After hockey resumed in 2005, a few months after GNR's final issue, a new publication, St. Louis Game Time, was formed by several former GNR staffers.[49]. As the Blues faced the Oilers on December 7, 1982; brochures were distributed saying "Saskatchewan in the NHL". The 2016 offseason saw big changes for the Blues, as team captain David Backes left the team to sign with the Boston Bruins, and goaltender Brian Elliott was traded to the Calgary Flames, while veteran forward Troy Brouwer also signed with Calgary as a free agent. He made his debut two days later, wearing number 55 against the Phoenix Coyotes. [32], When Adidas became the uniform provider before the 201718 season, the Blues kept most of the same template, with the exception of the home jersey numbers changing from gold to white. Oct 17, 2016. The bottom of the numbers taper off to give way to the aforementioned stripes. Bill Laurie - Wikipedia More often than not, several of the Blues' emerging stars ended up as Calgary Flames, and the sight of Flames executive Al MacNeil was always greeted with dread. Attendance went from 8,897 in 1967-68 to 18,238 in 1970-71. After each Home win, the entire St Louis Blues team skates to center ice and in unison, raise their sticks and clap while the goal horn blares, to thank the Blues fans in attendance and watching on TV. Center David Backes has been named a finalist for the Frank Selke Trophy as the league's top two-way player. This third jersey was unveiled on September 21, 2008, and debuted during a Blues' home game against the Anaheim Ducks on November 21, 2008. After two awful years, including what is still a franchise-worst 185012 record with 48 points in 1979, the Blues made the playoffs the following year, the first of 25 consecutive postseason appearances. St Louis Blues Players. During the 3rd Period, The Blues were winning by a large margin against the visiting Nashville Predators. League president John Ziegler said they would try to keep the team in St. Louis. Attendance had gone from a peak of 18,601 a game in 1972-73 to 10,130. Initially, the front of the jersey featured the team name above the crest logo, but was removed in 1987. The logo used on the Blues' jerseys from 1987 to 1998. The arrangement made the Blues the only major sports team in North America to be owned by a private equity firm. NHL Owners: Who Are They? - The Hockey Writers After an early-season coaching change brought Ken Hitchcock aboard, the Blues broke through this season with 109 points, two points removed from the best record in the NHL. st louis blues traditions - legal-innovation.com Pronger, Doug Weight and Mike Sillinger were all sent packing. [31], For the 201415 season, the Blues made a few tweaks to their jerseys. post; account; . The Cardinals moved back to KMOX in the 2011 season, with conflicting games moved to KYKY, an FM station owned by the same group as KMOX. Starting after a couple of players heard "Gloria" by Laura Branigan, after their win in Philadelphia on January 3, 2019, the team started to use the song after every home win, and lasted all the way up to their Stanley Cup win. On May 29, the Blues won a Stanley Cup Finals series game for the first time in franchise history after getting swept in three previous series (19681970), when they defeated the Boston Bruins 32 in overtime. 0. It also replaced red with navy blue as an accent color. Before the season began, the Blues were hit hard with injuries as they lost Robby Fabbri before the season began. Jake Allen was now the starting goaltender for the Blues, while the team also signed former Nashville Predators backup Carter Hutton. Last chance! As part of the expansion, the NHL had agreed to put all of the expansion teams in the new Western Division, an arrangement which was intended to ensure all of the new teams all had an equal chance of reaching the playoffs. After losing Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals, the team beat the San Jose Sharks in Game 2 at Scottrade Center, securing its first playoff game victory since 2004. However, longtime Ralston Purina chairman R. Hal Dean said that he only intended to keep the Blues as a Ralston subsidiary only temporarily until a more stable owner could be found who would keep the team in St. Louis. Lynn Patrick initially served as general manager and head coach. Management vowed to build through the draft and implored fans to bank on the future of prospects like T.J. Oshie, David Perron and Patrik Berglund. The St. Louis Blues medical team is a group of Washington University in St. Louis orthopedic specialists from Barnes-Jewish Hospital led by Washington University in St. Louis' Chief of Sports Medicine Matthew Matava.[39]. It has been called the "Fan Salute" by some. These are the top-ten point-scorers, goal scorers, and assist leaders in franchise regular-season history. [14] Davidson also installed a strong development program under head scout Jarmo Kekalainen, using the team's raft of high draft picks in 2006 and 2007 to select highly touted prospects such as T. J. Oshie, Erik Johnson and David Perron. But the roller coaster started to descend in the mid-1970s. However, as the season was put on pause due to the pandemic, no team would play the full 82 games. But things began to turn around as Francis drafted players like Bernie Federko, Brian Sutter, Wayne Babych and Perry Turnbull. Blues games, many of which were crucial to playoff berths, would often be pre-empted for spring training coverage. The Blues had remained in strong form throughout the season, finishing first in the Western Conference and