Claim OwnershipSt. Louis Blues Hockey Legends
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© Tom Calhoun
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Conversations with, and storytelling by, those who have made St. Louis Blues hockey what it is today. Hosted by Blues public-address announcer Tom Calhoun.
39 Episodes
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A man whose hockey life has taken many great and admirable turns. A Minnesota high-school state champion and University of Minnesota two-time NCAA champion. A Blues player and coach. A highly respected hockey analyst for Blues, Minnesota, New York Islanders and Rangers, and National broadcasts. Part 1 features his early life and Herb Brooks stories.
Nearing retirement, Jim Schmuke shares some of the behind-the-scenes stories from his years of ice maintenance, driving the Zam, and building maintenance for the Blues and their buildings. Also, a one-in-a-million story of how grabbing a game puck that made its way off the ice, turned into a romance and marriage for him and his wife. Enjoy!
Rising Blues star defenseman Bob Gassoff tragically died in a 1977 motorcycle accident at a team post-season party. Many think it was an event that may have prevented the Blues young stars of the era from winning a Stanley Cup. Gassoff's son Bob Jr. was born two months later. His relationship with the team, and its nurturing of him, has created an amazing hockey, and post-hockey, life. We touch all the bases with Bob Gassoff Jr.
It’s another “name game” pod with four of our recent legends…where we ask them to react to the names of people from their hockey lives. We throw rapid-fire names at thegreat, and mostly-retired, anthem singer Charles Glenn. Early Blues scoring superstar and Hall-of Famer Wayne Babych. The first St. Louisan to make the NHL, and likeable, gregarious tough guy Cam Janssen, and our inspirational herofor the 2019 Stanley Cup run Laila Anderson…with her dad Scott.
Laila was accepted as a sort-of team mascot during the Blues 2019 Stanley Cup run as she was battling a life-threatening auto-immune disorder. She required a bone marrow transplant and recovered in time to be part of all the fun. We chat with Laila and her father Scott about the challenges and the excitement of 2019 and life now as a happy, and more importantly, healthy teenage young woman.
Quite a few items have been accumulated at the man-cave bar of your host in 39 years as Blues PA guy. So, on this episode, the term "legend" takes on the meaning of "unauthenticated story". I hope you enjoy this visit to Tom's Bar.
This episode is a roundup of some of the great stories told by our Legends in the early days of the podcast. The Legends podcast launched in November of ’24 with popularity and downloads increasing greatly in the past few months. Many fans may have missed some outstanding content and stories. So, it's time to revisit some of the highlights from late ’24 and early ‘25.
Wayne Babych was an amazing athlete, who decided on a hockey career, even though he had other options. He was a shooting-star when drafted by the Blues and had instant success as part of the renowned “kid line” with Bernie Federko and Brian Sutter in the late 70s. If not for a succession of unfortunate injuries, he would likely be in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. He has a very interesting post-hockey life too. Enjoy our chat with the great Wayne Babych.
Cam Janssen, born in St. Louis and raised in Eureka, Missouri is the first ever born-and-raised St. Louisan to suit up in the NHL. He was famous for the rough stuff in hockey, and takes great pride in it. He spent several seasons exciting the crowds at the Enterprise Center. Cam has a great way of telling a story…Enjoy!
We re-connect with the long-time, fan-favorite National Anthem performer Charles Glenn. We’ll find out how he’s doing,and reminisce about his days bringing down the house with his iconic rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.
We call it the Bonus Round...or Greatest Hits. Not part of our original podcast with these legends...We ask for quick reactions to the names of people in their careers. Always fun and interesting. Ken Wilson, Jamal Mayers, Joe Micheletti, Jim Thomas and Adam Oates all give their thoughts on the people they knew...and know.
A Hockey hall of famer who teamed with The Golden Brett to become the iconic Hull and Oates duo during his tenure with the Blues. Adam Oates was a college star at RPI…became an elite playmaking center in the NHL…and also spent timecoaching after his playing career. From a rough start all the way to the Hall. Enjoy this episode with the great Adam Oates.
Memories abound when we chat with Jim, who covered the Blues for the last six years of his heralded sportswriting career. That includes the Blues Stanley Cup run in 2019. A little Rams, and a lot of Blues stories in this one. Enjoy!
Joe recounts his entry into coaching with the Blues and the "tough love" he received from HOF broadcaster Dan Kelly at the start of his illustrious broadcasting career. Also, an amazing serendipitous conversation with John Kelly that is key to his breaks in the business. Thoughts on his time in New York as well.
Jeremy Rutherford- the Blues writer for The Athletic, is also the author of 100 Things Blues Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die. We talk about the franchise-changing occurences for The Note and JR adds never-before-heard WOW! nuggets to the story. And JR adds some thoughts about the state of the Blues heading into the '25-'26 season.
Blues fan favorite of the early 2000s. A college star at Western Michigan, a leave-it-all-on-the-ice type when he got to the Blues…and eventually a Stanley Cup champion with the Blackhawks. Now a hockey analyst for Sportsnet. "Jammer" takes us down memory lane.
Current Blues organist Jeremy Boyer joins us to talk about his tenure at games. But we also focus on the history of Blues legends of the keyboard and their contributions to the great tradition enjoyed by Blues fans since 1967. Jeremy does some playing as well.
Our conversation with Ken Wilson continues in this bonus episode. We hear about his thoughts on broadcasting in 2025, his memoir book, and get his reactions to the names of the people of his career. Enjoy!
Ken Wilson...famous for his "Oh Baby" call after exciting moments in a game...talks about his youth, getting started in calling games, entrance to St. Louis and Blues hockey, and how the "Oh baby" call got started. He also called one of the iconic moments in baseball history while working Cincinnati Reds games. Enjoy our visit with Ken!
Never before heard knee-jerk reactions to the names of the people in their hockey lives. The names of Plager, Hitchcock, Armstrong, Steen, Tarasenko, Perron, Chase, Lidstrom and more come up in this half-hour of fun. Enjoy!
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