Figures are updated after each completed NHL season. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. 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. The standard for other teams was 60 players. 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]. [a] The Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League (AHL) is the team's minor league affiliate. [47], The team also has a long tradition of fan-produced programs, sold outside the arena and providing an often biting, sarcastic, humor-filled alternative to team- and League-produced periodicals. The uniforms, which had the team name written around the primitive "blue note" logo along with contrasting stripes, had a gold base.[37]. 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. In addition to Jaden Schwartz and Vince Dunn vs. SEA this past Tuesday, . Prior to that, he worked at the New York . In addition to players and builders, the team recognizes an affiliation with two broadcasters who were awarded the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame. In fact, several of the Blues' young stars, such as Rob Ramage, Joe Mullen and Gilmour, were main cogs in the Flames' 1989 Stanley Cup win. The Blues announced plans for a navy third jersey featuring a new logo, with the Gateway Arch with the Blue Note superimposed over it inside a circle with the words "St. Louis" above and "Blues" below. Instead, a Return to Play tournament was organized, starting in August 2020. List Of St Louis Blues Owners. In the offseason for the 201718 season, the Blues would lose David Perron to the Vegas Golden Knights via an expansion draft. He was replaced by assistant coach Scotty Bowman, who thereafter led the team to a winning record for the rest of the season. In 1984, the Blues drastically redesigned their look, adding red and darkening the shade of blue. It operated for over 10 years, from 1994 to 2005, when its owner decided not to resume the magazine after the 200405 NHL lockout (one final oversized "goodbye" issue was distributed the first two home games of the 200506 season). Rivers also fills in on color commentary whenever Pang is on a national TV assignment for the NHL on TNT. [55] Dan Kelly, the Blues' radio play-by-play announcer, was awarded the first Blues broadcaster to receive the award in 1989. 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. Fox Sports Midwest color commentator, Darren Pang, exclaimed he "just loved the crowd, they're singing!". 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. [34] A corresponding vintage white version was unveiled for the 2022 NHL Winter Classic. 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]. But with former Blues goaltender and nationally renowned broadcaster John Davidson at the point, they turned the worm. The Blues jumped to a 31 series lead, but struggled in games 5 and 6. Buck elected to leave the booth after one season, though, and was replaced by another famed announcer in Dan Kelly. Ralston renamed the arena the "Checkerdome." Since the 201920 preseason, WXOS (101 ESPN) has been the flagship radio station for the Blues. Ornest had made plans to buy the team as early as March, but built up his efforts in late June to have enough money. The mistake was that play resumed before the chorus was over and the music had to stop. The team did not even participate in the 1983 NHL draft, forfeiting all of its picks. Originally, the St. Louis Blues aired their games on KPLR-TV and KMOX radio, with team patron Gus Kyle calling games alongside St Louis broadcasting legend Jack Buck. Hi I have 4 tickets to the blues game tonight vs the San Jose sharks. No sooner had the season ended than Demers departed for Detroit. The move proved both ill-conceived and ill-timed, as the renamed St. Louis Eagles continued to lose money. Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Top 250 TV Shows Most Popular TV Shows Most Popular Video Games Most Popular Music Videos Most Popular Podcasts. 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). Lynn Patrick initially served as general manager and head coach. It has an urban feeling, with little of the rural atmosphere that distinguishes country-blues. Sidney Salomon (right) and his son, Sid, express jubilation after the group of nine individuals they head from St. Louis were awarded a conditional franchise from the National Hockey League on April 5, 1966. [45], The Blues were one of the last teams to add a goal horn, doing so during the 199293 season at the St. Louis Arena. 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. This ended up being the Blues' last game in the regular season, as the season would be cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic shortly afterwards. In response, the Blues moved back to KMOX starting in the 200607 season. Maybe eight will be worth the wait. 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". They were again eliminated by Los Angeles, however, this time in six games in the first round of the playoffs, despite taking an initial 20 series lead. C Dave Checketts D John Danforth L Bill Laurie O Harry Ornest S SLB Acquisition Holdings LLC The day after the draft, the NHL filed a $78 million counter-suit against Ralston, accusing Ralston of "damaging the league by willfully, wantonly and maliciously collapsing its St. Louis Blues hockey operation." The blue jerseys lacked the contrasting yoke until 1979. While there were a number of interested parties, none had enough cash to meet Ralston's asking price. In addition, the contrasting shoulder yoke was removed. Disillusioned by Keenan's contentious style, Gretzky became a free agent and departed for New York. While the first Blues teams included fading veterans like Doug Harvey, Don McKenney and Dickie Moore, the goaltending tandem of veterans Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante proved more