second in the NHL. Former St. Louis Cardinals great Stan Musial and Musial's business partner Julius "Biggie" Garagnani were also members of the 16-man investment group that made the initial formal application for the franchise. However, Dean took the losses philosophically, having taken over out of a sense of civic responsibility. Movies. It wasn't. David Backes was also announced as the new team captain. The Blues were one of the six teams added to the NHL in the 1967 expansion, along with the Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and California Seals. Following the disappointing 200506 season, which saw the Blues with the worst record in the NHL, the new management focused on rebuilding the franchise. I really respect the fact that he puts the needs of the many ahead of the needs of the few. Blues owners - STLtoday.com This led to a Norris Division semi-finals exit against the Chicago Black Hawks. With Dorothy Lamour, Lloyd Nolan, Tito Guzar, Jerome Cowan. St. Louis Blues owner Tom Stillman is a former lawyer who worked with the U.S. Department of Commerce where he was Chief Counsel for Export Administration. In 19992000, the team notched a franchise-record 114 points during the regular season, earning the Presidents' Trophy for the League's best record. St. Louis was the last of the six expansion teams to gain entry into the League; the market was chosen over Baltimore at the insistence of the Black Hawks owners, James D. Norris and Arthur Wirtz. After his duties as interim coach for the rest of the 200910 season, Davis Payne was named the 23rd head coach in the Blues' history on April 14. Nevertheless, the Black Hawks owners still owned the St. Louis Arena. [30] In 201011, the team sold out every home game. The Blues lost more players as Jay Bouwmeester suffered a season-ending injury, and Jaden Schwartz missed a large portion of the season. This article is about the ice hockey team. They waited for an authorization by 75% of the NHL Board of Governors for the sale and transfer of the club. He also purchased the Checkerdome from Ralston Purina for $5 million, then raised $3 million in operating expenses. Hull, who had a lengthy feud with Keenan, left for the Dallas Stars in 1998. The sale price for the team and building lease was reported to be $100 million. This list may not reflect recent changes . The Blues got off to a slow start in their initial season. The elder Salomon was not enthralled with the idea of owning a hockey team initially, but his son persuaded him to take the plunge. Despite posting the second-best regular-season record in the entire league in 199091, the Blues were upset in the second round of the playoffs to the Minnesota North Stars, a defeat that was symbolic of St. Louis' playoff struggles. Payne was previously the head coach of the Blues top minor league affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League (AHL).[16]. Dean retired and his successor, William Stiritz, had no interest in continuing the involvement in hockey. After being one of the worst teams a couple of years before, they were one of the best in 1981, as they finished with a then-franchise-best record of 451817 record which translated to 107 points and the second-best record in the league. The Blues ended the 1990s as the only NHL team to make the playoffs for the entire decade, although a Stanley Cup title still eluded the franchise. Category:St. Louis Blues owners Pages in category "St. Louis Blues owners" The following 5 pages are in this category, out of 5 total. Blues owner sold on St. Louis | FOX 2 By accident", "Pronger steps aside as captain; MacInnis steps in", "Blues retire Plager's No. The St. Louis Blues are one of the more successful NHL teams in terms of attendance. tickets - by owner. While the Blues remained competitive, they were unable to keep many of their young players. Early in the morning of trade deadline day, the St. Louis Blues and the Detroit Red Wings agreed to a deal. For instance, Ornest asked many players to defer their salaries to help meet operating costs, but the players always got paid in the end. Since 1990, Ron Baechle, also known as the "Towel Man" or "Towel Guy," has celebrated each goal by counting with the bell and throwing a towel into the crowd from section 314. Arbour, who officially retired as a player after the 197071 season, would remain behind the Blues' bench for the next two seasons. KSDK history: Mike Bush, Art Holliday start traditions | ksdk.com - FOX61 The Blues were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Los Angeles Kings, in the following round. [15] The team later traded veteran defenseman Bryce Salvador to the New Jersey Devils for enforcer, and St. Louis native, Cam Janssen. Hull, nicknamed the "Golden Brett" (a reference to his father, NHL legend Bobby Hull, who was nicknamed the "Golden Jet"), became one of the League's top stars and a scoring sensation, netting 86 goals in 199091 en route to earning the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player. In 1986, the team reached the Campbell Conference finals and produced one of its signature moments, a "Monday Night Miracle" comeback victory in Game 6. On October 2, 2007, the Blues finalized the season-starting roster, which included rookies David Perron, Steven Wagner and Erik Johnson. On June 13, 2016, it was announced that Mike Yeo would replace Hitchcock as head coach of the Blues following the 201617 season. Hitchcock is a finalist for the Jack Adams coaching award and Doug Armstrong is a contender for general manager of the year. The Blues skated back to KPLR 3 years