The Habs won in four straight games, but all of them were decided by just a single goal and two went into overtime. St. Louis proved that the new expansion clubs were more competitive than originally anticipated, and Glenn Hall was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason’s Most Valuable Player.

  Salomon was extremely pleased by his team’s showing and rewarded the players and their families by giving them a 10-day trip to Florida. The future looked bright for the team, and they stayed at the top of the West Division in the early part of the expansion era. They went to the Stanley Cup Final each of their first three years, a lot of that success to the credit of Scotty Bowman’s coaching and a strong mix of talented veterans and youngsters.

  “A lot of guys had a hard time with him, but he gave me my chance and he was a great coach,” said Gary Sabourin about Bowman. “He did what he had to do to win and he hated losing. He knew what kind of guys he wanted there, and the older guys he brought in had a big impact on us young guys. Everybody was ecstatic to be there, and us young guys were thrilled to be in the NHL and to be winning playoff series. The first three years were fantastic, but once they got rid of Scotty and traded Berenson for Garry Unger, things went downhill fast.”

  Bowman was on the outs with team ownership early in the 1970–71 season, but he eventually resurfaced back in Montreal and took them to five Stanley Cups. The Blues remained playoff contenders for most of the 1970s before bottoming out at the end of the decade. Through the hard work of Emile Francis, the team was built into a powerhouse through the draft. They were back in the playoffs by 1979–80 and did not miss them for 25 straight seasons.

  During that time, the Blues dealt with the possibility of relocating to Saskatoon in 1983. But they had on-ice success with talents like Brian Sutter, Bernie Federko and Mike Liut before the arrival of even bigger stars Brett Hull, Adam Oates and Curtis Joseph, which had many wondering if the team could get back to the Stanley Cup Final in the early 1990s. Since the lockout, St. Louis had some on-ice difficulties and has made the playoffs only twice, but things look promising after a strong 2011–12 campaign that saw them finish first in the Central Division with 109 points.

  Red Berenson

  Berenson was one of hockey’s most interesting players in the 1960s. He had previously won an International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship with the Belleville McFarlands before moving on to become an All-American at the University of Michigan in the early part of the decade. From there, he went on to play for parts of five seasons with the Montreal Canadiens and won a Stanley Cup in 1964–65. Dealt away to the New York Rangers before the start of the 1966–67 campaign, he battled injuries that year but was protected in the expansion draft.

  After a rough start to the 1967–68 season, he was traded to the Blues just 19 games in and instantly became a star with the first-year club.

  “I was excited. I can remember when I was with the Rangers and we were all speculating where the best places to play were with expansion. Nobody really gave St. Louis a high vote. When I was traded there, it was like I had died and gone to heaven. I knew a lot of the guys there, and there was a sprinkle of former Montreal players there, and I had played for Scotty Bowman in Hull-Ottawa.”

  In fact, Berenson credits Bowman with helping rejuvenate his career.

  “Scotty Bowman was the first coach to give me a chance to play the way I thought I could play. Scotty knew how to use players and he knew how to get the most out of them. He was good with the young players and how to use the veteran players.”

  His debut with St. Louis was spectacular, as he earned assists on two goals by Jim Roberts when they defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3–2 on November 29, 1967.

  “I knew we got a good player in Red,” said Roberts. “I was really excited when we got him because he was going to be our first big player.”

  Where the “Red Baron” was most noticed by statisticians was in the category of game-winning goals. He was responsible for seven victories by the Blues, one of the most notable a four-point effort against the Oakland Seals on February 3, 1968. Over 55 games with the club, he racked up 51 points, but his production dipped slightly in the postseason. His biggest playoff moments came on May 9 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, when he scored twice and helped force overtime with the mighty Canadiens.

  Berenson was also impressed by the way all players on the Blues were treated by the Salomon family when they owned the club.

  “There hasn’t been a hockey team treated as well by the ownership as the St. Louis Blues. You felt bad if you lost, because of them.”

  Over the next few years, Berenson remained one of the team’s marquee performers and in a battle with the Philadelphia Flyers on November 7, 1968, became the first player in league history to score six goals in a road game. He later spent some time in Detroit but came back to St. Louis to finish his career and later had success as their coach. In 1984, he returned to the University of Michigan and has led them to numerous Frozen Four appearances.

  Red Berenson

  Gerry Melnyk

  In Melnyk’s early pro career he enjoyed some time at the NHL level with Detroit and Chicago, but in the years leading up to expansion, he was down in the minors, where he put up decent numbers and even played for the Central League’s St. Louis Braves.

  Seeking a familiar face for their lineup, the Blues took him in the expansion draft. Melnyk responded by being one of the club’s top offensive performers in 1967–68. On October 21, 1967, he had a goal and two assists while battling the Los Angeles Kings, and on December 27, he scored a game-winner against them. Two days later, he made all the difference in a victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins as well. The Pens also fell victim to his prowess with the puck on March 6, 1968, when he started off a three-game winning streak for St. Louis.

  “Gerry had a good hockey head and very seldom gave up the puck poorly,” said Ron Schock. “You knew if you threw a pass to him that he was going to get it.”

