Bernie Federko’s Hockey Hall of Fame career didn’t start with the St. Louis Blues in 1976-77. Federko was a standout right from his days with the Saskatoon Blades in the WCHL (now just WHL). He also made the most of his half season in the minors to take make his mark and take home some hardware.
An offensive leader for the St. Louis Blues, Bernie is known for his soft hands and ability to set up goals for his teammates. It’s a bit of an anomaly that in his first season with the Blues, Federko scored 14 and assisted on just nine in his 31 games. That ratio would change drastically in the years to come.
Junior and Minor Pro
NHL Career
Rookie Card
Career Stats
Bernie Federko – Junior and Minor Pro
Bernie Federko, a native of Foam Lake, Saskatchewan, played his major junior hockey with the nearby Saskatoon Blades. Federko played three years with the Blades from 1973-74 to 1975-76 and certainly didn’t go unnoticed by the hockey world.
Over his three years, Bernie scored 133 and assisted on 211 for 344 points in just 206 regular season games. In 1974-75, he placed tied for seventh in the WCHL with 68 assists. That year, the Blades reached the finals before losing out to the Barry Beck led New Westminster Bruins.
In 1975-76, Federko exploded offensively. In 72 games, he scored 72 goals and assisted on 115 for 187 points. He was second in goal scoring, 12 behind leader Don Murdoch of the Medicine Hat Tigers. He led the league in assists and points (scoring leader now gets the Bob Clarke Trophy). Bernie was honoured as the league’s most valuable player (now the Four Broncos Trophy).
The First Team All-Star once again led Saskatoon to the finals. Once again, the Blades could not defeat the New Westminster Bruins. The Bruins would win the title again in 1976-77, after Bernie had left for a paying job.
Federko’s time in the minors was limited to 42 games in 1976-77. He starred with the Kansas City Blues in the Central Hockey League. In his 42 games, Bernie scored 30 and assisted on 39 for 69 points. He led the team in goals and points despite missing 34 games.
In the CHL, he tied for eighth in goal scoring and finished ninth for points. Federko earned the Ken McKenzie Trophy as CHL rookie of the year and was named a Second Team All-Star.
Bernie Federko – NHL
Well sought after, Bernie Federko was the seventh overall pick by the St. Louis Blues at the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft. He was also the sixth overall pick in the WHA Amateur Draft by the Edmonton Oilers.
Between 1976-77 and 1989-90, Federko played exactly 1,000 regular season games in the National Hockey League with the Blues and Detroit Red Wings. His entire career was with the Blues, with exception of his final season with the Red Wings. Over that time, Bernie scored 369 and assisted on 761 for 1,130 points.
In 91 playoff games, Federko added 101 points. The deepest St. Louis got to a Stanley Cup championship during Bernie’s career was in 1985-86. The team reached the semi-finals before losing to the Calgary Flames in seven games.
It was a battle to get there. In the opening round, St. Louis squeaked out a win over the Minnesota North Stars, three games to two. Minnesota outscored the Blues 20-18 on the series. The quarter-finals also went the distance with St. Louis taking out the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games, outscoring their opponents just 24-22 on the series.
In that 1985-86 NHL playoff season, it was not a member of either finalists, Montreal or Calgary, that led in scoring. The playoff scoring leader was Bernie Federko with 21 points.
In 11 of his 14 NHL seasons, Federko scored 20 or more goals. In six seasons, he topped the 30 goal plateau. Bernie topped out with 41 goals in 1983-84. That year, he also had a career best 107 points, one of four times he would reach the 100 point plateau.
Often among the top ten, in 1978-79, Bernie finished sixth with 64 assists and eighth with 95 points. Two years later, he was fourth with 73 assists and ninth with 104 points. In 1983-84, when he had his career season, league offense had increased and his 66 assists put him seventh but his 107 points were good for just ninth.
In 1984-85, his 73 assists put him fifth while his 103 points again put him in the ninth position. He would finish seventh for assists in 1985-86 (68) and 1987-88 (69) before the numbers began to drop.
In June, 1989, Federko was traded to the Detroit Red Wings with Tony McKegney for Paul MacLean and Adam Oates. Considering Bernie would play just one season with the Wings and Oates would become one of the greatest set-up men of all-time, the win on this one would have to go to the Blues.
In March, 1991, the Blues retired Bernie’s number 24. After quite a delay, Federko was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002. Entering with him were Clark Gillies and Rod Langway. His junior number 15 has also been retired by the Saskatoon Blades. Bernie remains the all-time leader in games played, assists and points for the Blues.
Bernie Federko – Rookie Card
The Bernie Federko rookie card appears as number 143 in both the 1978-79 O-Pee-Chee and 1978-79 Topps NHL hockey card sets. He is, of course, shown with the St. Louis Blues. A delayed rookie card with Federko playing his first games in the NHL two seasons before.
Bernie Federko Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1973-74 | Saskatoon Blades | WCHL | 68 | 22 | 28 | 50 | 19 |
| 1974-75 | Saskatoon Blades | WCHL | 66 | 39 | 68 | 107 | 30 |
| 1975-76 | Saskatoon Blades | WCHL | 72 | 72 | 115 | 187 | 106 |
| 1976-77 | Kansas City Blues | CHL | 42 | 30 | 39 | 69 | 41 |
| 1976-77 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 31 | 14 | 9 | 23 | 15 |
| 1977-78 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 72 | 17 | 24 | 41 | 27 |
| 1978-79 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 74 | 31 | 64 | 95 | 14 |
| 1979-80 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 79 | 38 | 56 | 94 | 24 |
| 1980-81 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 78 | 31 | 73 | 104 | 47 |
| 1981-82 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 74 | 30 | 62 | 92 | 70 |
| 1982-83 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 75 | 24 | 60 | 84 | 24 |
| 1983-84 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 79 | 41 | 66 | 107 | 43 |
| 1984-85 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 76 | 30 | 73 | 103 | 27 |
| 1985-86 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 80 | 34 | 68 | 102 | 34 |
| 1986-87 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 64 | 20 | 52 | 72 | 32 |
| 1987-88 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 79 | 20 | 69 | 89 | 52 |
| 1988-89 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 66 | 22 | 45 | 67 | 54 |
| 1989-90 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 73 | 17 | 40 | 57 | 24 |
| NHL Totals | 1000 | 369 | 761 | 1130 | 487 |