On October 10, the Blues introduced a new mascot, Louie. Steve Ott also left the team, signing a free-agent deal with the Red Wings. [Brian O'Reilly (Ryan's dad)] I want to thank all of St Louis especially Doug Armstrong. But from late December through January the Blues lost only twice in 16 games and grabbed a foothold. The season of 200809 saw the Blues play their last game on KPLR, which had the rights since the 198687 season (except for the 199697 season on CBS affiliate KMOV), electing to move all their games to FS Midwest, starting with the 200910 season. 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. 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]. He was 78. 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. Follow Jeremy P. Rutherford [10] Ralston called the counter-suit "ridiculous" and gave the NHL an ultimatum: if the NHL would not accept Hunter's offer by June 14, Ralston would dissolve the team and sell its players and assets to other teams. Before the season began, the Blues were hit hard with injuries as they lost Robby Fabbri before the season began. Minority Owners [ edit] On September 2, 2020, the Blues traded goaltender Jake Allen, who had spent ten years in the Blues organization, to the Montreal Canadiens.[29]. St. Louis kept chugging along through the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Blues' successes in the late 1960s, however, did not continue into the 1970s. From 1979 to 1981, the radio and television broadcasts were separated for the first time since the inaugural season, with Kelly doing the radio broadcasts and Eli Gold hired to do the television. Jeremy Boyer, the Blues organist, plays a Glenn Miller arrangement of W. C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues" in its entirety before games and a short version at the end of every period, followed by "When the Saints Go Marching In." [12] To date, this is the closest that an NHL team has come to folding since the Cleveland Barons merged with the Minnesota North Stars after the 197778 season. St. Louis Blues: Directed by Raoul Walsh. The Blues had remained in strong form throughout the season, finishing first in the Western Conference and second in the NHL. In the Round Robin tournament for the four top-seeded teams of the conference, the Blues failed to get a win, and thus despite winning the regular-season conference title, they ended up being the fourth seed in the West. During this period, the NHL rebuffed attempts at further expansion. Despite defeating the Blackhawks in the 2017 NHL Winter Classic by the score of 41, the Blues fired Hitchcock and promoted Yeo to head coach on February 1, 2017. Ralston renamed the arena the "Checkerdome." The Blues fired head coach Andy Murray on January 2, 2010, after a disappointing record (17176, 40 points), sitting in 12th place in the Conference. The logo used on the Blues' jerseys from 1987 to 1998. 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]. Contact Information: print. Wal-Mart heir Nancy Walton Laurie and her husband Bill purchased the Blues in 1999. KMOX is a 50,000-watt clear-channel station that reaches almost all of North America at night, allowing Kelly to become a celebrity in both the United States and Canada. 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. For instance, Ornest asked many players to defer their salaries to help meet operating costs, but the players always got paid in the end. 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. In 2001, the Blues advanced to the Western Conference Finals before bowing out in five games to the eventual champions, the Colorado Avalanche. 27 febrero, 2023 . In 201213, the Blues completed the lockout-shortened season in fourth place in the Western Conference. The Blues would go on to be upset by the North Stars in six games, thus failing to advance past the first round for the first time in franchise history. Boyer also plays the latter song on the organ after Blues goals, with fans replacing the word "Saints" with "Blues. Sid Salomon III convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team. 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. In the midst of it, in 1999, the Clark Enterprises consortium of 19 St. Louis companies that owned the franchise sold it to Bill Laurie and his wife, Nancy, daughter of Wal-Mart co-founder Sam Walton. The son of legendary Bobby Hull, the "Golden Brett" became the face of the franchise, with his magical name and sublime scoring touch. [33] For the 201819 season, the Blues added a third jersey based on the one worn during the 2017 NHL Winter Classic. 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. While there were a number of interested parties, none had enough cash to meet Ralston's asking price. But the roller coaster started to descend in the mid-1970s. The standard for other teams was 60 players. This list may not reflect recent changes . [41] However, during the 2019 playoffs, Laura Branigan's "Gloria" was played first before The Urge song. On January 12, 1983, Batoni-Hunter Enterprises Ltd., led by WHA and Edmonton Oilers founder Bill Hunter, tendered an offer to buy the team. Checketts and his group had some serious damage control to perform. Movies. This setupKelly as commentator, with either Kyle, Bob Plager, or Noel Picard (whose heavy French-Canadian . However, Dean took the losses philosophically, having taken over out of a sense of civic responsibility. While they kept the Reebok Edge-era template, they brought back the 19982007 look. In 201516, the Blues finished in second place in the Central Division to the Dallas Stars. Attendance went from 8,897 in 1967-68 to 18,238 in 1970-71. Years later, Sutter argued that had the Blues made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, they would have likely beaten the Canadiens, having won two out of three games against the Habs in the regular season. 