Long before he was derisively referred to as “Johnny Smokestack,” Brent Johnson was meant to be the goaltender the St. Louis Blues had been waiting for. He was going to be a solution to the problems caused by Roman Turek’s inattentiveness and his skills were going to be sufficient to back the St. Louis Blues to the promised land.
Johnson took over the Blues net from a veteran goaltender who wore number one, who had astronomical regular season numbers but limited playoff success, and who was ultimately traded to the Calgary Flames.