durable, winning a Vezina Trophy in 1969 behind a sterling defense that featured players like skilled defensive forward Jim Roberts, team captain Al Arbour and hardrock brothers Bob and Barclay Plager. However, injuries plagued the team all season, and the lack of a bona fide scorer hampered them as well. The initial results were not good. On January 4, 2007, the Blues had a record of 613 in their previous ten games, which was the best in the NHL during that stretch. Checketts and his group had some serious damage control to perform. [30] In 201011, the team sold out every home game. The Blues season would come to an end at the hands of the San Jose Sharks, who eliminated them in six games. The NHL also said that Ralston broke a league rule that an owner had to give two years' notice before dissolving a franchise. Although the St. Louis Arena was not originally designed with hockey in mind, it met NHL standards of the era for size and had good sight lines for the game. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season. [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. Jeremy Rutherford is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the St. Louis Blues. Jeff Gordon writes: Controlling the Blues is a great honor for diehard fan Tom Stillman. While the Blues had returned to respectability on the ice, they were struggling off it. 5 to the rafters", "Blues retire Pronger's number on 'very special' night in St. Louis", "Perfect setting: Gretzky's number retired before All-Star Game", "Brian Elliott, Blues Stats National Hockey League.com Players", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=St._Louis_Blues&oldid=1141928547, Most points in a season: Brett Hull, 131 (199091), Lowest GAA in a season (min 30 GP): Brian Elliott, 1.56 (201112), Best SV% in a season (min 30 GP): Brian Elliott, .940 (201112), This page was last edited on 27 February 2023, at 16:20. A look at the ownership lineage: Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. On December 11, 2006, the Blues fired head coach Mike Kitchen and replaced him with former Los Angeles Kings head coach Andy Murray. All that hardware notwithstanding, hopes for a Stanley Cup run turned to stunning disappointment. The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. However, for the third straight year, they lost in the first round and in six games. While they kept the Reebok Edge-era template, they brought back the 19982007 look. 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. 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. In late September, 2005, the Lauries signed an agreement to sell the team to SCP Worldwide, a consulting and investment group led by Dave Checketts, former president of New York's Madison Square Garden. The long-term partnership between KMOX and the Blues had its problems, however, namely during spring when the ever-popular St. Louis Cardinals began their season. While the fans were stunned, the players were aware of this. Fan support was sluggish during the first half of the campaign, and the end of the calendar year was capped by an 11-game losing streak. 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. However, the station was never financially competitive in the market. 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. The Blues were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Los Angeles Kings, in the following round. During the 3rd Period, The Blues were winning by a large margin against the visiting Nashville Predators. There is a lot of money riding on Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals for St. Louis Blues owner Tom Stillman. With silver-jacketed organist Norm Kramer pumping out "When the Blues Go Marching In," hockey became a happening in St. Louis. They would finish second in the Western Conference, behind the Vancouver Canucks. Weight was again traded in December 2007 to the Anaheim Ducks, along with a minor league player, in exchange for Andy McDonald. Menu. 0. On March 17, 2011, it was announced that the St. Louis Blues were for sale. The Blues lost Bowman, who left during the 197071 season following a power-sharing dispute with Sid Salomon III (who was taking an increasing role in team affairs),[6] as well as Hall, Plante, Goyette and ultimately Berenson, who were all lost to retirement or trade. They captured the Jennings Trophy once more for allowing the fewest goals in the league (165). Trending. An NHL lockout canceled the 2004-05 season and the Lauries put the team up for sale in June 2005, citing losses of more than $60 million over the previous two years. The Blues averaged more than 41 wins but could not get though the conference playoffs. * current Blues player Movies. 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. The Blues joined the league in 1967, one of six expansion teams that doubled the size of the NHL from six to 12. St. Louis has embraced team's victory anthem", "The history behind the NHL's ubiquitous sound for scoring: the goal horn", "A Look at Five St. Louis Blues' Superfans", "Celebrate 20 years of fan-run papers on Friday", "How did 'Country Roads' become a Blues home-game staple? [48] The longest-running fan publication, Game Night Revue, was created by a group of fans in the mold of the Chicago Blackhawks' Blue Line Magazine. The team finished last in the division and disbanded after one season. On June 13, 2016, it was announced that Mike Yeo would replace Hitchcock as head coach of the Blues following the 201617 season. Before the 199798 season, the Blues introduced a new alternate white jersey. They would also pick up Brayden Schenn from the Philadelphia Flyers by giving away Jori Lehtera. The moves kept. Category:St. Louis Blues owners Pages in category "St. Louis Blues owners" The following 5 pages are in this category, out of 5 total. Last chance! Dean retired and his