The team started the season by posting a record of 1012 in their first 13 home games. Payne was previously the head coach of the Blues top minor league affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League (AHL).[16]. 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. For the first time in five years (that is, since the lockout), the Blues were in the playoffs. Nonetheless, their on-ice success was enough for a consortium of 19 companies to buy the team. Contact Information: print. He made his debut two days later, wearing number 55 against the Phoenix Coyotes. List of former Blues players set to return to St. Louis before the end 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. Prior to that, he worked at the New York . These are the top-ten-point-scorers, goal scorers, and assist leaders in franchise playoff history. During the late 1990s, the Blues nurtured a new identity. 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. Blues Front Office Ownership Tom Stillman, Jerald Kent, Donn Lux, James Cooper, Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, Steve Maritz, Edward Potter, Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Taylor, David Steward, James Kavanaugh, John. 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. On September 29, 2005, it was announced that the Lauries had signed an agreement to sell the Blues to SCP Worldwide, a consulting and investment group headed by former Madison Square Garden president Dave Checketts. 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. Baie-Comeau Drakkar Players Bakersfield Condors Players Barrie Colts Players Barys Astana Players Belarusian Hockey Players Belleville Senators Players Bemidji State Beavers Players Bentley Falcons. 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. On June 3, Ralston announced that it had no interest in running the team anymore. However, had the league not found a new owner by August 6, it would dissolve the team and hold a dispersal draft for the players. The team made headlines with free-agent signings and trades that landed stars like Brett Hull, Adam Oates, Brendan Shanahan, Scott Stevens, Grant Fuhr, Phil Housley and Al MacInnis. In the end, when the legal dodgeball and financial haggling between the league and Ralston Purina settled, when the budget squeezing and penny-pinching was complete, Ornest came out the big winner. On June 17, 2005, the Lauries announced that they would sell the team. 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. She runs into the skipper of a showboat who befriends her, and they make plans to put together a musical revue. The Blues had remained in strong form throughout the season, finishing first in the Western Conference and second in the NHL. 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. 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. 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. ST. LOUIS (KTVI) - There's been talk that the Rams move is great news for the St. Louis Blues: freeing up more money for St. Louis sports fans to spend on hockey. [13] After that season, Ornest sold the team to a group led by St. Louis businessman Michael Shanahan. 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. [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. March 3, 2023 by Marcus Ashpaugh. At one point, the Salomons cut the team's staff down to three employees. Tom Stillman becomes the eighth owner in Blues franchise history. Audience capacity was increased from 12,000 to 15,000 at the Arena, which had been home to the Central Hockey League's St. Louis Braves. Following the Black Hawks' championship in 1961, the team became much more successful at the box office in Chicago, thus St. Louis was no longer useful as a secondary market. 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 move proved both ill-conceived and ill-timed, as the renamed St. Louis Eagles continued to lose money. 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. [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. Instead, a Return to Play tournament was organized, starting in August 2020. [Brian O'Reilly (Ryan's dad)] I want to thank all of St Louis especially Doug Armstrong. post; account; . The Blues' successes in the late 1960s, however, did not continue into the 1970s. The arena quickly became one of the loudest buildings in the NHL, a reputation it maintained throughout its tenure as the Blues' home. This setupKelly as commentator, with either Kyle, Bob Plager, or Noel Picard (whose heavy French-Canadian accent became famous, such as pronouncing owner Sid Salomon III "Sid the Turd" instead of "Third") joining as an analyst, simulcast on KMOX and KPLRcontinued through the 197576 season, then simulcast on KMOX and KDNL-TV for the next three seasons. The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, Missouri. 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. But with former Blues goaltender and nationally renowned broadcaster John Davidson at the point, they turned the worm. 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. However, they never made an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. He had 70 or more goals in three consecutive seasons, including 1990-91 when he scored 86 and the team finished with 105 points. In between seasons and during trade deadlines, the Blues became a must-see attraction. The moneyline in this contest implies a 35.7% chance for the Blues to win. Category:St. Louis Blues owners - Wikipedia [44] Beginning in 2018, the win song has been the aforementioned song recorded by The Urge. 