80's and 90's Norris Division Blues Killers

[seattleblue]

the difference between now and then for me is that back then there were not players on other teams that I hated but wanted to be a Blue/would have loved as a Blue. The way the players cheapshotted each other back then was 19 bridges too far. that's what made the Norris so (bleep) great, the hate was real and you could expect to see it on the ice every time you went down to the old barn.

this current Blues team reminds me of the perennially 5-11 football Cardinals. just miles from collectively competitive. not even a consideration that competing is happening. Occasional one off game and a handful of decent players.

[blues2112]

Too young to remember much of the 80s but I absolutely hated Steve Larmer, Belfour, Ciccarelli, Probert, Draper, McCarty, Roenick, Chelios, Baumgartner, Pearson, Macoun. Mike Foligno on the Leafs and his weird helmet too.

You just set me back in years of therapy!!!!

[blues2112]

Hopefully some of you guys watch the Hull and Chase podcast. They did one with Butcher that was hilarious. Bobby Smith, Ron Wilson and Brian Bellows all wore hair pieces back then and the Blues were whistled for being offsides by the North Stars bench. The ref mentioned they were offsides by just a hair, after which Butcher pointed at the Minnesota bench and said “but not your hair.”

Priceless!

Ugh. Garth Butcher. Would gladly have foregone that "wit" to have ronning, mommeso and courtnall back. As valuable as steve ott. "But these guys are good in the room" .

I really don't get why people revere Ron Caron. He made decisions like a kid playing video games.

Agree. He followed up that doozy with then sending dan quinn and rod the bod to get ron sutter and murray baron. He made some amends later jettisoning butcher for steve duchesne but listened to brian sutter too much.

exactly his problem. Sutter had fought Butcher once and thought they needed a 'tough guy' for an assumed PO series vs CHI (which iirc, never happened that year)

but will give him this, in the series vs DET Probert was going after Stevens every chance he got and Butcher got in his face and for whatever reason, Probert would just skate away

Yes, he got Probert so mad that Probert attacked our goalie Riendeau (sp?). I am not sure why Probert didn't fight him? They did a lot of hacking and whacking with the sticks but no fights. Didn't Probert skate by the bench and clip Butcher with his stick? I know it happened but I can't recall if it was the playoffs or if it was a regular season game? The regular season games against the Chicken Hawks were like playoff games anyway. Good times!

Was this it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSxeeVaGiCQ

[BrummerStealsHome]

Just reading the subject line before opening the the thread the image of Dougie Gilmour popped into my head. Man, he must have loved tormenting his old team. Someone mentioned him already on page 1.

I think the biggest Blues killer of that era had to be Ciccerelli. Dang, I hated that guy. Of coures, I hated Harold Snepsts until he became a Blue.

[zuck698]

Hopefully some of you guys watch the Hull and Chase podcast. They did one with Butcher that was hilarious. Bobby Smith, Ron Wilson and Brian Bellows all wore hair pieces back then and the Blues were whistled for being offsides by the North Stars bench. The ref mentioned they were offsides by just a hair, after which Butcher pointed at the Minnesota bench and said “but not your hair.”

Priceless!

Ugh. Garth Butcher. Would gladly have foregone that "wit" to have ronning, mommeso and courtnall back. As valuable as steve ott. "But these guys are good in the room" .

I really don't get why people revere Ron Caron. He made decisions like a kid playing video games.

Agree. He followed up that doozy with then sending dan quinn and rod the bod to get ron sutter and murray baron. He made some amends later jettisoning butcher for steve duchesne but listened to brian sutter too much.

exactly his problem. Sutter had fought Butcher once and thought they needed a 'tough guy' for an assumed PO series vs CHI (which iirc, never happened that year)

but will give him this, in the series vs DET Probert was going after Stevens every chance he got and Butcher got in his face and for whatever reason, Probert would just skate away

Yes, he got Probert so mad that Probert attacked our goalie Riendeau (sp?). I am not sure why Probert didn't fight him? They did a lot of hacking and whacking with the sticks but no fights. Didn't Probert skate by the bench and clip Butcher with his stick? I know it happened but I can't recall if it was the playoffs or if it was a regular season game? The regular season games against the Chicken Hawks were like playoff games anyway. Good times!

Was this it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSxeeVaGiCQ

That is the one! Bobby was a bad boy. Vincent went down like he was hit by a sniper. The OLD Barn was shaking to the rafters that night.

I miss the old barn. It was dirty and maybe falling a part, but man what fun it was to watch games there. The old Chicago Stadium gave me that feeling too. I was lucky enough to see a few Blues games there. I also got to see Jordan play there. You want to talk electric! The entrance, before the game, would give you goosebumps. These new arenas don't come close.

