St. Louis Blues: Top 20 Goal Scorers in Franchise History

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

5. Pavol Demitra

Demitra’s skill as a scorer with the St. Louis Blues was somewhat easy to overlook, considering that he played in the shadow of Brett Hull at the start of his career, then played alongside other strong scorers like Keith Tkachuk later during his time in St. Louis. When you put his stats under a microscope, however, it really becomes clear just how good he was with the Blues.

Perhaps the most impressive element of Demitra’s success is that he had 30-plus-goal seasons in three of the five lowest-scoring seasons in modern NHL history: 1998-99, 2001-02, and 2002-03. When you add in the fact that he had over 20 goals in the remaining two lowest-scoring seasons–1997-98 and 2003-04–Demitra was just about as dependable as players came in an era that was extremely low on offense.

With 204 goals in 494 games, Demitra ranks sixth all-time in franchise history. He scored in roughly 42 percent of his games with the Blues, which is incredible considering the timeframe during which he was in his prime.

Of course, Demitra was taken far too soon, as he perished in a tragic 2011 plane crash that killed the entire roster of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, a Kontinental Hockey League team. Because of his death at an early age, Blues fans may have the tendency to remember the tragedy first when thinking about Demitra, but it’s important that his legacy also lives on for his great accomplishments while living. Demitra, also heralded for his strengths as a person as the winner of the 1999-2000 Lady Byng Trophy, was one of the better players ever to wear the Note, and at least for the purposes of this list, he’s a Top 10 scorer in Blues history.

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