The Hockey Hall of Fame has announced the Class of 2023, which includes former St. Louis Blues Ken Hitchcock (builder), Pierre Turgeon (player) and Tom Barrasso (player).
The Class of 2023 also includes Henrik Lundqvist, Pierre Lacroix, Caroline Ouellette and Mike Vernon and will be officially inducted on Nov. 13.
Hitchcock served as head coach of the Blues for six seasons from 2011-17. His 413 games behind the bench rank No. 2 in franchise history, as do his 248 wins. He oversaw five postseason appearances in St. Louis, reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2015-16. Hitchcock was awarded the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s Coach of the Year after his first year with the Blues in 2011-12. For his NHL career, Hitchcock coached 1,598 games across 23 years and coached the Dallas Stars to the lone Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history in 1999. His 849 career coaching wins rank No. 4 in NHL history.
Turgeon played for the Blues for parts of five seasons and was acquired via trade nine games into the 1996-97 season. With 355 points across 327 games, Turgeon ranks No. 16 in points and No. 7 in points per game in franchise history. Turgeon was a critical member of the 1999-00 Presidents’ Trophy team and played in 50 playoff games with the Blues. Through 1,294 games across 19 seasons of his NHL career, Turgeon recorded 515 goals and 812 assists for 1,327 total points. His career point total ranks No. 34 in NHL history.
Though Barrasso is most known for his time in Buffalo and Pittsburgh, the goaltender finished his playing career with six games in St. Louis in the 2002-03 season. Barrasso won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Penguins in 1990-91 and 1991-92, also winning both the Vezina Trophy and Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender and Rookie of the Year in the 1983-84 season.
“On behalf of the entire St. Louis Blues organization, I want to congratulate Pierre Turgeon, Ken Hitchcock, and Tom Barrasso for earning inclusion in the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2023,” Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong said. “Both Hitch and Pierre hold a special place in the history of the Blues franchise and the memories of our devoted fans for the impact they made to the team and our community. Having had the privilege to work with both of them in Dallas, and especially from bringing Hitch to be our coach here in St. Louis, I witnessed firsthand their extraordinary set of skills and dedication that set them apart from so many of their competitors.
“Each of the inductees is deserving of their place in hockey immortality and I thank them all for their contributions to our game.”
