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St. Louis Blues (hockey)

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The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team is named after the famous W. C. Handy tune "St. Louis Blues".

Contents

Facts

Founded: 1967
Arena: Savvis Center (formerly Kiel Center)
:Former Arena: St. Louis Arena (1967-1994)
Uniform colors: Navy blue, Royal Blue, white, and gold
Logo design: A winged musical note with lines departing to the right
Division Championships: 7 - (1968-69, 1969-70, 1976-77, 1980-81, 1984-85, 1986-87, 1999-00)
Presidents' Trophies: 1 - (1999-00)
Stanley Cup Finals appearances: 3 - (1967-68; lost to Montreal, 0-4), (1968-69; lost to Montreal, 0-4), (1969-70; lost to Boston, 0-4)
Added in the 1967 NHL Expansion, along with the Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Oakland Seals.
Affiliated teams: Peoria Rivermen (AHL), Alaska Aces (ECHL)
Rivals: Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings

Franchise history

Early history (1967-70)

Original logo of the St. Louis Blues (1967-84).
Enlarge
Original logo of the St. Louis Blues (1967-84).

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 Oakland Seals, when the league doubled in size. The newcomers were, however, hampered by restrictive rules that kept virtually all the top players with the existing teams.

St. Louis was the last of the expansion teams to get in the league. It was selected over Baltimore at the insistence of the Chicago Blackhawks, who wanted to unload the decrepit St. Louis Arena, which they also owned, to a new franchise holder. The team's first owner was insurance tycoon Sid Salomon, Jr. His son, Sid III, convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team. Salomon then spent several million dollars upgrading the 38-year-old arena, which had not been well maintained since the 1940s, to NHL standards. By opening night, the arena boasted almost 15,000 seats, up from 12,000 at the start of 1967. It never stopped being renovated from that day on, and held almost 20,000 seats by the time the Blues left the arena in 1994.

Red Berenson led the Blues in scoring in their first two seasons
Enlarge
Red Berenson led the Blues in scoring in their first two seasons

The Blues, originally coached by Lynn Patrick and then Scotty Bowman, proved to be the class of the admittedly weak Western Division. The playoff format guaranteed one of the expansion teams would make the Stanley Cup Finals, and the Blues would play for the Cup in each of their first three years of existence, although they failed to win a single game in any of the three final series. While the first Blues' teams included aging and faded veterans like Doug Harvey, Don McKenney and Dickie Moore, the veteran goaltending tandem of Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante proved more durable, winning a Vezina Trophy in 1969 behind a sterling defense featuring players like skilled defensive forward Jim Roberts and hardrock defensemen Bob and Barclay Plager. New York Rangers castoff Red Berenson became the expansion team's first major star at center, and Phil Goyette won the Lady Byng Trophy for the Blues in 1970. The Arena was almost always sold out, and became one of the loudest buildings in the NHL; the waiting list for season tickets soon rivaled that of the Green Bay Packers.

During that time, Salomon gained a reputation throughout the league as the ultimate players' owner. He gave his players cars, signed them to deferred contracts and treated them to vacations in Florida. Players like Hall, Plante and Harvey were used to being treated like serfs, and felt the only way to pay Salomon back was to leave everything on the ice every night.

Back to earth (1970-77)

The 1970s were less kind to the Blues. Continuing imbalance led the league to transfer the Blackhawks to the West Divsion for 1970-71, and to introduce a "crossover" playoff format that would ultimately exclude any of the expansion teams from the finals for the next three seasons. Bowman left for Montreal in 1971 after a feud with Sid Salomon III, who began to take a greater role in running the team. Older stars such as Hall, Plante and Goyette retired or were traded, as was Berenson for star Detroit Red Wings center Garry Unger. Unger scored thirty or more goals eight straight seasons for the franchise en route to breaking the NHL record for most consecutive games played, but beyond the Plagers on defense talent was thin, and the division was soon dominated by Chicago and Philadelphia. St. Louis missed the playoffs outright for the first time in 1974. Realignment placed the team in the Smythe Division the next season and the team got a few good seasons out of forward Chuck Lefley and the reacquired Berenson, but the division in general was so weak as to become a cliche for mediocrity -- the Blues won the division title in 1977 five games under .500 -- and they missed the playoffs the two seasons following behind disastrous goaltending.

