Blues honor Plager with postgame team award

ST. LOUIS - Last season, the Blues captains started a new tradition of honoring former Blues legends with their postgame hard hat award.
In 2017-18,
it was an Old Newsboys hat like the one original Blue Jimmy Roberts wore
when he joined the team's coaching staff in 1996.
This season, the team is using a pair of Bob Plager's gloves from the late 1960s.

"It's just a tribute to guys who built this thing to get us where we are," Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo told
stlouisblues.com
. "I think we all know what Bobby stands for in this organization and this city, so it's fun for us to get him to be part of our group in some way. Nobody loves this organization more than Bobby, especially with the effort and time he gives. And he loves wins more than anyone else."
After Thursday's 5-3 win against Calgary, Plager spoke to the team and chose goalie Jake Allen as the award's first recipient.
Allen made 31 saves in Thursday's win.

"You've got to win the first before you win the rest of them, fellas," Plager said to the locker room. "David Perron, you played well. But if you look at the gloves here, they're my old gloves. You notice the blockers on them, I blocked a lot of shots. Tonight, I'm giving them to the man who wears the big blocker: Mr. Allen."
After the Blues' next win, Allen will present the gloves to a teammate he designates as the most valuable player in that game.
In addition, Alexander Steen placed a framed photo of Plager and a two-page bio in the player's lounge at Enterprise Center to give the organization's newcomers an idea of who Plager is and what he stands for.
The Blues' captains intend to honor a former Blue in that way every season.
"The Blues Alumni are such a big part of who we are, and why we are where we are as an organization," Steen said. "In St. Louis, they're such a big part of our community, and even around us players, they're always around and always wanting to help in any way possible. This is one of our ways to honor them and show them respect."