Blues to retire Bob Plager's No. 5

The St. Louis Blues will retire defenseman Bob Plager's No. 5 at a ceremony during their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scottrade Center on Feb. 2.
Plager, whose number had previously been honored by St. Louis, has been with the Blues throughout their 50-year existence. The Blues acquired Plager, Gary Sabourin, Tim Ecclestone and Gord Kannegiesser from the New York Rangers for Rod Seiling on June 6, 1967. Known as a stay-at-home defenseman, Plager had 141 points (20 goals, 121 assists) in 615 games with the Blues. He retired after the 1977-78 season and has been a scout, coach, radio analyst and executive for the Blues.

Plager's will be the seventh number retired by St. Louis and the first since Brett Hull's No. 16 was retired on Dec. 5, 2006.
Plager's brother Barclay, who also played defense for the Blues, had his No. 8 retired by St. Louis on March 24, 1981.
Other Blues who have had their number retired are Al MacInnis (No. 2), Bob Gassoff (No. 3), Brian Sutter (No. 11) and Bernie Federko (No. 24).
The Plagers will be the second brothers in NHL history to have their numbers retired by the same team. Maurice Richard (No. 9) and Henri Richard (No. 16) each had his number retired by the Montreal Canadiens.