In the meantime, the franchise was on the brink of financial collapse. This was partly due to the pressures of the World Hockey Association, but largely due to financial decisions made when the Salomons first got the franchise. The deferred contracts came due just as the Blues' performance began to slip. At one point, the Salomons seriously considered bankruptcy, and cut the team's staff down to three employees. One of them was Emile Francis, who served as team president, coach and general manager and even swept the Arena at times.

Purina to the rescue (1977-83)

The Salomons finally found a buyer in St. Louis-based pet food giant Ralston Purina in 1977, who renamed the Arena "the Checkerdome." Only a year after finishing with only 18 wins (still the worst season in franchise history), the Blues made the playoffs in 1980--the first of 24 straight playoff appearances. By 1981, they were the second-best team in the league in the regular season, with Berenson as coach and fresh new stars, including Wayne Babych scoring 54 goals, future Hall of Famer Bernie Federko (who would lead the team in scoring), inspirational leader Brian Sutter and franchise goaltender Mike Liut. The Blues fell flat in the playoffs that year, losing in six games to the New York Rangers in the second round. The Blues quietly slid back below .500, but they still made the playoffs in 1982 and 1983 despite finishing well below .500 in both seasons.

Rescued from the brink again (1983-86)

Purina lost an estimated $1.8 million a year during its ownership of the Blues, but took the losses philosophically, having taken over out of a sense of civic responsibility. In 1983, Purina's longtime chairman, R. Hal Dean, retired. His successor wanted to refocus on the core pet food business, and had no interest in hockey. He only saw a division that was bleeding money, and put the Blues on the market. The Blues didn't pick anyone in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft because Purina didn't send a representative; it basically abandoned the team. It finally found a buyer in a group of investors led by WHA and Edmonton Oilers founder Bill Hunter. Hunter then made plans to move the team to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. However, the NHL was unwilling to lose a market as big as St. Louis and vetoed the deal. Hunter then padlocked the Checkerdome and turned the team over to the league. The team appeared destined for contraction in July when Harry Ornest, a Los Angeles-based businessman, came in at the 11th hour to save the franchise. Ornest immediately renamed the Checkerdome back to the St. Louis Arena.

Logo used (1984-98)
Enlarge
Logo used (1984-98)

Ornest ran the Blues on a shoestring budget, but the team returned to respectability almost immediately. Doug Gilmour, drafted by St. Louis in 1982, emerged as a superstar. However, while the Blues remained competitive, they were unable to keep many of their young players. More often than not, several of the Blues' young guns ended up in Calgary, and the sight of Flames executive Al MacNeil was always greeted with dread. In fact, several of the Blues' young stars, such as Rob Ramage and Doug Gilmour, were main cogs in the Flames' 1989 Stanley Cup win. Sutter and Federko were probably the only untouchables. By 1986, they reached the league semi-finals against the Flames. Doug Wickenheiser's overtime goal in game six to cap a furious comeback remains one of the greatest moments in team history, but they lost game seven 2-1. After that season, Ornest sold the team to a group led by St. Louis businessman Michael Shanahan.

Close, but no cigar (1986-present)

The Blues kept chugging along through the late 1980s and early 1990s. General Manager Ron Caron was one of the more astute in the league, landing Brett Hull, Adam Oates, Curtis Joseph, Brendan Shanahan and Al MacInnis, among others. While they contended during this time period, they never passed the second round of the playoffs. Still, the Blues' on-ice success was enough for a consortium of 19 companies to buy the team. They also provided the capital to build the Kiel Center (now the Savvis Center), which opened in 1994.

Hull remained one of the league's top superstars, scoring 86 goals in 1990-91 - second only to Wayne Gretzky (who himself played in St. Louis briefly in 1995-96) in goals scored in a season in NHL history. The Blues were the second-best team in the regular season that year, but a second-round defeat to the Minnesota North Stars was indicative of their playoff woes.

