Don't Bother Hitting A Plager On The Head

Young Billy turned professional with the Montreal Canadiens ' organization in 1966 and played that year at Houston where, like a good Plager, he accumulated 130 penalty minutes in only 51 games. Then came expansion in 1967, and soon all the Plagers were together in St. Louis . Bob was traded from the Rangers to the Blues moments after the expansion draft. Barclay arrived late in November with Red Berenson . Billy played part of the 1967-68 season with Minnesota , became a Ranger for one day in the summer of 1968 and then was traded to the Blues.

While Billy shuttled between St. Louis and the minor leagues the last two years, Bob and Barclay were becoming solid NHL defensemen—Barclay made the West All-Star squad—and, well, a two-man gashouse gang. "Barclay and I are hated everywhere," Bob says. "People buy tickets just to see if the Plagers will get theirs. Hey, we even sold out Pittsburgh . Barclay and I had a brawl with a dozen Pittsburgh guys and Barclay had his nose broken. Of course, it took three of them to break it. The next time we went into Pittsburgh they had a sellout, the first one ever."

Bob also became the Blues' team comedian, a title he does not seem likely to lose. "He's always around cutting your tie in half or cutting off your pants' leg or stealing your luggage just before flight time." Billy says. "He's brutal with me. I can't pronounce my R's, and he always kids me about it in front of the other guys." In Vancouver , Bob asked Billy questions, and Billy's answers had the other players almost in hysterics.

"What kind of car have you got?" Bob asked.

"A yellow Wolls-Woyce," Billy said.

"Who was the greatest player ever to play in the NHL ?"

"Wocket Wichard."

"What kind of game will we play tonight?"

"A wuff one."

Bob, who is the only bachelor among the three, leads an active social life, one that makes early-morning flights to NHL cities a hazardous prospect at best. "I'm a night person," he says. "I play better when I come in late than when I go home and get 12 hours sleep the night before a game." Once he missed an 8 a.m. flight from St. Louis to New York and arrived at Madison Square Garden barely in time for the game.