"Stan Mikita, to me, was one of the greatest hockey players out there," Plager told stlouisblues.com. "Mikita, more than any other player I played against, gave me the hardest time. There's an old saying 'you beat me once, OK. You beat me twice, it's my fault.' Well, Stan Mikita could beat me twice every game with the same move. He was really the toughest to play against, but off the ice, and I got to know him very well after we both retired, I never met a better person than Stan Mikita.
"It's hard to admit nice things about Blackhawks (players) with our rivalry, but that's just the respect I have for him," Plager added. "I would go out there, I knew his moves, and he kept beating me. And he wasn't a big guy. I could stop them all, get the body on them, but not him. I respected him more than a lot of other players. He went out there, did his job and did it very well.
"After we retired, I enjoyed going to Chicago because in the press room, he was at every game. He had that grin on his face and you would just go over to him and talk hockey. He was just a great person."