Mike Keenan was hired as both general manager and coach prior to the 1994-95 NHL season, lauded as the "playoff coach" that could cure the postseason turmoil Blues fans had endured for years. He instituted major changes, among them trades that sent away fan favorites Brendan Shanahan and Curtis Joseph, as well as the acquisition of the legendary but aging Wayne Gretzky (who left for the New York Rangers as an unrestricted free agent following the season). In spite of all he was prophesized to accomplish, his playoff resume with St. Louis included a first round exit in 1995 and a second round exit in 1996. Neither the fans nor the team ownership was fond of what he did, and he was fired on December 19, 1996. Caron was reinstated as interim general manager for the rest of season, and current GM Larry Pleau was hired on June 9, 1997. But that did not stop Hull from leaving for the Dallas Stars in 1998, and he won the Stanley Cup in his first season in the Lone Star State.

Defenseman Chris Pronger (acquired from the Hartford Whalers in 1995 for Brendan Shanahan), Pavol Demitra, Pierre Turgeon, Al MacInnis, and goalie Roman Turek, kept the Blues a contender. In 1999-2000, they had the best record in the NHL during the regular season, earning the Presidents' Trophy, but were stunned by the San Jose Sharks in the first round in seven games. In 2001, the Blues advanced to the Western Conference Finals before bowing out in five games to the eventual champion Colorado Avalanche.

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 longest active streak in North American professional sports at the time. Amid a depletion in talent over recent years and an unstable ownwership situation, the Blues finished the 2005-2006 season with their worst record in 27 years. They missed the playoffs for only the fourth time in franchise history.