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. While the fans were stunned, the players were aware of this. Under Bowman, the Blues dominated the West for the next two seasons, becoming the only expansion team to compile a winning record, and they captured division titles by wide margins each year. (Jeremy Rutherford photo / Post-Dispatch) Jeremy P. Rutherford , Tom . Early life[edit] Laurie grew up in rural Missouri. During most of Ornest's tenure, the Blues had only 26 players under contract23 in St. Louis, plus three on their farm team, the Montana Magic. The NHL Board of Governors has approved the sale of the St. Louis Blues to a group headed. They treated the players to all-expenses-paid Florida vacations when seasons ended and bought them gold wristwatches for scoring hat tricks, etc. That included Federko, Gassoff, Hull, MacInnis, Bob and Barclay Plager, Pronger and Sutter, along with Kelly, the Blues' legendary broadcaster. The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The Blues kept 26 players under contract, 23 of them in St. Louis. They would finish second in the Western Conference, behind the Vancouver Canucks. On June 17, 2005, the Lauries announced that they would sell the team. [1] Checks were back in the Checkerdome. The Blues simplified their design, with only the blue note logo on the front; there were no third jerseys for the season. Maybe eight will be worth the wait. A Broadway musical comedy star tires of the same old grind and flees the city. Sutter and Federko were the only untouchables on the Blues during that era. The emotional win two days earlier notwitstanding, the Blues lost Game 7 of the playoffs in Calgary, falling short of the Cup finals. It has been called the "Fan Salute" by some. After a strong second-half run, the Blues made the 2009 playoffs on April 10, 2009, after defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 31. 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. During the offseason, forward T. J. Oshie was traded to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Troy Brouwer. You have permission to edit this article. 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). 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. The Blues were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Los Angeles Kings, in the following round. However, the station was never financially competitive in the market. The St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history later that season. Goaltending anchors Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante retired, Berenson was traded and "Sid III" began changing coaches and general managers like it was a court order. He made his debut two days later, wearing number 55 against the Phoenix Coyotes. Jake Allen was now the starting goaltender for the Blues, while the team also signed former Nashville Predators backup Carter Hutton. 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. St. Louis Blues. The Blues were one of the six teams added to the NHL in the 1967 expansion, along with the . Things got worse after Keenan orchestrated a bold trade to acquire Wayne Gretzky late in the 1995-96 season. Incensed, Ralston Purina sued the NHL, padlocked the Checkerdome and abandoned the franchise, leaving a mess for the league to sort out. He saw the Blues as just another money-bleeding division, and put the team on the market. List of former Blues players set to return to St. Louis before the end of the season . Louis Post-Dispatch, Ruth and Harry Ornest, holding court during their reign with the St. Louis Blues, on July 12, 1985. Among the first things Ornest did during his three-year tenure was change the name of the building back to the "Arena." Hockey-crazy Stillman is the latest to try his luck where so many others have failed. 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. 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. No sooner had the season ended than Demers departed for Detroit. The uniforms, which had the team name written around the primitive "blue note" logo along with contrasting stripes, had a gold base.[37]. Brad Boyes, picked up from the Boston Bruins in exchange for Wideman, became the fastest Blues player to reach 40 goals since Brett Hull, doing so during the 200708 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. Ornest ran the Blues very cheaply, though the players did not mind. St. Louis has a record of 2-3 in games when bookmakers list them +180 or longer on the moneyline. All that hardware notwithstanding, hopes for a Stanley Cup run turned to stunning disappointment. 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. However, they would continue their strong play even despite being plagued with various other injuries, consistently remaining at or near the top of the Western Conference. Caron was reinstated as interim general manager for the rest of the season, and general manager Larry Pleau was hired on June 9, 1997. Bucknor for rejecting handshake: Zero class, Man shot and killed after fight in downtown St. Louis, Fate of St. Louis Fox Theatre still undecided, Liberty High student killed in St. Charles shooting could heal you with a smile, Brothers who did everything together, fashionista among victims in fatal St. Louis crash, St. Louis prosecutors staff down by nearly half as caseloads jump. [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. None of the previous owners has brought a Stanley Cup championship to St. Louis. In the 1999-2000 season, Quenneville's club won 51 games and collected 114 points, capturing the first Presidents' Trophy in franchise history. David Backes was also announced as the new team captain. They captured the Jennings Trophy once more for allowing the fewest goals in the league (165). 