later. [23] On June 12, 2019, the Blues defeated the Bruins 41 in Game 7 to win their first Stanley Cup. san jose sharks vs . List of former Blues players set to return to St. Louis before the end Dean told employes that the St. Louis-based firm had completed its second best fiscal year. Especially galling were the frequent blown leads after two periods, and with the worst home record (6133) posted in the entire NHL. [21] On March 29, 2019, the Blues became the seventh team in NHL since the 196768 season to qualify for the playoffs after being placed last after January 1. Quenneville was fired during the 2003-04 season and like so many prominent Blues alumni before him Hull, Shanahan, Stevens, Pronger he went on to win a Cup elsewhere. At the beginning of the 200607 season, the Blues looked to be competitive in the Central Division. The Berenson trade did bring then-Detroit Red Wings star center Garry Unger, who ultimately scored 30 goals in eight consecutive seasons while breaking the NHL's consecutive games played record. [13] Despite operating on a shoestring, the Blues remained competitive even though they never finished more than six games over .500 in Ornest's three years as owner. Ultimately, Keenan's playoff resume with St. Louis included a first-round exit in 1995 and a second-round exit in 1996, and he was fired on December 19, 1996. During the 2018 NHL offseason, the Blues acquired forward Ryan O'Reilly from the Buffalo Sabres via trade and re-signed Perron to a third stint with the team in free agency, while also signing forwards Tyler Bozak, St. Louis native Pat Maroon, and goaltender Chad Johnson. He gave his players cars, signed them to deferred contracts and treated them to vacations in Florida. Following their playoff exit, Ralston authorized the deal to Hunter's renamed company Coliseum Holdings, Ltd. for $12 million on April 21. Fox Sports Midwest color commentator, Darren Pang, exclaimed he "just loved the crowd, they're singing!". He intended to build a $43 million 18,000-seat arena in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in time for the 1983-84 season. The players, used to being treated like mere commodities, felt the only way they could pay him back was to give their best on the ice every night.[6]. [38] Louie is a blue polar bear and wears a Blues jersey with his name on the back, and the numbers "00". After his death, Ron Jacober (who had left Channel 5 to be KXOK's sports director in 1985 then left for KMOX in 1987) was hired as the radio play-by-play announcer for the remainder of the season, and John Kelly succeeded in that position. In hopes of saving the franchise, Francis persuaded St. Louis-based pet food giant Ralston Purina to buy the team, arena, and the $8.8 million debt. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the six teams from the 1967 NHL expansion and is named after the W. C. Handy song "Saint Louis Blues". Their situation was not helped by the decision to keep the Eagles in the Canadian Division to keep the divisions balanced, which left the team with unaffordable travel expenses to games in Toronto and Montreal. Hull's 86 goals set the record for most goals in a single season by a right-winger (and the third-most overall at the time). [13] After that season, Ornest sold the team to a group led by St. Louis businessman Michael Shanahan. For the full season-by-season history, see List of St. Louis Blues seasons, Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against. The son of legendary Bobby Hull, the "Golden Brett" became the face of the franchise, with his magical name and sublime scoring touch. Looking at losses of more than $10 million over six seasons, the pet food giant put the Blues up for sale and in January 1983, announced it had a buyer in Saskatoon-based Batoni-Hunter Enterprises, Ltd. Batoni's president, Bill Hunter, said his group was ready to break ground on a $43 million building, which could be ready for the Saskatoon Blues in time for the 1983-84 season. Hockey-crazy Stillman is the latest to try his luck where so many others have failed. But the renaissance was short-lived. They would get rewarded as head coach Red Berenson won the Jack Adams Award, Mike Liut finished a close second to Wayne Gretzky in the Hart Trophy voting, and earned the top spot on the NHL All-Star team, Larry Patey finished third in the Frank J. Selke Trophy voting, and Blake Dunlop won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The team is named after the famous W. C. Handy song "St. Louis Blues", and plays in the 19,150-seat Scottrade Center in downtown St. Louis. According to Sutter, they wanted to stay in St. Louis because it reminded them of the rural Canadian towns where many of them grew up. The Blues also won the Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals (165) in the NHL, as netminder Roman Turek finished with a 1.95 goals-against average. The moneyline in this contest implies a 35.7% chance for the Blues to win. The Black Hawks treated St. Louis as a secondary market, placing minor league affiliates there and even playing a few NHL games in St. Louis during the 1950's while the team still struggled to sell tickets at Chicago Stadium. [36] A second "Reverse Retro" uniform was released in the 202223 season, this time based on the prototype uniforms the team first leaked in 1966 before eventually releasing the more iconic "blue note" uniforms. Former St. Louis Blues owner Mike Shanahan dies at 78 - USA TODAY Despite a healthy 24-point jump from the previous season, the strain of playing in a conference where seven teams finished with more than 