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50 Most Outstanding Players in St. Louis Blues History: 50-41

By Patrick Karraker

Mar 6, 2016; Saint Paul, MN, USA; St. Louis Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (22) smiles after the game against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 6, 2016; Saint Paul, MN, USA; St. Louis Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (22) smiles after the game against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mark Hunter St. Louis Blues
Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /

43. Mark Hunter

Forward, 1985-88; 218 games, 112 goals, 84 assists, minus-10 rating, 474 PIM

We’re seeing a common theme with this portion of the list, as it includes quite a few players who weren’t necessarily the biggest stars on their respective Blues teams, but still managed to thrive as scoring totals skyrocketed around the league in the mid-to-late 1980s. Hunter is another player who fits the bill, but as a one-time 40-goal scorer, he’s hard to omit from the list.

Hunter thrived in 1985-86, the first season after he was acquired by the Blues as part of a blockbuster deal with the Montreal Canadiens. Over 78 games, he established career highs in points (74), goals (44), and plus-minus (+15) . Along the way, he earned his first and only selection to the All-Star Game. Hunter succeeded during a long playoff run that season, too, scoring seven goals and adding seven assists over 19 games.

While he leveled off a bit over his subsequent two seasons in the Blue Note, Hunter was still a very effective player, collecting 36 goals and 33 assists over 74 games in 1986-87, then scoring 32 goals with 31 assists through 66 games in 1987-88.

He was included in the deal as the Blues rushed to get rid of Doug Gilmour in September of 1988, and though he won a cup with the Flames in 1989, he never came close to the level of offensive success he reached in St. Louis (just as he had failed to do in Montreal before joining the Blues).

Though he wasn’t quite as much of a pest as his brother Dale, who is second all-time among NHL players in penalty minutes, Mark was quite the aggressor in his own right, collecting 206 penalty minutes over 218 games in a Blues uniform.

While Hunter is rarely if ever mentioned in discussion of the Blues’ greatest players ever, his name is all over the franchise record book. Hunter ranks first in career shooting percentage, third in career goals per game, ninth in career points per game, and 10th all-time in single-season goals (44). Obviously he’s not on the level of a Brett Hull or Bernie Federko, but Hunter deserves more recognition as one of the Blues’ best forwards ever than he gets.

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