[Blues Dave]

Whenever someone mentions "The Old Barn", I'm instantly reminded of the courage it took to go up (or especially down) the steps to get to your seat in the upper levels. Man, it was almost like straight up and down. It gave me chills. One misstep and no telling how far down you could end up. Especially after imbibing in a few brews. Ther was a rail to hold on to and man did you need it.

[blues2112]

Whenever someone mentions "The Old Barn", I'm instantly reminded of the courage it took to go up (or especially down) the steps to get to your seat in the upper levels. Man, it was almost like straight up and down. It gave me chills. One misstep and no telling how far down you could end up. Especially after imbibing in a few brews. Ther was a rail to hold on to and man did you need it.

True, but if you're lucky, you would have hit a tacky patch of urine/vomit/beer that would have stuck you in place!

[wiscrev]

Hopefully some of you guys watch the Hull and Chase podcast. They did one with Butcher that was hilarious. Bobby Smith, Ron Wilson and Brian Bellows all wore hair pieces back then and the Blues were whistled for being offsides by the North Stars bench. The ref mentioned they were offsides by just a hair, after which Butcher pointed at the Minnesota bench and said “but not your hair.”

Priceless!

Ugh. Garth Butcher. Would gladly have foregone that "wit" to have ronning, mommeso and courtnall back. As valuable as steve ott. "But these guys are good in the room" .

I really don't get why people revere Ron Caron. He made decisions like a kid playing video games.

Agree. He followed up that doozy with then sending dan quinn and rod the bod to get ron sutter and murray baron. He made some amends later jettisoning butcher for steve duchesne but listened to brian sutter too much.

exactly his problem. Sutter had fought Butcher once and thought they needed a 'tough guy' for an assumed PO series vs CHI (which iirc, never happened that year)

but will give him this, in the series vs DET Probert was going after Stevens every chance he got and Butcher got in his face and for whatever reason, Probert would just skate away

Yes, he got Probert so mad that Probert attacked our goalie Riendeau (sp?). I am not sure why Probert didn't fight him? They did a lot of hacking and whacking with the sticks but no fights. Didn't Probert skate by the bench and clip Butcher with his stick? I know it happened but I can't recall if it was the playoffs or if it was a regular season game? The regular season games against the Chicken Hawks were like playoff games anyway. Good times!

Was this it?Yup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSxeeVaGiCQ

That is the one! Bobby was a bad boy. Vincent went down like he was hit by a sniper. The OLD Barn was shaking to the rafters that night.

I miss the old barn. It was dirty and maybe falling a part, but man what fun it was to watch games there. The old Chicago Stadium gave me that feeling too. I was lucky enough to see a few Blues games there. I also got to see Jordan play there. You want to talk electric! The entrance, before the game, would give you goosebumps. These new arenas don't come close.

I was there that night. The Barn was shaking. I, too, miss that place. Best ever to watch a game as you were virtually right on top of the game.

[fish]

The Norris was so awesome!!

Every playoff series was an out and out war, especially back when they played the first 4 games in 5 nights.

I believe that Basil is the only player to play for all of the long-term Norris teams. I could not stand him or Harold until they wore the note. I can't see the name Secord without immediately thinking sucks. It must have been so cool for him to hear 19,000 people chanting his name every time they played here.
During one of the playoff series against the hawks, I put Chelios hockey cards in 30 or 40 urinals, money well spent.

Dino was easily the player I hated the most. I only saw 2 players ever get him back for all of cheap shots he dished out. Murray "2 minutes for holding" Baron gave him one of the most vicious slash and then cross check I have ever seen when he was with Detroit. One of the craziest games I ever saw was in 84 or 85 and Minnesota beat us 10-8. Rollie the goalie could not stop a beach ball, someone had a heart attack in the Arena Circle seats, and there were a ton of fights. In one shift, Dino high sticked and cut Patey without getting a penalty, then high sticked Terry Johnson. TJ went nuts and Dino turtled, of course, so TJ grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and top of his pants and slammed his head into the boards a few times before Plett and Snepts or Holgren came to his aid.
I will never root for any of the Norris division teams. The worst possible cup matchup would definitely involve 2 Norris teams.

[fish]

The best prank any student pulled on me happened in 1998. One of my 8th graders came to school late and he came late to school and interrupted my class to tell me that he heard on the radio that the Blues traded to get Dino from Florida. This was early internet, no smart phone days so I would have believed him but he started laughing. I don’t think I could have cheered for him as a Blue.

[seattleblue]

List of Norris hates:

1. Hawks
2. Wings
3. North Stars
4. Leafs

I remember actually having to root for Lou Lamoreillo to get this third Cup with stolen Stevens because otherwise Steve Thomas would have gotten his name on the Cup, and so would Adam Oates which was also not acceptable.

