The Strange True Story of Gretzky’s Stint in St.Louis

Wayne Gretzky in a St.Louis Blues jersey, it still feels like an episode of Stranger Things. He was acquired by Mike Keenan to help the Blues get over the hump. Instead, his short stint in St.Louis was marred by injuries and controversy. In this video, we break down Gretzky’s short but unforgettable time in St.Louis!

00:00 Intro
00:25 Part One: the trade 2.0
04:20 Part Two: regular season
07:50 Part Three: the playoffs
10:48 Part Four: an ugly divorce

35 comments

  3. 👹Keenan 🤡worst coach in NHL history. Canucks downfall hiring such a useless clown. Hopefully he goes the way of Roger Neilson. Roger was a good man and a good coach wish they could have switched Positions.

  4. Keenan and Tortorella are THE worst coaches in NHL history. I wouldn't blame any player for wanting off of a team coached by those two.

  9. Hockey in the 80s and 90s was the pinnacle of the sport. Farm boy strength ruled, not this overly regulated body fat ratio horseshit that doesn't even get used for physical contact for 80% of a game today because "someone might get hurt". the "michigan" goal sums up what the NHL has and will continue to become perfectly. fucking lame. and look at the drama off the ice we got. Keenan was hilarious

  14. As a Kings fan, I was infuriated because L.A. traded the best player for three pieces of scrap. Johnson stuck around for a few seasons, but Tardif and Vopat were never heard from again. I remember some dope on the radio defending this trade saying it was a steal for the Kings, when in fact it was a steal for St. Louis. They stole our Rams and now they steal Gretzky.

  15. If Mike Keenan is involved, and things don't work out, dollars to donuts he's at least one of the main reasons. Insert Babcock and Torts instead in this as needed

  16. Was a huge Gretzky fan all my life, until 4 Nations Final. Who gives a fuck why he didn't stay in St Louis. He's a piece of garbage now in my opinion.

  18. Keanen made Hull want to play for the Hawks out of spite. He also wanted to repair his family name with Bill Wirtz, but the old man said a Hull will never wear the Hawks sweater ever again and he went to Dallas.

  22. Hiring Mike Keenan was the worst decision in the history of a franchise who completely skipped the NHL draft one year and threatened to move to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan once. The Keenan hire was till worse.

  23. Bro it's Kelly Buchburger pronunciation is Buckburger lol….they also offered sheets Petr Nedved too along with Steven's and Shanny in March of 94, that's how the Canucks were able to get Hedican, Brown and Lafayette….hence that's why the Canucks were nicknamed the St. LOUIS Canucks here in Vancouver by fans since three major trades with the blues pretty much made the Canucks from the Bottom of the league to a Stanley Cup contender ..also helped getting Bure

  24. What Blues should have done was to hold onto Adam Oates… If memory serves, the Golden Brett even offered to renegotiate his own contract, for less money, if that meant keeping Oates… Nothing compared to Hull & Oats… save only Gretzky and Kurri…

    Hockey in St Louis would have turned quite differently… Not just in St Louis… Hockey history PERIOD

  25. Keenan was a train wreck for the longest time. Yet many teams took chances on him (including my hometown Calgary Flames!). He would get signed to three year contracts and teams would fire him after two seasons. Keenan was wbrought in for trying to turn around teams but in the end he just ended up pissing everyone off. St. Louis fired him prior to Christmas during the 1996-97 season. A cartoon appeared in the Calgary Sun newspaper showing a group of players singing “We’ll have a Blues Christmas without you!” as an image of Keenan is going out an exit door! Keenan would re-appear in Vancouver a short time later. Perhaps a segment on that debacle could be interesting!😀

  26. There were seven future hall of famers on the 95-96 blues roster. But, Gretzky was there for 15 games, pronger was a the very beginning. Really only Hull and fuhr were still in their prime. They finished 50 points behind Detroit, but managed to go up 3-2 with a backup goalie. It was one of the most exciting seasons in blues history.

    Mike Keenan put such a bad taste in players mouths hull wanted out of Saint louis a year after Keenan was fired. A lot of the Keenan era casualties like hull and Gretzky now look back fondly on their blues years. It’s a real question of if they held this group together could they have more credibly challenged Detroit & Dallas the next three years ?

  28. @2:58 Back when gloves were huge. Looks like boxing gloves! I remember having those same Easton gloves playing when I was a kid. Pros, great protection. Con…. gloves took months to break in from the stiffness. And by the time they finally broke in, the leather palms inside were already tearing apart.

  29. So I guess when it was known the Kings were looking to move Gretzky, John Muckler who was the GM of the Sabres and Gretzky's coach in Edmonton approached Sabres ownership about acquiring Gretzky and the owners rejected the idea under the mindset that "he would never want to play here" which to me means "we're cheap and don't want to pay him." I'm sure Gretzky would have jumped at the opportunity to play in Buffalo which is only an hour and a half drive from his home town and his family could have been in attendance for every home game.

  30. Coach Keenan's "Herb Brooks" style clashed big time in the '87 Canada Cup – Most of Team Canada threatened to Quit en masse if "Breenan" didn't tone it down

  34. The Blues were right about all those contracts.
    Hull was not overpaid in 1990 as he scored 86 goals and won the Hart
    Stevens was a Hall of Famer that Washington wanted to underpay drastically
    And Shanahan was a Hall of Famer, and the Blues guessed right that he was worth that money at 22 years old

    The Blues were punished by the NHL for aggressively signing great players to contracts they proved to be worth

Leave a Reply