  Following an eight-point contribution in the run to the Stanley Cup Final, Melnyk was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, but he retired before the start of the next season after suffering a heart attack. He took a job as a scout and his lobbying to draft Bobby Clarke forever changed the fate of the franchise.

  Jim Roberts

  An underrated and gifted defensive forward who won a pair of Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens, Roberts looked to have a very bright future with the club, but with a ton of talent to protect, the Habs had to make him available in the expansion draft.

  “It was an opportunity and you knew you wanted to stay in the Montreal system but it wasn’t in the cards,” he said. “It was exciting, though, because St. Louis drafted me with their first overall pick.”

  He also realized what he was in for with the team early into his time with the Blues.

  “That was one of our goals as an organization. We had a number of players from Montreal by the end of the year. We wanted to be a good team in the division and we made the Stanley Cup Final the first three years I was there. I thought it was a pretty rounded team. Defence was always talked about, and goaltending, too, but outside of Red Berenson, we had guys who could contribute as well.”

  On October 14, 1967, Roberts scored his first goal of the season and added an assist when St. Louis got their initial win over Pittsburgh. Throughout the rest of the year, he picked on the Penguins with a game-winner on November 11 and a three-assist outing on January 31, 1968.

  During the season, he was moved from left wing to defence and paired up with Barclay Plager. The two had some history together, as they had played junior hockey with the Peterborough Petes. When the playoffs began on April 4, Roberts scored the winner in the series opener with Philadelphia and his postseason experience helped the Blues get rolling t
oward the Stanley Cup Final.

  Frank St. Marseille

  St. Marseille did not play organized hockey until late in his teen years, but he had a very solid career in the International Hockey League (IHL) with the Port Huron Flags in the mid-1960s. The 1966–67 season was a tremendous one for “The Saint” and he was named to the league’s Second All-Star Team after racking up an impressive 118 points.

  The expansion era gave him a chance to crack an NHL lineup, but it was a family member who caught the attention of management in St. Louis.

  “His brother is an opera singer and was the one who phoned around to get Frank a tryout, and the Blues responded to his call,” said teammate Terry Crisp. “He got in because his brother refused to give up, because he knew how good his brother was.”

  Signed as a free agent after the season began, St. Marseille made an impact early on by scoring his first big-league goal against Toronto on December 10, 1967. He had a two-goal night, including the game-winner, 10 days later against California.

  “We were playing in a game in Toledo, Ohio, when Lynn [Patrick] talked to me about signing with the Blues,” said St. Marseille not too long after his call-up. “I had some other chances to sign but I just liked the way Lynn talked to me and his sincerity. I’m glad I made the choices I did, because the Blues have been real good to me.”

  Impressive for the rest of the season, St. Marseille was one of the club’s top offensive performers in the playoffs and had a goal and an assist in Game 3 of the opening round against Philadelphia on April 10, 1968. He remained with the Blues for several years and was the franchise’s all-time scoring leader during their early years before he was traded to Los Angeles.

  Terry Crisp

  Crisp made his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins in 1965–66 but, like many young players of his generation, grew increasingly frustrated by having success in the minors and not getting regular work with the big club.

  “My modus operandi around this time was go into training camp, work like a bitch and get sent to the minors. After four years of doing that, I was about ready to quit and go into teaching,” he said. “My wife told me that I was going to stick it out and play one more year in Oklahoma City, and we won another championship. That’s when expansion hit and I wouldn’t have played if it wasn’t for her.”

  That season proved enough to make a good impression, since he racked up 73 points for the Oklahoma City Blazers and was taken by the Blues in the expansion draft. He made the roster out of training camp, and his first NHL goal came on October 14, 1967, against Hank Bassen of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

  When Scotty Bowman took over as coach soon after, he was happy to play for the man who eventually became the league’s all-time leader in wins.

  “I didn’t know Scotty. All we knew was that he belonged to the Montreal team and that meant winning,” he said. “Right off the bat, one of the things that he brought in was that he was the boss. I loved playing for him and he was so steeped into the game. He was total hockey.”

  On December 9, Crisp scored a game-winning goal against the Seals; in their rematch four days later, he chipped in two assists for a 3–1 victory. With the arrival of Dickie Moore on the roster, he was able to play alongside a legend, and Crisp shared a story about a big lesson he learned from the veteran.

  “I remember one time that Dickie Moore was sitting beside me on the bench and I say to him how good Beliveau looked out there. He jumped on my ass and started yelling at me about sitting on the bench and praising the other team. I thought he was going to hit me over the head with his stick! I took a big lesson from that and used that approach when I was a coach as well.”

  Gary Sabourin

  Sabourin was part of the New York Rangers system in the years before the NHL expanded and he was slowly working his way up to the big club. In 1966–67, he had a 23-goal season with the CHL’s Omaha Knights and was initially disappointed that he was passed over on draft day. It turned out, however, that the Rangers had something in mind for him, and he became part of the package that sent Rod Seiling back to New York from St. Louis.

