Bobby Plager (National Hockey League)

Bob Plager

Robert Bryant Plager was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played NHL hockey for 14 seasons from 1964-1978. He broke into the league with the New York Rangers but is primarily known for being a member of the St. Louis Blues; as a player, he played defense and was a hard-nosed take-no-prisoners style of player he loved to deliver crushing hip checks.

Plager played junior hockey with the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters and the Guelph Royals, where he developed an aggressive, robust style of play. In 1961-62 while playing with the Royals, he broke the then Ontario Hockey Associations record for penalty minutes in a season with 161. The Kirkland Lake native played only 29 games over three seasons with the Rangers before being moved on June 6, 1967, to the expansion St. Louis Blues in a trade that sent him and Gary Sabourin, Tim Ecclestone, and Gord Kannegiesser to the Blues for Rod Seiling.

St. Louis Blues

Bob Plager was reunited with brothers Bill and Barclay once in St. Louis. He played in 615 games with the Blues for over 11 years. His hyper-aggressive style of play earned him a reputation as someone to fear on the ice; in contrast to this, he was a jokester who brought the dressing room together with his brand high-jinx.

He was an integral part of the Blues teams that went to three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals in their first three seasons, swept in 1968 and 1969 by the Montreal Canadians, and again in 1970 by the Boston Bruins.

Plagers last season in the NHL was in 1976-77, he played 11 games for the Salt Lake Golden Eagles during the 1977-78 season before retiring from professional hockey for good.

Plager returned to the St. Louis Blues as head coach in 1992-93 resigning after 11 games.

Plager Ranks 10th in Blues history having appeared in 616 games and registering 762 penalty minutes. His No. 5 is among seven jerseys retired by the Blues. He was one of the original 1967 expansion Blues players and was the last surviving member of the three Plager brothers.

Bob Plager died in a two vehicle car crash on March 24, 2021.

Bobby Plager Career Stats

		Regular season		Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1959–60	Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters	OHA	44	0	1	1	37	5	0	1	1	4
1960–61	Guelph Royals	OHA	43	3	12	15	99	14	3	8	11	73
1961–62	Guelph Royals	OHA	50	5	22	27	161	—	—	—	—	—
1961–62	Kitchener-Waterloo Beavers	EPHL	3	0	0	0	2	—	—	—	—	—
1962–63	Guelph Royals	OHA	45	11	28	39	97	—	—	—	—	—
1962–63	Baltimore Clippers	AHL	4	0	0	0	6	2	0	0	0	10
1963–64	St. Paul Rangers	CHL	61	13	35	48	158	8	3	6	9	21
1964–65	New York Rangers	NHL	10	0	0	0	18	—	—	—	—	—
1964–65	Vancouver Canucks	WHL	31	5	12	17	103	—	—	—	—	—
1964–65	Baltimore Clippers	AHL	19	2	12	14	27	5	0	0	0	6
1965–66	New York Rangers	NHL	18	0	5	5	22	—	—	—	—	—
1965–66	Minnesota Rangers	CHL	44	7	12	19	145	—	—	—	—	—
1966–67	New York Rangers	NHL	1	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
1966–67	Baltimore Clippers	AHL	63	3	16	19	169	9	0	5	5	15
1967–68	St. Louis Blues	NHL	53	2	5	7	86	18	1	2	3	69
1968–69	St. Louis Blues	NHL	32	0	7	7	43	9	0	4	4	47
1968–69	Kansas City Blues	CHL	5	1	3	4	16	—	—	—	—	—
1969–70	St. Louis Blues	NHL	64	3	11	14	113	16	0	3	3	46
1970–71	St. Louis Blues	NHL	70	1	19	20	114	6	0	2	2	4
1971–72	St. Louis Blues	NHL	50	4	7	11	81	11	1	4	5	5
1972–73	St. Louis Blues	NHL	77	2	31	33	107	5	0	2	2	2
1973–74	St. Louis Blues	NHL	61	3	10	13	48	—	—	—	—	—
1974–75	St. Louis Blues	NHL	73	1	14	15	53	2	0	0	0	20
1975–76	St. Louis Blues	NHL	63	3	8	11	90	3	0	0	0	2
1976–77	St. Louis Blues	NHL	54	1	9	10	23	4	0	0	0
1976–77	Kansas City Blues	CHL	4	0	2	2	15	—	—	—	—	—
1977–78	Salt Lake Golden Eagles	CHL	11	0	3	3	52	6	0	3	3	6
NHL totals	644	20	126	146	802	74	2	17	19	195