50 Most Outstanding Players in St. Louis Blues History: 40-31

31. Perry Turnbull

Forward, 1979-83, 1987-88; 396 games, 139 goals, 99 assists, minus-25 rating, 829 PIM

Outside of Brian Sutter, Perry Turnbull had perhaps a more interesting mix of offensive skill and punishing physicality than any other player that the Blues have ever had. In an era where there was much more scoring and fighting than there is today, you could make an argument that the 6-foot-2, 200-pounder was the David Backes of his time.

After breaking into the NHL as a 20-year-old in 1979-80, Turnbull really came into his own in ’80-’81, posting the first of three straight 30-plus goal seasons. He also had at least 160 penalty minutes in each of those seasons, including a career-high 209 to complement his career-high 34 goals in ’80-’81.

As his production began to tail off in 1983-84, he was traded to Montreal in exchange for Doug Wickenheiser, Greg Paslawski, and Gilbert Delorme. But while his playing style lent itself to a short shelf life–he was out of the league by age 29–Turnbull did return for one more season with the Blues in 1987-88, filling an aggressor role while playing in 51 games, scoring 10 goals with nine assists and 82 penalty minutes.

Next: Most Outstanding Players in Blues History: 30-21

Turnbull is ninth all-time in franchise penalty minutes and seventh in even-strength goals (122). While his production came during the NHL’s greatest era of offense, he combined offensive productivity and a mean streak like very few other players in franchise history have.