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. A few weeks later, SCP withdrew and a month later, the Blues announced they had signed an exclusive letter of intent to negotiate with General Sports and Entertainment, LLC. They fired their head coach, Davis Payne, and named Ken Hitchcock as his replacement on November 6, 2011. QR Code Link to This Post. St Louis Blues Players. Local ownership group aims to 'put the Blues on solid financial footing.'. He intended to build a $43 million 18,000-seat arena in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in time for the 1983-84 season. Last chance! However, St. Louis ended their first-round losing streak by beating Chicago 32 in game 7 of the series. SponsorPitch - St. Louis Blues The logo used on the Blues' jerseys from 1967 to 1984. 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. Ornest immediately reverted the name of the team's home venue to the St. Louis Arena. 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. Original Blues owner fondly remembers the early days - STLtoday.com This division was particularly weak, and in 197677, the Blues won it while finishing five games below .500, though this would be their last playoff appearance in the decade. League president John Ziegler said they would try to keep the team in St. Louis. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. St. Louis Blues - Owners | RetroSeasons.com 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. [a] The Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League (AHL) is the team's minor league affiliate. Defenseman Chris Pronger (acquired from the Hartford Whalers in 1995 for Brendan Shanahan), Keith Tkachuk, Pavol Demitra, Pierre Turgeon, Al MacInnis and goaltender Roman Turek kept the Blues a contender in the NHL. 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. This led to a Norris Division semi-finals exit against the Chicago Black Hawks. Keenan instituted major changes, including trades that sent away fan favorites Brendan Shanahan and Curtis Joseph, as well as the acquisition of the legendary-but-aging Wayne Gretzky and goaltender Grant Fuhr, both from the declining Los Angeles Kings. In each of its first three seasons, the team advanced through the expansion side of the NHL playoff bracket to the Stanley Cup finals. Disillusioned by Keenan's contentious style, Gretzky became a free agent and departed for New York. 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). Louie is the mascot of the St. Louis Blues. Checks were back in the Checkerdome. After each goal, a bell is rung and each of the goals are counted by the crowd. The arrangement made the Blues the only major sports team in North America to be owned by a private equity firm. The moves kept. 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. Following the disappointing 200506 season, which saw the Blues with the worst record in the NHL, the new management focused on rebuilding the franchise. 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. Subscribe with this special offer to keep reading, (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). A corresponding blue jersey was introduced the following season, thus retiring the previous set. Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game. St. Louis Blues - Wikipedia 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. 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. 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 St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history later that season. [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. St. Louis Blues, official state hockey team", "Allen traded to Canadiens by Blues for draft picks", "2014-2015 NHL Attendance National Hockey League", "Blues unveil new adidas jersey for 2017-18 season", "Blues pay tribute to team heritage with third jersey", "Blues reveal 2022 NHL Winter Classic jersey", "Reverse Retro alternate jerseys for all 31 teams unveiled by NHL, adidas", "NHL Reverse Retro jerseys for all 32 teams unveiled by adidas", "St Louis Blues Community Name the Mascot", "Blues partner with The Urge for new goal song", "Free speech in the 'Home of the Blues,' singing over 'the brave' in national anthem disrespects veterans more than silently kneeling", "Ranking the top goal songs in the NHL - Sportsnet.ca", "Woo-hoo! On November 14, 2005, the Blues announced that SCP Worldwide had officially withdrawn from negotiations to buy the team. While the fans were stunned, the players were aware of this. san jose sharks vs . A new company who had purchased KXOK won the bid for a three-year contract and Kelly moved over from KMOX to do the games on KXOK. 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. The Blues kept 26 players under contract, 23 of them in St. Louis. By 1986, the team reached the Campbell Conference Finals against the Flames. 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 few months later, in December 1996, both Keenan and executive Jack Quinn were fired. 