While the Blues contended during this time period, they never passed the second round of the playoffs. Dean retired and his successor, William Stiritz, had no interest in continuing the involvement in hockey. Ten players reached at least 20 goals, including Wayne Babych, future Hall of Famer Bernie Federko, and team captain Brian Sutter. 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]. For instance, Ornest asked many players to defer their salaries to help meet operating costs, but the players always got paid in the end. At one point, the Salomons cut the team's staff down to three employees. 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. It was loud enough, TV cameras picked up the song loud and clear. "We've given them the extreme honor, so it's. The Blues play in the 19,150 (not counting standing room) capacity Enterprise Center, where they have played since 1994. Ralston then filed a $60 million anti-trust lawsuit in U.S. District Court, claiming that the NHL broke federal antitrust laws and breached the duty of good faith and fair dealing by voting to reject the sale and transfer of the Blues to Hunter's group. The Blues simplified their design, with only the blue note logo on the front; there were no third jerseys for the season. This list may not reflect recent changes . For the song, see. This was partly due to the pressures of the World Hockey Association (WHA), but mostly the result of financial decisions made when the Salomons first acquired the franchise. Guided by young coach Joel Quenneville, built on the backline presence of MacInnis and Chris Pronger who came in the Shanahan deal the Blues embarked on one of their most rewarding periods. Category:St. Louis Blues owners Pages in category "St. Louis Blues owners" The following 5 pages are in this category, out of 5 total. Ornest ran the Blues very cheaply, though the players did not mind. [17] During the 2011 NHL offseason, the team signed many key free agents, including Brian Elliott, Scott Nichol, Kent Huskins, Jason Arnott and Jamie Langenbrunner. Contact Information: print. 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 . The emotional win two days earlier notwitstanding, the Blues lost Game 7 of the playoffs in Calgary, falling short of the Cup finals. [55] The seven individuals recognized as builders by the Hall of Fame includes former Blues executives, general managers, head coaches, and owners. 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. Mike Keenan was hired as both general manager and coach before the abbreviated 199495 season, with the hope that he could end the postseason turmoil that Blues fans had endured for years. 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. Things got worse after Keenan orchestrated a bold trade to acquire Wayne Gretzky late in the 1995-96 season. C Dave Checketts D John Danforth L Bill Laurie O Harry Ornest S SLB Acquisition Holdings LLC The Blues had remained in strong form throughout the season, finishing first in the Western Conference and second in the NHL. Caron was reinstated as interim general manager for the rest of the season, and general manager Larry Pleau was hired on June 9, 1997. With his aging father stepping back, Sid Salomon III took a more prominent role in running the franchise and upheaval became the order of the day. The standard for other teams was 60 players. Weight was again traded in December 2007 to the Anaheim Ducks, along with a minor league player, in exchange for Andy McDonald. 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. 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. St. Louis Blues (1958) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. 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. He made his debut two days later, wearing number 55 against the Phoenix Coyotes. 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. 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. Overview. However, they only won three games on the road during the first two months of the season. The Blues have a tradition of live organ music. 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. 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). During this period, the NHL rebuffed attempts at further expansion. 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. 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. 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. He was 78. It wasn't. In 1986, the team reached the Campbell Conference finals and produced one of its signature moments, a "Monday Night Miracle" comeback victory in Game 6. The St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history later that season. Ryan O'Reilly won the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP. The Blues are still looking for their first Stanley Cup. He intended to build a $43 million 18,000-seat arena in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in time for the 1983-84 season. Sid Salomon III convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team. The Blues' successes in the late 1960s, however, did not continue into the 1970s. In 201516, the Blues finished in second place in the Central Division to the Dallas Stars. [46] All of these traditions carried over to the Kiel Center (now known as Enterprise Center) in 1994. When Red Berenson scored six goals in a game on Nov. 7, 1968, ownership presented the outdoor enthusiast with a new station wagon, a canoe attached to the top and a Browning 20-gauge shotgun inside. However, as the season was put on pause due to the pandemic, no team would play the full 82 games. The blue jerseys lacked the contrasting yoke until 1979. The remaining staff included the accounting department, scouting staff, and coach Barclay Plager. The group becomes the eighth to hold the keys to the franchise since its inception. 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. 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". The arena quickly became one of the loudest buildings in the NHL, a reputation it maintained throughout its tenure as the Blues' home. Jeremy Rutherford is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the St. Louis Blues. tickets - by owner. 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. These are the top-ten point-scorers, goal scorers, and assist leaders in franchise regular-season history. 