During the 1990s, the St. Louis Blues were one of the toughest teams in the NHL. In the early ’90s, they were captained by well-known tough guy Garth Butcher. To prove his leadership as captain, Butcher once invited three of his Russian teammates to his hotel room on a cold night in Winnipeg.
Drafted 10th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in 1981, Garth Butcher made a name for himself in the 1980s as a tough guy who always managed to get under his opponents’ skin. His leadership qualities led to a trade to the St. Louis Blues for the 1990–91 season, where he was named team captain.
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Opened up his hotel room
As captain, Butcher felt a strong responsibility to take care of his teammates. That’s why he opened up his hotel room one night in Winnipeg. The hilarious story surfaced when Butcher appeared as a guest on the Ice Guardians podcast, hosted by former Blues teammates Kelly Chase and Brett Hull.
A snowstorm had hit Winnipeg, and the team went out for beers one night. After the bars closed, Butcher invited three of the team’s Russian players back to his room: Vitali Karamnov, Vitali Prokhorov, and Igor Korolyov.
Garth Butcher’s vodka story
“They came in, and I offered them the minibar—told them to go for it. We had to call room service three times just to restock the vodka. Everything else stayed intact, but those guys apparently like vodka,” Butcher recalled on the podcast.
The trouble came the next day.
“We had a good night. The next morning, I went down to the front desk, and the management and coaches were all around me. In those days, you had to fill out a card listing everything you took from the minibar. I handed in the card and my credit card. The guy looks at it and says, ‘You drank ever—’ and I said, ‘Hey, tone it down there, buddy. Just put it on the card and we’re good.’ Then he goes, ‘I can’t believe you drank the whole minibar.’ I try to defend myself, but then he says, ‘Even the Alka-Seltzers are gone.’ I got away with it a little, though, because I told the coaches I had the whole team in there,” Butcher said.
You can listen to the wild story below.
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