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. They sought to unload what was then a decrepit facility which had not been well-maintained since the 1940s, and thus pressed the NHL to give the franchise to St. Louis, which had not submitted a formal expansion bid. Early in the morning of trade deadline day, the St. Louis Blues and the Detroit Red Wings agreed to a deal. Berenson, who had played previously in Montreal and New York, commented: "In New York or Montreal, all you'd get would be a handshake.". Angry at having to play "second fiddle", the Blues elected to leave for KTRS in 2000. The Blues have a tradition of live organ music. Bill Laurie, a former point guard at Memphis State University, had long desired to buy and move a National Basketball Association (NBA) team to St. Louis (coming close to achieving this in 1999, with an unsuccessful attempt to purchase the then-Vancouver Grizzlies), and it was thought that this desire caused him to neglect the Blues. In fact, they made it to the conference finals only two times in their streak (1986 and 2001). The mainstream appeal moved a conglomerate of corporate leaders to buy out Shanahan and build the Kiel Center (now the Scottrade Center), opening the downtown doors in 1994. Nevertheless, the Black Hawks owners still owned the St. Louis Arena. However, they were swept in the Stanley Cup Finals by the Montreal Canadiens in 1969 and then by the Boston Bruins in 1970. 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 October 10, the Blues introduced a new mascot, Louie. Attendance had gone from a peak of 18,601 a game in 1972-73 to 10,130. General manager Ron Caron made astute moves, landing forwards Brett Hull, Adam Oates and Brendan Shanahan, defenseman Al MacInnis and goaltender Curtis Joseph, among others. [23] On June 12, 2019, the Blues defeated the Bruins 41 in Game 7 to win their first Stanley Cup. SLB Acquisition Holdings LLC - Wikipedia Over the next few years, the franchise became one of the most colorful and controversial in the NHL. Blues' ownership: A colorful history - STLtoday.com The game against Anaheim was suspended during the first period and postponed to March 11. After spending the first half of the 200809 season at or near the bottom of the Western Conference standings, the Blues began to turn things around behind the solid goaltending of Chris Mason. They moved on to the next round, where they defeated the Dallas Stars in another seven-game series to advance to their first Western Conference Finals since 2001. Under the expansion playoff format, Bowman's leadership was enough as the Blues qualified for the playoffs in their inaugural season. For instance, Ornest asked many players to defer their salaries to help meet operating costs, but the players always got paid in the end. Initially, the front of the jersey featured the team name above the crest logo, but was removed in 1987. Still desperate for a championship, the Blues made another controversial move in 1995, hiring Mike Keenan right off the staff directory of the Stanley Cup winning New York Rangers. I really respect the fact that he puts the needs of the many ahead of the needs of the few. However, injuries plagued the team all season, and the lack of a bona fide scorer hampered them as well. Ralston Purina lost an estimated $1.8 million a year during its six-year ownership of the Blues. The Blues averaged more than 41 wins but could not get though the conference playoffs. Hi I have 4 tickets to the blues game tonight vs the San Jose sharks. Their chance of winning the Central Division title, the top seed in the West, and the Presidents' Trophy would all evaporate, after they lost their final six games and wound up in second place in the Division, this time to the Colorado Avalanche. 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. Under Arbour, the Blues essentially matched their 1969-70 regular season performance in their fourth season, and were still the best of the expansion teams; however, it was only good enough for second place in the West as St. Louis finished twenty points behind Chicago. [41], At the end of the national anthem before every home game, the words "the home of the brave" are drowned out by fans with "the home of the Blues. The Blues also dealt away Paul Stastny to the Winnipeg Jets at the trade deadline for their 1st round pick as they won only 23 games of their remaining 51, but they still had a chance to get into the playoffs on the last day of their season against the Colorado Avalanche. Veteran player Al Arbour hastily stepped in to coach the team. 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? Despite these losses, the Blues raced out to a 2182 start in their first 31 games. On September 2, 2020, the Blues traded goaltender Jake Allen, who had spent ten years in the Blues organization, to the Montreal Canadiens.[29]. 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 NHL Board of Governors has approved the sale of the St. Louis Blues to a group headed. [41] However, during the 2019 playoffs, Laura Branigan's "Gloria" was played first before The Urge song. After an ice plant was installed, the minor league St. Louis Flyers began play there in 1929. Buck elected to leave the booth after one season, though, and was replaced by another famed announcer in Dan Kelly. None of the previous owners has brought a Stanley Cup championship to St. Louis. 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. The Blues play in the 19,150 (not counting standing room) capacity Enterprise Center, where they have played since 1994. Finally, in March 2006, the Lauries completed the sale of the team and the Savvis Center lease to SCP and a private equity firm, TowerBrook Capital Partners, L.P. They treated the players to all-expenses-paid Florida vacations when seasons ended and bought them gold wristwatches for scoring hat tricks, etc. 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 CITY SC owner Carolyn Kindle says bumpy road helped in prep St. Louis businessman Tom Stillman and his band of investment brothers will announce today they have closed a deal to purchase the Blues.