I was at that Probert-Riendeau game too down low, and was watching the whole play unfold. It's good that he died young, same with Bryan Marchment.

[BalotelliMassive]

No love for Vlad the Impaler?



Dirk Graham?



Wendell?




Nightmares to play against!

[blues2112]

So many to hate, especially Tomas Holmstrom.

[Hazelwood72]

Hopefully some of you guys watch the Hull and Chase podcast. They did one with Butcher that was hilarious. Bobby Smith, Ron Wilson and Brian Bellows all wore hair pieces back then and the Blues were whistled for being offsides by the North Stars bench. The ref mentioned they were offsides by just a hair, after which Butcher pointed at the Minnesota bench and said “but not your hair.”

Priceless!

Ugh. Garth Butcher. Would gladly have foregone that "wit" to have ronning, mommeso and courtnall back. As valuable as steve ott. "But these guys are good in the room" .

I really don't get why people revere Ron Caron. He made decisions like a kid playing video games.

Agree. He followed up that doozy with then sending dan quinn and rod the bod to get ron sutter and murray baron. He made some amends later jettisoning butcher for steve duchesne but listened to brian sutter too much.

exactly his problem. Sutter had fought Butcher once and thought they needed a 'tough guy' for an assumed PO series vs CHI (which iirc, never happened that year)

but will give him this, in the series vs DET Probert was going after Stevens every chance he got and Butcher got in his face and for whatever reason, Probert would just skate away

Yes, he got Probert so mad that Probert attacked our goalie Riendeau (sp?). I am not sure why Probert didn't fight him? They did a lot of hacking and whacking with the sticks but no fights. Didn't Probert skate by the bench and clip Butcher with his stick? I know it happened but I can't recall if it was the playoffs or if it was a regular season game? The regular season games against the Chicken Hawks were like playoff games anyway. Good times!

Was this it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSxeeVaGiCQ

That is the one! Bobby was a bad boy. Vincent went down like he was hit by a sniper. The OLD Barn was shaking to the rafters that night.

I miss the old barn. It was dirty and maybe falling a part, but man what fun it was to watch games there. The old Chicago Stadium gave me that feeling too. I was lucky enough to see a few Blues games there. I also got to see Jordan play there. You want to talk electric! The entrance, before the game, would give you goosebumps. These new arenas don't come close.

I became a Blues fan at the age of 14 in early 1968. In those days The Arena had been newly renovated, freshly painted, new bright lights, and was sparkling clean. Many official NHL photos were taken in The Arena back then because it had the best lighting in the NHL!

Unfortunately, in subsequent years, the Salomons financial difficulty, the dumping of the team by Ralston Purina, the near-bankruptcy of the team, etc, caused The Arena to deteriorate due to lack of maintenance. In 1988-1994 I changed jobs and lived in suburban Chicago and had part share of season tickets to Blackhawks games. Chicago Stadium was very clean and well maintained right up to the end. I was at the last Blackhawk game at The Stadium in spring ‘94.

The contrast in the 2 arenas was interesting. Chicago Stadium was in great shape but in a horrific neighborhood. You didn’t hang around in that neighborhood after a game — in fact, Wayne Messmer, their great anthem singer, was shot in the throat after a game in 1994. (Fortunately he survived). The St. Louis Arena was in worse shape but in a safe neighborhood. I never worried hanging around there any time of day.

I loved going to both of those raucous old barns. Best 2 places in the NHL to watch hockey. Also miss the Chuck Norris Division days. Wendel Clark and Steve Larmer get my vote for the Blues killers I hated but wanted traded to the Blues. Clark for toughness coupled with skill and Larmer for skill.

[rezero]

Against Detroit Probert seemed to always have his way with the Blues
Doug Gilmour was another player that always did well against the Blues

I was at both games for the Probert and Todd Ewen fights. The first one Ewen drilled him right on the jaw and Probert dropped like he was hit by a truck. Probert admitted he went black as that was the only fight I remember that a player was KOd. They fought a second time that night but got separated before any real action. Then 3 months later they dropped the gloves before the puck dropped as Probert wanted revenge and Ewen beat him up again.

[ShakeyWalton]

List of Norris hates:

1. Hawks
2. Wings
3. North Stars
4. Leafs

I remember actually having to root for Lou Lamoreillo to get this third Cup with stolen Stevens because otherwise Steve Thomas would have gotten his name on the Cup, and so would Adam Oates which was also not acceptable.

I was at that Probert-Riendeau game too down low, and was watching the whole play unfold. It's good that he died young, same with Bryan Marchment.

You wanted them to die young because you didn’t like them as hockey players?