The Blues have carved out an awkward little corner of NHL history, and it starts with a rookie who lit them up on his very first night.
Back on Valentine’s Day in 1977, St. Louis met Philadelphia in a game that still echoes nearly 50 years later.
The Blues lost 6-4, and in the process became the first team ever to surrender a five-point NHL debut to an opposing rookie. That rookie was Al Hill, who produced two goals and three assists against Blues goaltenders Eddie Johnston and Yves Belanger.
Hill would manage just one more point the rest of his rookie season in 1976-77, which makes that night even more striking.
It’s the kind of entry in the record book no team wants attached to its name, but St. Louis is there all the same. And even with newer expansion clubs like Vegas and Seattle entering the league, the Blues still remain stuck in that spot.
There was another debut against St. Louis that added to the theme, even if it didn’t reach quite the same level of notoriety.
In 2002, Stanislav Chistov of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim joined a short list of players with a four-point NHL debut. On October 10, the 19-year-old forward scored once and picked up three assists for four points as Anaheim beat the Blues 4-3 in the first game of the 2002-03 season.
For St. Louis, that was another rough opening-night result, though the 2025-26 season already has a candidate for a worse one after a 5-0 loss to Minnesota.
The good news for the Blues is that they’ve also had their own rookie moments on the other side of the ledger. Jorgen Pettersson owns the franchise record for most goals and points by a rookie, and he also holds the Blues’ single-game rookie scoring mark. On January 6, 1981, against the Quebec Nordiques, Pettersson put up two goals and three assists for five points in a 6-3 win.
Pettersson’s 1980-81 season finished with 37 goals and 36 assists for 73 points, which remains the Blues’ rookie scoring record. Jimmy Snuggerud came close last season with 21 goals and 30 assists for 51 points, and the current prospect pipeline gives St. Louis at least a few names who could eventually chase that mark.
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