Central STL News

The St. Louis Blues have continued their tradition of honoring former players by introducing a new player of the game award for the 2025-26 season. This year, the team will use Bernie Federko’s game-used stick from his 1,000th NHL game as the symbol of recognition.

The tradition began with Bobby Plager’s gloves, followed by Keith Tkachuk’s Jofa helmet and Kelly Chase’s shoulder pads in previous seasons. After each win, the Blues captains select a player who made a significant contribution to the victory to receive Federko’s stick. The honored player will then choose the next recipient after the following win.

Blues captain Brayden Schenn addressed the team after their first win of the season, a 4-2 victory in Calgary on October 11, saying, "For those that haven’t really been here, we have a cool thing going with honoring Blues Alumni that have done it before us. This guy right here, from his 1,000th game, this guy is all class, respect, integrity and really what it means to be a Blue.”

Federko’s stick is an old wooden Titan TPM2020 model. Federko played 1,000 NHL regular-season games, with 927 of those games as a member of the Blues. He leads the franchise in games played, points (1,073), and assists (721), and ranks second in goals (352) and hat tricks (11). His number 24 jersey is retired at Enterprise Center and his statue stands outside the arena.

Schenn explained how the idea came about: “We called Bernie and told him we wanted to honor him because he’s the true definition of what it means to be a Blue. He said he didn’t have much memorabilia, but after Justin Faulk suggested we should do a player of the game stick, Bernie said he had one from his 1,000th game.

“We’ve had Bobby Plager’s gloves, Tkachuk’s helmet, Chaser’s shoulder pads… I think it’s cool to honor the guys that have paved the way for us. Hopefully the tradition keeps on going for a long time.”

Federko expressed his appreciation for the gesture: "It's such a special thing the team does, and to be asked to be part of it is obviously very flattering. I can't be more proud that a stick I used 35 years ago in my 1,000th game is going to be passed around to the player of the game. Hopefully it will bring them all some special magic and a great winning season."