Wal-Mart heir Bill Laurie purchased the Blues in 1998, but on June 17, 2005 announced that he would sell the team. On September 29, 2005 it was announced that the Lauries has signed an agreement to sell the Blues to Dave Checketts. On November 14, 2005 the Blues announced that Checketts' group, Sports Capital Partners has officially withdrawn from negotiations to buy the team. 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. However, after the period of exclusivity, Checketts entered the picture again. On March 24, 2006, the Lauries completed the sale of the Blues and the lease to the Savvis Center to Checketts, Sports Capital Partners (SCP) and TowerBrook Capital Partners, L.P. Checketts promptly installed John Davidson as team president and de facto GM.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Season GP W L T OTL Pts GF GA PIM Finish Playoffs
1967-68 74 27 31 19 -- 70 177 191 792 3rd in Western Lost in Stanley Cup Final (MTL)
1968-69 76 37 25 14 -- 88 204 157 838 1st in Western Lost in Stanley Cup Final (MTL)
1969-70 76 37 27 12 -- 86 224 179 876 1st in Western Lost in Stanley Cup Final (BOS)
1970-71 78 34 25 19 -- 87 223 208 1092 2nd in Western Lost in Conference Quarterfinals (MIN)
1971-72 78 28 39 11 -- 67 208 247 1150 3rd in Western Lost in Conference Semifinals (BOS)
1972-73 78 32 34 12 -- 76 206 248 1195 4th in Western Lost in Conference Quarterfinals (CHI)
1973-74 78 26 40 12 -- 64 206 248 1147 6th in Western Out of Playoffs
1974-75 80 35 31 14 -- 84 269 267 1275 2nd in Smythe Lost in Conference Preliminaries (PIT)
1975-76 80 29 37 14 -- 72 249 290 1274 3rd in Smythe Lost in Conference Preliminaries (BUF)
1976-77 80 32 39 9 -- 73 239 276 877 1st in Smythe Lost in Conference Quarterfinals (MTL)
1977-78 80 20 47 13 -- 53 195 304 845 4th in Smythe Out of Playoffs
1978-79 80 18 50 12 -- 48 249 348 1055 3rd in Smythe Out of Playoffs
1979-80 80 34 34 12 -- 80 266 278 1037 2nd in Smythe Lost in Conference Preliminaries (CHI)
1980-81 80 45 18 17 -- 107 352 281 1657 1st in Smythe Lost in Conference Quarterfinals (NYR)
1981-82 80 32 40 8 -- 72 315 349 1579 3rd in Norris Lost in Division Finals (CHI)
1982-83 80 25 40 15 -- 65 285 316 1281 4th in Norris Lost in Division Semifinals (CHI)
1983-84 80 32 41 7 -- 71 293 316 1614 2nd in Norris Lost in Division Finals (MIN)
1984-85 80 37 31 12 -- 86 299 288 1301 1st in Norris Lost in Division Semifinals (MIN)
1985-86 80 37 34 9 -- 83 302 291 1478 3rd in Norris Lost in Conference Finals (CGY)
1986-87 80 32 33 15 -- 79 281 293 1572 1st in Norris Lost in Division Semifinals (TOR)
1987-88 80 34 38 8 -- 76 278 294 1919 2nd in Norris Lost in Division Finals (DET)
1988-89 80 33 35 12 -- 78 275 285 1675 2nd in Norris Lost in Division Finals (CHI)
1989-90 80 37 34 9 -- 83 295 279 1809 2nd in Norris Lost in Division Finals (CHI)
1990-91 80 47 22 11 -- 105 310 250 1987 2nd in Norris Lost in Division Finals (MIN)
1991-92 80 36 33 11 -- 83 279 266 2041 3rd in Norris Lost in Division Semifinals (CHI)
1992-93 84 37 36 11 -- 85 282 278 1889 4th in Norris Lost in Division Finals (TOR)
1993-94 84 40 33 11 -- 91 270 283 1659 4th in Central Lost in Conference Quarterfinals (DAL)
1994-951 48 28 15 5 -- 61 178 135 1077 2nd in Central Lost in Conference Quarterfinals (VAN)
1995-96 82 32 34 16 -- 80 219 248 1823 4th in Central Lost in Conference Semifinals (DET)
1996-97 82 36 35 11 -- 83 236 239 1336 4th in Central Lost in Conference Quarterfinals (DET)
1997-98 82 45 29 8 -- 98 256 204 1414 3rd in Central Lost in Conference Semifinals (DET)
1998-99 82 37 32 13 -- 87 237 209 1308 2nd in Central Lost in Conference Semifinals (DAL)
1999-00 82 51 19 11 1 114 248 165 1139 1st in Central Lost in Conference Quarterfinals (SJ)
2000-01 82 43 22 12 5 103 249 195 1345 2nd in Central Lost in Conference Finals (COL)
2001-02 82 43 27 8 4 98 227 188 1343 2nd in Central Lost in Conference Semifinals (DET)
2002-03 82 41 24 11 6 99 253 222 1618 2nd in Central Lost in Conference Quarterfinals (VAN)
2003-04 82 39 30 11 2 91 191 198 1274 2nd in Central Lost in Conference Quarterfinals (SJ)
2004-052 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
-- --
2005-06 82 21 46 -- 15 57 197 292 1355 5th in Central Out of Playoffs
1 Season was shortened due to the 1994-95 NHL lockout.
2 Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

Current squad

As of July 10, 2006 [link]

Goaltenders
Number

Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
1 Curtis Sanford L 2000 Owen Sound, Ontario

33 Jason Bacashihua L 2005 Garden City, Michigan

50 Reinhard Divis L 2000 Vienna, Austria

Defensemen
Number

Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
4 Eric Brewer L 2005 Vernon, British Columbia

5 Barret Jackman - A L 1999 Trail, British Columbia

20 Andy Roach L 2005 Mattawan, Michigan

25 Dennis Wideman R 2004 Kitchener, Ontario

27 Bryce Salvador L 1996 Brandon, Manitoba

28 Matt Walker R 1998 Beaverlodge, Alberta

29 Jeff Woywitka L 2005 Vermillion, Alberta

33 Steve Poapst L 2005 Cornwall, Ontario

43 Mike Stuart R 2002 Rochester, Minnesota

45 Tomas Mojzis L 2006 Kolin, Czechoslovakia

55 Christian Backman L 1998 Alingsas, Sweden

74 Jay McKee L 2006 Kingston, Ontario

Forwards
Number

Player Shoots Position Acquired Place of Birth
7 Keith Tkachuk L LW 2001 Melrose, Massachusetts

