(This month, Puck Daddy asked bloggers for every NHL team to tell us The Essentials for their franchises — everything from the defining player and trade, to the indispensable fan traditions. Here is Brad Lee and St. Louis Game Time, giving us The Essentials for the St. Louis Blues.)

By Brad Lee and St. Louis Game Time

Player

Brett Hull. He's the best goal scorer the team has ever seen, the biggest personality to ever wear the uniform and is most responsible for the team having a solid foundation in St. Louis. When they built the now-called Scottrade Center, they called it the Building Hull Built. The same decade he arrived, the team had almost moved to Saskatchewan. When he left town, the team had a shiny new building, new skating rinks had popped up across the region and the Blues had deep roots in the community. Of course, Hull would win two Stanley Cups, not with the Blues, after he was allowed to leave as a free agent.

Season

1999-2000. The only season the Blues have won the President's Trophy is a microcosm of the history of the franchise. They finished with team records in wins with 51 and points with 114. They played a strong puck possession game that dominated weaker opponents. They were so confident heading into the playoffs that several players dyed their hair blond, including forward Jamal Mayers, who has a shaved head, put blond tiger stripes in his eyebrows. In the first round of the playoffs, the Sharks didn't back down. Goaltender Roman Turek allowed a goal from near the red line. San Jose eliminated the Blues in seven games. Something good happened. And then disaster.

Game

The Monday Night Miracle. In the Conference Finals in 1986, the Blues were down 3-2 in the series to the Flames. Game Six was in St. Louis at the old barn on Oakland Avenue. With 12 minutes to play, the Blues trailed 5-2. Well they don't call it a miracle for nothing. They tied the game in the waning seconds of regulation and then won the game in overtime. It was thrilling. And immediately followed by a 2-1 loss in Calgary that eliminated the Blues. For a team that's never won a Cup, it's fitting that the most memorable game in team history — literally the only one with a nickname — was immediately followed by a disastrous game.

Goal

Red Berenson's sixth goal. The date was Nov. 7, 1968. The place was the Philadelphia Spectrum. The feat was Red Berenson scoring six goals in one game, the modern NHL record for most in one game. In 1920 someone with the Quebec Bulldogs scored seven on Toronto, but let's be fair. It was Toronto. Anyway, no other modern player has scored more than six and Berenson was the only player to score six in one road game. I'd write about a Stanley Cup winning goal or something. But that would be a really short paragraph with exactly zero words.

Trade

The Butcher trade. The late Ron Caron was a tremendous general manager. He traded for Brett Hull and Adam Oates. When Oates kept asking to re-open contract negotiations, he got Craig Janney. He signed Scott Stevens. He signed Brendan Shanahan. The guy made stuff happen. He was famous for saying there was always meat on the burner in his thick and gravelly French-Canadian accent. At the trade deadline in the 1990-91 season, with his team in first place overall, Caron shook things up. He coveted Garth Butcher in Vancouver. He acquired the grizzled veteran defenseman along with Dan Quinn, now a mainstay in celebrity golf events. Caron had to give up Geoff Cournall, Robert Dirk, Segrio Momesso and Cliff Ronning. It should be noted, those guys helped the Canucks make the Stanley Cup Finals three years later. And the Blues, well they finished behind Chicago for most points in the league and were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. They weren't the same after the trade.

Unsung Hero

Bobby Plager. If you are a Blues fan, you know who Bob Plager is. He was one of the original players on the team when it formed in 1967. He played a physical brand of defense, known for his dramatic hip checks. He liked to fight. He went into the stands in Philadelphia to fight the fans. He's held about every job in the organization other than owner and stick boy. He currently does some radio work for the team and participates in many charity events. He truly bleeds blue and always will. And if you get him alone at a bar, he'll tell you some incredible stories even if you he doesn't know you from Adam. Trust me.