What do you think about St Louis Blues Mike Keenan-era?

Question

I remember the players he assigned to the roster between the year of 1994 and the year of 1996.

Brett Hull, Shanahan, Tikkanen, Creighton, Macinnis, Steve Duchesne, Gleen Andersson, Greg Gilbert, Jeff Norton, Bill Houlder, Guy Carbonneau, Doug Lidster, Craig Janney, Shayne Corson, Dale Hawerchuck, Geoff Courtnall, Brian Noonan, Chris Pronger, Wayne Gretzky, Peter Zezel, Stephane Matteau, Igor Kravchuck, J.J. Daigneault, Jay Wells, Yuri Khmylev, Craig MacTavish, Grant Fuhr, Charlie Huddy, Donald Dufresne, Jon Casey, Curtis Joseph.

Why did the team not win the Stanley Cup?

Answer 1

Yes, the age of many of those players was a definite drawback.  Also, you have to remember that Gretzky wasn't there for long.  And several of the players you mention didn't play together.  For example, Keenan traded Shanahan for Pronger and he basically swapped Curtis Joseph for Shayne Corson.  Lastly, as was previously mentioned, while Craig Janney was a good player, he was a step-down from Adam Oates, who was traded for him.

Answer 2

Only slightly less irritating then the Blackhawks Keenan-era.

Keenan is the reason the Blues didn't win.

For one, Gretzky was already washed up. The best player on that roster was Janney. If memory serves me correctly Keenan blamed Joseph for those guys not scoring against Potvin.

Keenan was a joke. The only reason he won a cup with the Rangers was because he had Richter, plain and simple.  

Answer 3

Most of those players were past their prime, but we did have a few of those players in the middle of their prime (Hull, Shanny Macinnis)  We had some great role players, but Mike Keenan just rubbed a lot of those players the wrong way.  I had an extended talk with blues great Bob Plager(who is now a scout for the team) and he said that Mike Keenan has the best eye for talent of anyone he has ever met (try telling me that when he traded Shanny for Pronger, who I saw play his first 10 games as a blue at home, and some of the names he was called were beyond me, but it ended up being a pretty great trade for the blues).  The blues always have guys that  can get the job done in the regular season, but when the play gets physical in the playoffs, and all the good defensive teams are in, their "elite" players get pushed around and pushed off the puck.  This has been our problem for the last 20 years. And also the Rangers, Devils, and Red Wings were dominant during that period

A little known fact that Plager told me is that the season before Hull walked from the blues, Keenan had a trade lined up to get 3 future all stars(obviously not known at the time, but shows Keenan had an eye for talent) and Plager said without a doubt that they would have won a cup if they would have completed the trade.  The trade was all but done, but since Hull was a fan favorite, the city and front office didnt want it to go through.  Keenan had a clause in his contract that said he could make any trade he wanted, so the only way to nix the trade was to fire Keenan, which is what happened.

Answer 4

The short answer, Adam Oates.  Hull was never the same after they traded Oates for Craig Janney.

Also Keenan has a short shelf life as a coach, he has been everywhere yet the only real success he had was with the Rangers and that team may well have won without him.  

He came into St. Louis at the time when players were starting to earn the big $$ and were less willing to deal with tyrants as coaches.  He never really had the buy in of that group.

Also most of those guys were in the later stages of their career( the ex oilers) or too young ie Pronger.  Goaltending while good- Joseph- was not great. Fuhr was overrated and at the end of his career.

And the main reason, there were better teams.

Answer 5

Mike Keenan isn't the best coach, or the best guy from what I've heard.  He may have been a roadblock in the path to team unity.  He didn't mesh well with a lot of players/coaches.

Brett Hull cites him as his least favorite person in the NHL.  Scotty Bowman may have been hated 364 days out of the year, but the guys respected him and loved him on that 1 day out of the year where they get to try on their shiny new Stanley Cup Rings.

I agree though, a team stacked with such talent should have brought home at least one Stanley Cup.  They were always a contender, but unfortunately Detroit, Dallas, Colorado, and New Jersey were still stronger in those days.