It also replaced red with navy blue as an accent color. While they kept the Reebok Edge-era template, they brought back the 19982007 look. [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. 0. These are the top-ten-point-scorers, goal scorers, and assist leaders in franchise playoff history. 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. 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 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 response, the Blues moved back to KMOX starting in the 200607 season. Like the other five expansion teams, the Blues' roster consisted primarily of castoffs from the Original Six and players who had previously never managed to break out of the minor leagues. The next few seasons became like a broken record. 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. Blues current owner Tom Stillman (left) and Carol Salomon, the former wife of original owner Sid Salomon III. 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. Rivers also fills in on color commentary whenever Pang is on a national TV assignment for the NHL on TNT. 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]. 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 201213, the Blues completed the lockout-shortened season in fourth place in the Western Conference. [a] The Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League (AHL) is the team's minor league affiliate. 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. 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. After each goal, a bell is rung and each of the goals are counted by the crowd. The Blues jumped to a 31 series lead, but struggled in games 5 and 6. Last chance! 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. Nonetheless, the team remained competitive for the next three years, despite never advancing beyond the second round. 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. [1] This list may not reflect recent changes . 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. Pronger, Doug Weight and Mike Sillinger were all sent packing. They waited for an authorization by 75% of the NHL Board of Governors for the sale and transfer of the club. Steve Ott also left the team, signing a free-agent deal with the Red Wings. Doug Wickenheiser's overtime goal in Game 6 to cap a furious comeback remains one of the greatest moments in team history (known locally as the "Monday Night Miracle"), but the Blues lost Game 7, 21. They faced the third-seeded Vancouver Canucks in the first round, but despite the team's tremendous run to end the season, the Blues would ultimately lose the series in a quick four-game sweep. The Stanley Cup playoff format changed in such a way that a Western team was no longer guaranteed a Finals berth, and also the Chicago Black Hawks were moved into the Western Division following the 1970 expansion. 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]. 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. On October 10, the Blues introduced a new mascot, Louie. 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. St. Louis kept chugging along through the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Blues got off to a slow start in their initial season. On February 9, 2019, another tradition was born. 27 febrero, 2023 . [11] The Board of Governors rejected the offer and "terminated" the team on June 13, one day before Ralston's supposed deadline. 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. Angry at having to play "second fiddle", the Blues elected to leave for KTRS in 2000. After losing Vladimir Tarasenko to injury during the game, the Blues lost to the Avalanche 52 as they missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years. He had 70 or more goals in three consecutive seasons, including 1990-91 when he scored 86 and the team finished with 105 points. St. Louis has a record of 2-3 in games when bookmakers list them +180 or longer on the moneyline. The team started the season by posting a record of 1012 in their first 13 home games. 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. 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. Under the expansion playoff format, Bowman's leadership was enough as the Blues qualified for the playoffs in their inaugural season. Despite years of mediocrity and the stigma of never being able to "take the next step," the Blues were a playoff presence every year from 1980 to 2004 the third-longest streak in North American professional sports history (all three of which being held by NHL teams). Instead, a Return to Play tournament was organized, starting in August 2020. 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. Maybe eight will be worth the wait. 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. 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 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. [55] Dan Kelly, the Blues' radio play-by-play announcer, was awarded the first Blues broadcaster to receive the award in 1989. The Blues have a tradition of live organ music. 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. They also requested that the court allow them to give up the team and bar the NHL from interfering with the sale of the team. During the 2012 playoffs, they won their first playoff series since 2002, eliminating the San Jose Sharks in five games. 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. 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. Photo by Lloyd Spainhower/St. He has covered the team since the 2005-06 season, including a dozen years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 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. 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. The jersey brought back the contrasting shoulder yoke and returned to the lighter blue of previous eras. While the Blues remained competitive, they were unable to keep many of their young players. [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. 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. 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). In each instance, the Blues were swept in four games, twice by the Montreal Canadiens and lastly by the Boston Bruins. [4] Garagnani would never see the Blues franchise take the ice, as he died from a heart attack on June 19, 1967, less than three months before the Blues played their first preseason game. The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, Missouri. Oct 17, 2016. Caron was reinstated as interim general manager for the rest of the season, and general manager Larry Pleau was hired on June 9, 1997. 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. 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. However, the station was never financially competitive in the market. 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. Menu. [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. Blues Jump Blues/Piano Blues St. Louis Blues. While the fans were stunned, the players were aware of this. You have permission to edit this article. Reluctant to give up on the St. Louis market, the NHL blocked the sale. 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. The Enterprise Center was electric and buzzing with excitement with anticipation of the win. "[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. [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 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. 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. 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. 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. The Blues joined the league in 1967, one of six expansion teams that doubled the size of the NHL from six to 12. John Davidson, received the award in 2009 for his contributions in television broadcasting. * current Blues player [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. However, St. Louis was swept in their first Finals appearance by the heavily favored Montreal Canadiens. Sid Salomon III convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team. In 201415, the Blues won their second Central Division championship in four years and faced the Minnesota Wild in round one of the 2015 playoffs.