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. DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- St. Louis Blues minority owner David L. Steward was celebrating on the TD Garden ice with his son after the Blues defeated the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of . After an ice plant was installed, the minor league St. Louis Flyers began play there in 1929. "[50][51] And it did take them to the Stanley Cup. [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. Jeremy P. Rutherford Sep 29, 2013 Sep 29, 2013; 0; Facebook . [58] Gretzky had previously played for the Blues in 1996, although the Blues did not retire his number prior to its league-wide retirement. "[42], Starting in 2014, the team introduced a win song in the form of Pitbull's "Don't Stop The Party",[43] but from 2016 to 2018, the win song was "Song 2" by Blur after public backlash against using a Pitbull song. post; account; . 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. Under new management, the Blues promptly installed John Davidson as president of hockey operations, moving Pleau to a mostly advisory role. Blues owners. The arena quickly became one of the loudest buildings in the NHL, a reputation it maintained throughout its tenure as the Blues' home. 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. [15] The team later traded veteran defenseman Bryce Salvador to the New Jersey Devils for enforcer, and St. Louis native, Cam Janssen. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com Photo by J.B. Forbes, staff photographer. The remaining staff included the accounting department, scouting staff, and coach Barclay Plager. St. Louis Blues - (NHL) Enterprise Center - Operations only, the City of St. Louis is the owner Stifel Theatre - Majority Owner Former assets [ edit] Peoria Rivermen - (AHL) Shareholders [ edit] [3] Majority Owner [ edit] Thomas H. Stillman - Chairman of the Board & CEO, Summit Distributing. The bottom of the numbers taper off to give way to the aforementioned stripes. 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. Bill Laurieis an American former basketball player and coach, and current business executive and philanthropist. 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. Ryan O'Reilly won the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP. In 1985, Ornest, wanting more broadcast revenue, put the radio rights up for bid. The mistake was that play resumed before the chorus was over and the music had to stop. Following their playoff exit, Ralston authorized the deal to Hunter's renamed company Coliseum Holdings, Ltd. for $12 million on April 21. St Louis Blues Players. 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". 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. Here is a list of the team's owners since its inception: -Sidney Salomon Jr. -Ralph Sauer -Harry Ornest -Michael Shanahan -Dave Checketts -Tom Stillman. Two months later, they traded Doug Weight, a 38-year-old four-time All-Star center, to the Anaheim Ducks as part of a package to acquire 30-year-old center Andy McDonald. [34] A corresponding vintage white version was unveiled for the 2022 NHL Winter Classic. Before the 199798 season, the Blues introduced a new alternate white jersey. On March 17, 2012, the Blues became the first team to reach 100 points and clinch a playoff berth in the 201112 season under Hitchcock, qualifying for their first playoffs since 200809. Just before the 2007 NHL trade deadline, the Blues traded several key players, including Bill Guerin, Keith Tkachuk and Dennis Wideman, in exchange for draft picks, though they re-signed Tkachuk after the season ended. These distractions would greatly affect their performance as they squeezed into the playoffs with a 254015 record in the 1983 season, good enough for 65 points. They also provided the capital to build the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center), which opened in 1994. A third-round loss to Colorado in 2000-01 was especially deflating. 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. But a competing carnival owner hatches a scheme to put an end to the show before it begins. The team slipped under .500 the following season and managed just 65 points in 1982-83. The team did not even participate in the 1983 NHL draft, forfeiting all of its picks. 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 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. The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. Since the 201920 preseason, WXOS (101 ESPN) has been the flagship radio station for the Blues. The following numbers have been retired from use within the St. Louis Blues: In addition to the aforementioned numbers, the NHL also retired Wayne Gretzky's number 99 from use for all of its members teams, including the Blues, at the 2000 NHL All-Star Game. Ultimately, it was the Blues who prevailed by winning in seven games each over the Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota North Stars to reach the 1968 Stanley Cup Finals. During that time, Salomon gained a reputation throughout the NHL as the top players' owner. In the meantime, the franchise was on the brink of financial collapse. [22] This resurgence included an eleven-game winning streak between February and March, in large part thanks to the emergence of the eventual Calder Trophy nominee, rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington. Prior to that, he worked at the New York . In the hiatus preceding the NHL's Return to Play, several Blues players contracted COVID-19, which was cited by the coaching staff as one of the reasons why their play faltered in the playoffs. 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. The broadcasts failed to produce a profit and then returned to KPLR for the 1982 NHL playoffs and the 198283 season before returning to KDNL (currently St. Louis' ABC affiliate) for the 198384 season, the first under the ownership of Harry Ornest. Blues current owner Tom Stillman (left) and Carol Salomon, the former wife of original owner Sid Salomon III. The Blues skated back to KPLR 3 years later.
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