Question for Blues fans from the 70's
 

Greetings...I have an life-long interest in the Seals/Barons franchise, and was wondering if anyone here can recall why the Blues sent Bob Murdoch to Salt Lake in 79-80, and then cut him loose. I looked back through box scores, and it looked like he came on strong in the second half of that dreaded 78-79 season. Wondering if he was injured, or simply lost a step. Thanks!

http://www.legendsofhockey.net/Legen...p?player=13801

Hope this helps. I was also a huge Seals fan as a kid, loved the uniforms.

I liked Bob. I thought he had a lot of talent. I was excited when we got him in the dispersal draft of the Barons. I had heard that he was a bit of a lady's man and enjoyed life. I'm thinking he was a bit out of control and that lead to him being sent down.

Thanks for the responses! I'm familiar with his thumbnail bio, and the closest I could discern was a possible party attitude from the Seals book "Shorthanded". Perhaps that was indeed the case. Couldn't find anything else to confirm injury and just seemed young to be out of the game.

If there was a way to archive the old St Louis Post Dispatch or at that time the old Globe Democrat, then maybe you can find more info. I just can't remember the specifics. He was sent down soon after. Long live the seals!! They gave us the Blues great Larry Patey. For that we are very thankful. He has to be one of the Blues best penalty killers of all time.

But it cost the blues a more talented player Wayne Merrick, for Larry Patey, IMO.

Shorthanded was a great book that I am proud to own also. Long live the Seals!

Patey was an excellent Blue for several seasons, but Merrick was indeed a key pivot man for the Isles during their dynastic run. Cleveland would've done well to hang on to him, but thought they'd get more out of Parise and Jean Potvin. They did get a nice boost after the trade, then of course fell apart. Minnesota would've like to have had Merrick as part of the merger since Parise and Potvin were essentially winding down.

Wayne was quite a skilled player. It is a shame that Dave Hrechkosy didn't work out as planned.

I'm going to have to find this book on the Seals. I was unaware of it. A former seal that became a Blue by the name of Len Frig was a super nice guy. I got to meet him as a kid and get my picture with him.

I'd love to own either the green and gold or the old whatever color those light bluish greenish jerseys are. Those were cool.

If you can get out to Columbia, the State Historical Society has microfilm archives of both the Post Dispatch (through present) and Globe Democrat (through 1986). Each file contains a whole year of the paper, so if you don't know the precise date of an event, you can just scroll through day by day until you find it.

http://shs.umsystem.edu/newspaper/index.shtml

thanks for the tips! If I find myself in Missouri at some point in the future, I will make a point of stopping by Mizzou, and take a look at the archives.