successor, William Stiritz, had no interest in continuing the involvement in hockey. This article is about the ice hockey team. It was loud enough, TV cameras picked up the song loud and clear. Inductees affiliated with the Blues include 24 former players (six of whom earned their credentials primarily with the Blues) and seven builders of the sport. The latest STL Blues hockey news, NHL headlines, scores, standings and rosters. During the season, he publicly criticized Gretzky, who entered free agency after the season, declined an offer from the Blues, and took a less lucrative contract with the New York Rangers. Ornest ran the Blues very cheaply, though the players did not mind. The Blues have a rivalry with the Chicago Blackhawks, with whom they have shared a division since 1970. St. Louis kept chugging along through the late 1980s and early 1990s. Behind the solid goaltending of Brian Elliott and scoring heroics of Andy McDonald, the Blues defeated the Sharks in five games, advancing to the conference semifinals. He made his debut two days later, wearing number 55 against the Phoenix Coyotes. The Blues are still looking for their first Stanley Cup. The song has since been retired; the last time they played it was during the raising of the Stanley Cup Championship banner ceremony on October 2, 2019. The Blues have worn blue and white jerseys with the famous "Blue Note" crest and gold accents since their inception in 1967. The Enterprise Center was electric and buzzing with excitement with anticipation of the win. Things got worse after Keenan orchestrated a bold trade to acquire Wayne Gretzky late in the 1995-96 season. In 2001, the Blues advanced to the Western Conference Finals before bowing out in five games to the eventual champions, the Colorado Avalanche. Members of the Blues' all-local ownership group include Tom Stillman, Jerald Kent, Donn Lux, James Cooper, Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, Steve Maritz, Edward Potter, Andrew Taylor, David Steward, Jim. On February 9, 2019, another tradition was born. [20] On November 19, 2018, the Blues fired head coach Mike Yeo after starting the season with a 793 record and replaced him with Craig Berube on an interim basis. He had 70 or more goals in three consecutive seasons, including 1990-91 when he scored 86 and the team finished with 105 points. I really respect the fact that he puts the needs of the many ahead of the needs of the few. Buck elected to leave the booth after one season, though, and was replaced by another famed announcer in Dan Kelly. In 19992000, the team notched a franchise-record 114 points during the regular season, earning the Presidents' Trophy for the League's best record. An updated version of the blue sweater, produced by Adidas, was brought back in 2019 as their 90s Vintage Jersey.. Although perennial postseason contenders for most of their history, the franchise frequently struggled in the playoffs, including consecutive Stanley Cup Finals defeats at the end of their first three seasons. During that time, Salomon gained a reputation throughout the NHL as the top players' owner. #19 St Louis Blues Team Value 1 $880M Calculated December 2022 Owner (s) Tom Stillman Championships 1 Year Purchased 2012 Price Paid $180M Revenue 2 $180M Operating Income 3 $56M Debt/Value 4. The Blues missed the playoffs during the first four full seasons of new ownership. The elder Salomon was not enthralled with the idea of owning a hockey team initially, but his son persuaded him to take the plunge. Arbour, who officially retired as a player after the 197071 season, would remain behind the Blues' bench for the next two seasons. In fact, they made it to the conference finals only two times in their streak (1986 and 2001). Jeremy P. Rutherford Sep 29, 2013 Sep 29, 2013; 0; Facebook . The Blues simplified their design, with only the blue note logo on the front; there were no third jerseys for the season. Louis Post-Dispatch, Ruth and Harry Ornest, holding court during their reign with the St. Louis Blues, on July 12, 1985. In 1985, Ornest, wanting more broadcast revenue, put the radio rights up for bid. 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]. The cash-poor Ornest then ran the franchise on a skeletal budget. [28], In the 201920 season, the Blues suffered an early blow as forward Vladimir Tarasenko suffered a season-ending injury on October 24. Caron was reinstated as interim general manager for the rest of the season, and general manager Larry Pleau was hired on June 9, 1997. They also provided the capital to build the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center), which opened in 1994. Nevertheless, the Black Hawks owners still owned the St. Louis Arena. The former New York Rangers goaltender promptly made multiple blockbuster deals, picking up Jay McKee, Bill Guerin and Manny Legace from free agency, and bringing Doug Weight back to St. Louis after a brief (and productive) stopover in Carolina. The team would dominate the postseason awards, as Pronger earned a Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player, Pavol Demitra got the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly play and Quenneville was named coach of the year. During the 2007 off-season, the Blues signed free agent Paul Kariya to a three-year contract worth $18million, re-signed defenseman Barret Jackman to a one-year contract, lost their captain Dallas Drake to the Detroit Red Wings, and traded prospect Carl Soderberg to the Bruins in exchange for yet more depth in the goal crease, Hannu Toivonen. On January 12, 1983, Batoni-Hunter Enterprises Ltd., led by WHA and Edmonton Oilers founder Bill Hunter, tendered an offer to buy the team. In March 2011, Checketts announced he was putting the team and the Scottrade Center lease up for sale, projecting a deal would be struck before the 2011-12 season started.