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. The Blues chairman/owner . In fact, they made it to the conference finals only two times in their streak (1986 and 2001). But the renaissance was short-lived. The sale price for the team and building lease was reported to be $100 million. [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 St. Louis Blues are one of the more successful NHL teams in terms of attendance. The latest STL Blues hockey news, NHL headlines, scores, standings and rosters. Former St. Louis Cardinals great Stan Musial and Musial's business partner Julius "Biggie" Garagnani were also members of the 16-man investment group that made the initial formal application for the franchise. But the memorable season came to an abrupt end at the hands of the surging Los Angles Kings. The original owners were successful insurance executive Sid Salomon Jr., his son Sid Salomon III and Robert Wolfson. Like all NHL teams, the Blues updated their jerseys for the 200708 season with new Rbk Edge jerseys. By accident", "Pronger steps aside as captain; MacInnis steps in", "Blues retire Plager's No. [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. 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. Boyer also plays the latter song on the organ after Blues goals, with fans replacing the word "Saints" with "Blues. Chris Kerber and Joe Vitale are the current radio broadcast team. However, after the period of exclusivity, SCP entered the picture again. 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. In 1985, Ornest, wanting more broadcast revenue, put the radio rights up for bid. The Blues have a rivalry with the Chicago Blackhawks, with whom they have shared a division since 1970. In response, the Blues moved back to KMOX starting in the 200607 season. In between seasons and during trade deadlines, the Blues became a must-see attraction. 0. "[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. The bottom of the numbers taper off to give way to the aforementioned stripes. Following further contraction, the league stabilized at six teams after 1942. st louis blues - $75 (Saint Louis) wednesday 2023-03-01. number available: 4 venue: enterprise center. 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. From 1967 until 1994, the team played in the St. Louis Arena (known as The Checkerdome from 1977 until 1983), where the old St. Louis Eagles played, and which the original owners had to buy as a condition of the 1967 NHL expansion. 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. 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. The initial results were not good. Off the ice, the cash-poor Checketts operated with an Ornest-like budget; on the ice the team continued to stockpile picks and promise. Since 1990, Ron Baechle, also known as the "Towel Man" or "Towel Guy," has celebrated each goal by counting with the bell and throwing a towel into the crowd from section 314. It then took control of the franchise and began searching for a new owner. 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. Louie is the mascot of the St. Louis Blues. On December 11, 2006, the Blues fired head coach Mike Kitchen and replaced him with former Los Angeles Kings head coach Andy Murray. [58] Gretzky had previously played for the Blues in 1996, although the Blues did not retire his number prior to its league-wide retirement. Eventually, the St. Louis Arena came under the control of the owners of the Chicago Black Hawks. Trending. They play their home games at the 19,150-seat Enterprise Center in downtown St. Louis, which has been their arena since moving from St. Louis Arena in 1994. Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game. In 200910, despite not having a playoff year, the Blues had an average attendance of 18,883 (98.6% total capacity), selling out 34 of its 40 home games, which placed them seventh in the NHL in attendance. The Black Hawks owners felt they could establish a "lovable loser" (much like the Cubs) with the St. Louis hockey team. It has been called the "Fan Salute" by some. 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. Before the season began, the Blues were hit hard with injuries as they lost Robby Fabbri before the season began. 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. The Blues are currently the only team in the four major North American sports (ice hockey, basketball, baseball, and American football) to be owned by a private equity firm. The Blues skated back to KPLR 3 years later. 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 mistake was that play resumed before the chorus was over and the music had to stop. The deferred contracts came due just as the Blues' performance began to slip. The arrangement made the Blues the only major sports team in North America to be owned by a private equity firm. 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. The Checkerboard Square chief even re-painted the fading Arena and re-dubbed it the Checkerdome. The Blues averaged more than 41 wins but could not get though the conference playoffs. Attendance had gone from a peak of 18,601 a game in 1972-73 to 10,130. The group spent $2 million to buy the franchise, $4 million to purchase the 38-year-old Arena on Oakland Avenue from Chicago's Bill Wirtz and $2.5 million more to renovate the building. 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. 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. In 201213, the Blues completed the lockout-shortened season in fourth place in the Western Conference. After the 200405 lockout, the Blues' attendance suffered, but has since improved every year since its all-time low in 200607. 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. 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. 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. The team slipped under .500 the following season and managed just 65 points in 1982-83. 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. Prior to that, he worked at the New York . 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. 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. 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. 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. The move proved both ill-conceived and ill-timed, as the renamed St. Louis Eagles continued to lose money. While they kept the Reebok Edge-era template, they brought back the 19982007 look.