9 Jay McClement L C 2001 Kingston, Ontario

10 Dallas Drake - C R RW/LW 2000 Trail, British Columbia

12 Lee Stempniak R RW 2003 West Seneca, New York

13 Bill Guerin R RW 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts

15 Peter Sejna L LW 2003 Liptovski Mikulas, Czechoslovakia -->

17 Ryan Johnson L C/LW 2003 Thunder Bay, Ontario

20 Timofei Shishkanov R LW 2006 Moscow, U.S.S.R.

21 Jamal Mayers R C/RW 1993 Toronto, Ontario

22 Jeff Hoggan L LW/RW 2004 Hope, British Columbia

23 Trent Whitfield L C 2005 Estevan, Saskatchewan

26 Petr Cajanek L C 2001 Zlin, Czechoslovakia

32 Vladimir Orszagh L RW/LW 2005 Banska Bystrica, Czechoslovakia

36 Jesse Boulerice R RW/LW 2006 Plattsburgh, New York

37 Dean McAmmond L LW 2005 Grande Cache, Alberta

39 Doug Weight R C 2006 Warren, Michigan

42 Mark Rycroft R RW/LW 2000 Penticton, British Columbia

48 Scott Young - A R RW 2005 Clinton, Massachusetts

54 Mike Glumac R RW 2003 Niagara Falls, Ontario

- Dan Hinote R RW 2006 Leesburg, Florida

Team captains

Retired numbers

Note: The number 5 of Bob Plager (D, 1967-78; Head Coach, 1992-93; Barclay's brother) and the number 14 of Doug Wickenheiser (LW, 1984-87) are honoured by the club with banners but are not officially retired. After Wickenheiser's death in 1999, the number was unofficially retired; the last player to wear it was Geoff Courtnall in 1999-2000. Defenseman Barrett Jackman currently wears number 5, which is honoured by the organization in recognition of Plager's service to the club as a player, coach and scout. Also, the team has announced they will retire #16 in honour of Brett Hull during the 2006-07 NHL season

First round draft picks

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in the history of the Blues. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season. Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
Player POS GP G A Pts
Bernie Federko C 927 352 721 1073
Brett Hull RW 744 527 409 936
Brian Sutter LW 779 303 333 636
Garry Unger C 662 292 283 575
Pavol Demitra LW 494 204 289 493
Al MacInnis D 613 127 325 452
Red Berenson LW 519 172 240 412
Chris Pronger D 598 84 272 356
Pierre Turgeon C 327 134 221 355
Doug Gilmour C 384 149 205 354

NHL Awards and Trophies

Clarence S. Campbell Bowl Presidents' Trophy Hart Memorial Trophy Lester B. Pearson Award James Norris Memorial Trophy Conn Smythe Trophy Calder Memorial Trophy Vezina Trophy Frank J. Selke Trophy William M. Jennings Trophy Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy NHL Plus/Minus Award Jack Adams Award King Clancy Memorial Trophy Lady Byng Memorial Trophy Lester Patrick Trophy

St. Louis Blues Individual Records

  • Most Goals in a season: Brett Hull, 86 (1990-91)
  • Most Assists in a season: Adam Oates, 90 (1990-91)
  • Most Points in a season: Brett Hull, 131 (1990-91)
  • Most Penalty Minutes in a season: Bob Gassoff, 306 (1975-76)
  • Most Points in a season, defenseman: Jeff Brown, 78 (1992-93)
  • Most Points in a season, rookie: Jorgen Pettersson, 73 (1980-81)

See also

External links

National Hockey League 1917 to present
Current teams : Anaheim | Atlanta | Boston | Buffalo | Calgary | Carolina | Chicago | Colorado | Columbus | Dallas | Detroit | Edmonton | Florida | Los Angeles | Minnesota | Montreal | Nashville | New Jersey | NY Islanders | NY Rangers | Ottawa | Philadelphia | Phoenix | Pittsburgh | San Jose | St. Louis | Tampa Bay | Toronto | Vancouver | Washington
Trophies and awards: Stanley Cup | Prince of Wales | Clarence S. Campbell | Presidents' Trophy | Adams | Art Ross | Calder | Conn Smythe | Crozier | Hart | Jennings | King Clancy | Lady Byng | Masterton | Norris | Patrick | Pearson | Plus/Minus | Rocket Richard | Selke | Vezina

 

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