Former Tulsa Oilers player and coach, Garry Unger, was inducted in the St. Louis Blues Hall of Fame, last weekend. Unger is one of the first four elected members to be inducted, and was honored at a ceremonial dinner Jan. 13, at the downtown Missouri Athletic Club. The inductees were also celebrated prior to the Blues game against Tampa Bay, the next night.

The Blues are establishing their own Hall of Fame after several years of consideration, and joining Unger in the inaugural class are original Blues, 91-year-old former goalie Glenn Hall, former forward Red Berenson and 89-year-old former coach Scotty Bowman. Hall, Berenson were players on the expansion Blues team in 1967, and Bowman was the coach of that team.

Those four members were chosen by a 21-person selection committee, who were provided the results of an online fan poll. The inaugural class also included all the players whose numbers have been retired by the Blues; Bernie Federko, Al MacInnis, Bob Gassoff, Bobby Plager, Barclay Plager, Brian Sutter, Brett Hull and Chris Pronger. Also inducted were broadcaster Dan Kelly and original team owners Sid Salomon Jr. and Sid Salomon III.

The Blues general manager Tom Stillman, called each inductee to inform them back in September when the announcement was made.

“I was going to St. Louis anyhow, and I thought the Blues were calling about the fantasy camp I was going to participate in,” Unger told me in a phone interview. “When Tom got on the phone, it was something more than that. It was really exciting to be recognized like that by your peers.”

Before playing in the NHL, Unger played parts of two seasons with the Tulsa Oilers, 1966-68. In 11 games with Tulsa, Unger scored five goals and five assists.

He was the Oilers head coach twice, for a total of seven seasons; 1992-97 and 2001-2003. I worked with Unger as the Oilers play-by-play broadcaster during both of his stints with the team.

Unger, 75, spent 16 seasons in the NHL, including nine in St. Louis. He began his career with Toronto and spent time with Detroit, before being traded to the Blues during the 1970-71 season. He never missed a game while with the Blues and totaled 292 goals.

Unger was a fan favorite during his time in St. Louis, and with his goal scoring ability and being named the MVP of the 1974 All-Star game, the Blues fans knew he was a great player.

“I was in St. Louis a long time, so it’s always nice to go back and the fans were very good to me,” Unger said. “The Blues have an unbelievable alumni base with about 40 guys that still live in the St. Louis area.”

He played with the Blues through the 1978-79 season, and retired from the NHL after the 1982-83 season. Unger’s career stats included 1,105 games, 413 goals, 391 assists for a total of 804 points.

Unger said it was nice to be included in the inaugural class of inductees, however, it wasn’t something he thought about.

“I know the amount of hall of fame guys that have played for the Blues and I knew there were a lot of big names, so whether I go in first or last doesn’t matter,” he said. “I guess it’s more exciting for me for my family. I have a grandson playing hockey, my three daughters were there and lot of friend flew in to be there.”

Now that he’s been inducted into the Blues hall of fame, I asked Unger if he thinks about why he hasn’t been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“It’s not something I think about but it always comes up,” he said.    “There’s so many good players, and I guess I was okay. I don’t want to compare myself to this guy that’s in or that guy. It seems to have something to do with winning the Stanley cup, and I was never on a Stanley Cup Champion team. I know I’m just as good or better than the guys I played against and who are in the Hall of Fame. I don’t know what numbers you have to have, but there’s a lot of guys who don’t have the numbers I had and are in the hall of fame. If I had played for a team that won a Stanley Cup I might get in.”

There are a lot of hockey fans not only in St. Louis, but across the U.S. and Canada who believe Unger had a Hall of Fame worthy career and the honor is way overdue. I am certainly to be counted among those with that belief. I hope that hall of fame voters correct this wrong, in Unger’s life time, so that not only his family, but he can enjoy the honor too.

TULSA BEACON WEEKEND

My guests this week on the “Tulsa Beacon Weekend” radio show will be former college football coach and current State Senator David Rader. The show airs on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CST on 970am KCFO.