  “I was ecstatic,” he said. “I was working up at my uncle’s marina. It was a nice day and they had the radio on and nobody called my name. I thought for sure that I’d get a call. After all the drafting was done, my aunt came running out and she heard about the deal between St. Louis and New York. A couple of days later, Lynn Patrick sent me a telegram saying that they were happy to have me in the organization.”

  Although he had a good training camp, Sabourin was sent down to Kansas City. One night, he ran into Scott Bowman in a hotel lobby in Oklahoma City and heard that there were changes coming with the Blues. Called up soon after, he was ready to make an impact.

  “I got called up to go to Chicago for a game,” he said. “I think Terry Crisp got hurt and I got the call. I grabbed a cab from the airport and made it just in time for the warmup. I had to go through the crowd to get to the dressing room and Lynn Patrick said he never saw anyone get dressed so fast! My line was up against Hull and Mikita, but I don’t think I had the best game and was sent down afterward.”

  On December 13, 1967, he scored his first career goal on Charlie Hodge of the Oakland Seals and it was also the game-winner. He followed it up with another goal in the same period to ensure the victory. The next night, he had another two points in a tie with the Philadelphia Flyers. His defensive record during the 1967–68 season was solid, and he scored two shorthanded goals — tying him for fifth in the league in that category.

  “He was a checker and a grinder,” said occasional linemate Gary Veneruzzo. “An at-home winger. I played against him when I was with Omaha, and he was tough to play against.”

  During the postseason, Sabourin scored the overtime winner against the Minnesota North Stars in the fourth game of the West Division final. He went into a small slump after that but was brought off the bench during Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final and scored a power-play goal to give the Blues a 2–1 lead.

  “You never dreamed you’d get that far the first year. Montreal was outshooting us and Glenn Hall stood on his head. Their defencemen were huge and they had good goalies. I think that first year was our best shot at the Cup.”

  Larry Keenan

  Keenan first got a brief taste of NHL action as a 21-year-old with Toronto in the 1961–62 season but spent subsequent years in the minors before the days of expansion. In 1966–67, he battled an ankle injury during his time with the Victoria Maple Leafs of the WHL, but the St. Louis Blues felt that he was poised for a comeback.

  “I knew [expansion] was going to give me an opportunity to play in the National Hockey League,” he said. “In those days it was tough to crack the lineup of the Leafs. A lot of players, including myself, were going to be buried in the minors. They just sent you down until they needed you. Those six extra teams gave a lot of us guys an opportunity.”

  In training camp, Keenan was the team’s top goal scorer. Once the regular season started, he was responsible for getting their first goal on October 11, 1967, against Garry Bauman of the Minnesota North Stars. In the next two games that followed, he also made an impact on the scoresheet, and in the team’s third outing he had a winner against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

  Soon after, his season came to a temporary halt when he broke his leg, but he returned to action in late December. Just three days later, he sustained some serious bruises and was out of the lineup for a while once again.

  “Prior to expansion, I had some years that I was injured. I scored in four of the first five games and then I broke my ankle. In those days, you hid an injury because you wanted to keep your job. Players today have no idea how hard it was in the years before expansion.”

  Once Keenan officially returned to action, he helped the Blues clinch a playoff spot by scoring a game-winning goal against the Minnesota North Stars on March 30, 1968.

  “We didn’t get into the playoffs until the second-last game of the year,” he recalled. “They were two
men short and I scored both goals to put us into the playoffs. When you look back, it had a big bearing on the success of the Blues. When you’re that close and able to come through positively, it was exciting to me.”

  Keenan’s momentum carried over into the postseason — especially in the opening-round series with the Philadelphia Flyers. He had two points in Game 2 but made headlines with a double-overtime winning goal in the next outing. That was nothing compared to his clinching goal in Game 7, which sent the Blues into the second round against the Minnesota North Stars.

  “Even in the minors, I had a lot of success in the playoffs. I attribute that to always being healthy in the playoffs and being able to rise to the occasion.”

  Barclay Plager

  The oldest member of the Plager family to play in the NHL, Barclay came to St. Louis with Red Berenson in an early-season trade with the New York Rangers. He almost instantly helped to change the team’s on-ice fortunes with his rambunctious play. Coach Scotty Bowman was pleased with his newest defenceman at the time.

  “Barclay can carry that puck out of his own end real good,” he said. “He gives the kind of offensive lift we need from a defenceman.”

  While the Blues certainly did not lack toughness before or after his arrival, Plager made some good offensive contributions, including a game-winning goal against Toronto on February 21, 1968, and a two-goal effort playing Detroit on March 16. When it came to penalty minutes, he ended up leading all NHL players in that category in 1967–68 even though he appeared in only 49 games.

  “I think Barclay was just as important as Red [Berenson] to the club. He was a real competitor and kept the other teams pretty honest,” said Jim Roberts.

  This raw energy was truly unleashed in the playoffs, though, as Plager ran roughshod over the Philadelphia Flyers during their opening-round series. In Game 3, he timed his hit on Art Stratton perfectly for when he exited the penalty box and also went toe-to-toe with Gary Dornhoefer. Once the Stanley Cup Final rolled around, he had a goal and an assist against Montreal in the series opener.