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Reactions Blues fans remember the heartbreakersCNNSI.com looked at a few of the transactions that made Blues fans shout, "Say It Ain't So." Then we opened the mailbag and let users vent on those and other dirty deals from over the years.Here is a sampling of your reactions:
I guess you don't think trading this Hall of Famer for Charlie Bourgeois, Gino Cavellini, and Eddie Beers was a heartbreaker. I'm surprised to not find this one on the list: when Adam Oates was let go in the 1991 season. He and Hull were magical. Hull never really recaptured the scoring prowess he had with Oates. Oates had 90 assists in 61 games in 1990. Almost all of them contributed to Hull's 86 astounding goals.
Your report on the miserable deals orchestrated by the St. Louis Blues over the years (particularly the Mike Keenan years) was akin to twisting an already injured limb.
When you consider what the Blues lost between 1985 and 1995 -- Mike Liut, Joey Mullen, Doug Gilmour, Scott Stevens, Brendan Shanahan, Curtis Joseph -- and what St. Louis gained from the collective deals (the only noteworthy name: Chris Pronger), well, the pillows of Blues fans are still damp with tears. To this day, I wonder what kind of damage a team with Brett Hull, Shanahan, Stevens, and Joseph might have done in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Thanks to a free-agent compensation judge, we'll never know.
The Shanahan trade in 1995 was one of the biggest transactions the Blues ever made. The day it happened, it was the top story on all the newscasts and surprised and shocked everybody who watched it. I remember my brother had run outside to tell me what happened. Not long after that a friend of mine called me up to talk about it. She was so disappointed that she couldn't keep herself from crying.
It wasn't a surprise that on Shanny's first visit back to St. Louis the following season, the largest crowd ever to watch the Blues play was there to welcome him home. St. Louis fans are loyal to their players, something Keenan never seemed to understand. Keenan tore apart a great Blues team (Hull, Shanny, and CuJo). Three cornerstone players needed to win a cup. Even more these players were some of the most community orientated and popular people of the entire St. Louis area. It has been bittersweet to watch Shanny with the Wings and Hull with the Stars win their cups, when all Blues fans know that they could have done it here if it wasn't for Keenan.
I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Brendan Shanahan . From the first time I watched him play to the first time I met him, I knew that he was more than just a hockey player. All this from just a few kind words from him when I met him for the first time. Not just an exceptional athlete, but a kind man with a great sense of humor. A friend of mine from the St. Louis area called me with the news of the trade. The conversation started with, "Are you sitting down?" I remember her saying that he was traded for a "nobody." I'll never forget that day. I've been mourning ever since. I wore black for that week even though hardly anyone knew why. (Do you have any idea how hot it is to wear black in the summer?) The second time I met him I asked him to take me with him to Hartford. He responded, "Maybe we should talk about that." I guess I should have given him my phone number.
My now-husband is happy that I didn't. As a consolation he let me name my new baby boy after Brendan. He'll have skates as soon as he can stand.
Back in the 1990-91 season. When the St. Louis Blues traded Geoff Courtnall, Cliff Ronning, Sergio Momesso and Robert Dirk for Garth Butcher and Dan Quinn. The 'Butcher' turned into the grocery clerk and the Blues got absolutely slammed around in the playoff when anyone who could coach hockey knew how to beat them ... double team Brett Hull because no one else could score after they traded a whole scoring line away. Stewart Gavin had the series of his life and the Blues were calling for their tee times.
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