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. Ralston renamed the arena the "Checkerdome." 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. 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. [28], In the 201920 season, the Blues suffered an early blow as forward Vladimir Tarasenko suffered a season-ending injury on October 24. This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Blues. 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." 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. This third jersey was unveiled on September 21, 2008, and debuted during a Blues' home game against the Anaheim Ducks on November 21, 2008. For the first time in five years (that is, since the lockout), the Blues were in the playoffs. 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. 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. In 2001, the Blues advanced to the Western Conference Finals before bowing out in five games to the eventual champions, 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. During this time, Doug Gilmour, drafted by St. Louis in 1982, emerged as a star. But the renaissance was short-lived. 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. 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. [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. The Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019 and have the most Stanley Cup playoff appearances outside of the Original Six. [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. tickets - by owner. In between seasons and during trade deadlines, the Blues became a must-see attraction. October 1, 2019. After losing Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals, the team beat the San Jose Sharks in Game 2 at Scottrade Center, securing its first playoff game victory since 2004. [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. Angry at having to play "second fiddle", the Blues elected to leave for KTRS in 2000. In response, the Blues moved back to KMOX starting in the 200607 season. In 19992000, the team notched a franchise-record 114 points during the regular season, earning the Presidents' Trophy for the League's best record. On June 3, Ralston announced that it had no interest in running the team anymore. The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, Missouri. 0. 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. In the offseason for the 201718 season, the Blues would lose David Perron to the Vegas Golden Knights via an expansion draft. 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. After an ice plant was installed, the minor league St. Louis Flyers began play there in 1929. Blues games, many of which were crucial to playoff berths, would often be pre-empted for spring training coverage. [46] All of these traditions carried over to the Kiel Center (now known as Enterprise Center) in 1994. Before the 199798 season, the Blues introduced a new alternate white jersey. 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. No sooner had the season ended than Demers departed for Detroit. Eventually, the St. Louis Arena came under the control of the owners of the Chicago Black Hawks. Hitchcock is a finalist for the Jack Adams coaching award and Doug Armstrong is a contender for general manager of the year. St. Louis Blues (1958) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Blues Jump Blues/Piano Blues St. Louis Blues. Only Wayne Gretzky found the net more than Hull during any given three-year period. 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. The Blues have worn blue and white jerseys with the famous "Blue Note" crest and gold accents since their inception in 1967. The Enterprise Center was electric and buzzing with excitement with anticipation of the win. In the meantime, the franchise was on the brink of financial collapse. 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. [23] On June 12, 2019, the Blues defeated the Bruins 41 in Game 7 to win their first Stanley Cup. 27 febrero, 2023 . 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. 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. In 201516, the Blues finished in second place in the Central Division to the Dallas Stars. By accident", "Pronger steps aside as captain; MacInnis steps in", "Blues retire Plager's No. This led to a Norris Division semi-finals exit against the Chicago Black Hawks. For the song, see. You have permission to edit this article. But the memorable season came to an abrupt end at the hands of the surging Los Angles Kings. 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. While the disappointment of that series loss is still fresh, hope springs eternal with the announcement that a new ownership group is in place. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season. The remaining staff included the accounting department, scouting staff, and coach Barclay Plager. The emotional win two days earlier notwitstanding, the Blues lost Game 7 of the playoffs in Calgary, falling short of the Cup finals. However, they were swept in the Stanley Cup Finals by the Montreal Canadiens in 1969 and then by the Boston Bruins in 1970. 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. Chris Kerber and Joe Vitale are the current radio broadcast team. Albums. They also provided the capital to build the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center), which opened in 1994. Im baffled., Suspect charged in fatal shooting in downtown St. Louis, Former Sweetie Pies TV star Tim Norman gets two life sentences in nephews death, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol slams ump C.B. On April 12, the Blues clinched the sixth seed in the West with a 10 win against the Colorado Avalanche. Former Blues forward David Perron was brought back on a free agent deal, while defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was named team captain. The Blues averaged more than 41 wins but could not get though the conference playoffs. Ornest immediately reverted the name of the team's home venue to the St. Louis Arena. Ryan O'Reilly won the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP. Blues current owner Tom Stillman (left) and Carol Salomon, the former wife of original owner Sid Salomon III. 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. The Salomons sold the Blues to Ralston on July 27, 1977. 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. St Louis Blues Players. In addition, the contrasting shoulder yoke was removed. On October 2, 2007, the Blues finalized the season-starting roster, which included rookies David Perron, Steven Wagner and Erik Johnson. 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. 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. Center David Backes has been named a finalist for the Frank Selke Trophy as the league's top two-way player. But a competing carnival owner hatches a scheme to put an end to the show before it begins. 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. After a strong second-half run, the Blues made the 2009 playoffs on April 10, 2009, after defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 31. 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. Dean told employes that the St. Louis-based firm had completed its second best fiscal year. 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. [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. In 1978-79, the Blues won 18 of 80 games, or just one more than the NFL's 1972 Miami Dophins. 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.