100 points kept them out of the playoffs for the second year in a row. On May 21, the Blues advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1970, defeating the San Jose Sharks in a six-game Western Conference Finals series. St. Louis Blues (1939) - IMDb This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Blues. [35], Prior to the 202021 season, the Blues unveiled a "Reverse Retro" alternate uniform based on the design worn from 1995 to 1998, but with a red base. Originally, the Blues aired their games on KPLR-TV and KMOX radio, with team patron Gus Kyle calling games alongside St Louis broadcasting legend Jack Buck. He went on to win the Stanley Cup with the Stars the next year, scoring a controversial goal on the Buffalo Sabres' Dominik Hasek to clinch the Cup for Dallas. Because they were not required to participate in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, they did not send a representative, which led the Blues to forfeit their picks. Phil Goyette won the Lady Byng Trophy for the Blues in 1970 and New York Rangers castoff Red Berenson became the expansion team's first major star at center. 27 febrero, 2023 . All that hardware notwithstanding, hopes for a Stanley Cup run turned to stunning disappointment. NHL president Clarence Campbell said during the 1967 expansion meetings, "We want a team in St. Louis because of the city's geographical location and the fact that it has an adequate building."[4]. [28], In the 201920 season, the Blues suffered an early blow as forward Vladimir Tarasenko suffered a season-ending injury on October 24. On December 27, 2005, it was announced that the Blues had signed a letter of intent to exclusively negotiate with General Sports and Entertainment, LLC. Dan Kelly continued to broadcast the games on radio but was diagnosed in the summer of 1988 with lung cancer and died on February 10, 1989. From 1967 until 1994, the team played in the St. Louis Arena (known as The Checkerdome from 1977 until 1983), where the old St. Louis Eagles played, and which the original owners had to buy as a condition of the 1967 NHL expansion. The blue jerseys lacked the contrasting yoke until 1979. St. Louis has a record of 2-3 in games when bookmakers list them +180 or longer on the moneyline. Following the 198081 season, the television broadcasts moved from KDNL to NBC affiliate KSD-TV for the 198182 season, produced by Sports Network Incorporated (SNI), owned and operated by Greg Maracek who did the broadcasts with Channel 5 sportscaster Ron Jacober. However, the NHL Board of Governors rejected the deal by a 153 vote on May 18, feeling that Saskatoon was not big enough or financially stable enough to support an NHL team.[8][9]. He returned to California with $3.4 million in profit on the sale of the Blues and $8.2 million in profit on the sale of the Arena. In 1985, Ornest, wanting more broadcast revenue, put the radio rights up for bid. On March 17, 2011, it was announced that the St. Louis Blues were for sale. He scored 16 points in 13 games after his arrival, but the season ended in frustration as the Blues lost Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals to Detroit. The next few seasons became like a broken record. . In 57.4% of St. Louis' previous games this season (35/61), the teams combined to score over Saturday's over/under of 6.5 goals. But a competing carnival owner hatches a scheme to put an end to the show before it begins. Sid Salomon III convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team. They treated the players to all-expenses-paid Florida vacations when seasons ended and bought them gold wristwatches for scoring hat tricks, etc. Louis Post-Dispatch, R. Hal Dean, chief executive officer and board chairman of the Ralston Purina Co., gestures as he delivers his state of the company addressSept. 30, 1971, at the annual checker day rally. Under new management, the Blues promptly installed John Davidson as president of hockey operations, moving Pleau to a mostly advisory role. Ralston Purina lost an estimated $1.8 million a year during its six-year ownership of the Blues. The team's first owners were insurance tycoon Sid Salomon Jr., his son, Sid Salomon III, and Robert L. Wolfson, who were granted the franchise in 1966. On November 3, 2007, the fans voted on his name on the Blues' web site. With the Blues' victory in their fourth Stanley Cup Finals, 49 years after their last appearance and in their 52nd year of existence, they became the final active team from the 1967 expansion to win their first Stanley Cup. The team slipped under .500 the following season and managed just 65 points in 1982-83. Overview. John Kelly (son of Dan) and Darren Pang are the current team for television coverage, while Scott Warmann, Alexa Datt, Bernie Federko, and Jamie Rivers present the pre-game and post-game shows. In the meantime, the franchise was on the brink of financial collapse. The NHL also said that Ralston broke a league rule that an owner had to give two years' notice before dissolving a franchise. MLS in July 2020 pushed the expansion schedule back by a year for both St. Louis and the Charlotte, North Carolina, team that began play last year, saying the Covid-19 pandemic had led to delays . st louis blues traditions. The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The group becomes the eighth to hold the keys to the franchise since its inception. C Dave Checketts D John Danforth L Bill Laurie O Harry Ornest S SLB Acquisition Holdings LLC [33] For the 201819 season, the Blues added a third jersey based on the one worn during the 2017 NHL Winter Classic.