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Wikipedia

St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. 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". They play their home games at the 18,096 seat Enterprise Center in downtown St. Louis, which has been their arena since moving from St. Louis Arena in 1994.[3]

St. Louis Blues
2022–23 St. Louis Blues season
ConferenceWestern
DivisionCentral
Founded1967
HistorySt. Louis Blues
1967–present
Home arenaEnterprise Center
CitySt. Louis, Missouri
ColorsRoyal blue, gold, navy blue, white[1][2]
       
MediaBally Sports Midwest
101 ESPN
Owner(s)SLB Acquisition Holdings LLC
(Tom Stillman, chairman and governor)
General managerDoug Armstrong
Head coachCraig Berube
CaptainVacant
Minor league affiliatesSpringfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
Stanley Cups1 (2018–19)
Conference championships1 (2018–19)
Presidents' Trophy1 (1999–00)
Division championships10 (1968–69, 1969–70, 1976–77, 1980–81, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1999–00, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2019–20)
Official websitenhl.com/blues

The Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019 and have the most Stanley Cup playoff appearances outside of the Original Six. 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. 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 Blues have a rivalry with the Chicago Blackhawks, with whom they have shared a division since 1970.[a] The Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League (AHL) is the team's minor league affiliate.

Franchise history

Hockey in St. Louis before 1967

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. After an ice plant was installed, the minor league St. Louis Flyers began play there in 1929. St. Louis soon began to attract the interest as a potential NHL market, eventually leading the owners of the moribund Ottawa Senators to relocate there for the 1934-35 season. The move proved both ill-conceived and ill-timed, as the renamed St. Louis Eagles continued to lose money. 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. The team finished last in the division and disbanded after one season.

Following further contraction, the league stabilized at six teams after 1942. During this period, the NHL rebuffed attempts at further expansion. Eventually, the St. Louis Arena came under the control of the owners of the Chicago Black Hawks. 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.

1967 expansion

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. St. Louis was the last of the six expansion teams to gain entry into the League; the market was chosen over Baltimore at the insistence of the Black Hawks owners, James D. Norris and Arthur Wirtz. 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. Nevertheless, the Black Hawks owners still owned the St. Louis Arena. 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. The Black Hawks owners felt they could establish a "lovable loser" (much like the Cubs) with the St. Louis hockey team. NHL president Clarence Campbell said during the 1967 expansion meetings, "We want a team in St. Louis because of the city's geographical location and the fact that it has an adequate building."[4]

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. Sid Salomon III convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team. 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.[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.[5] Upon acquiring the franchise in 1966, Salomon then spent several million dollars on extensive renovations for the 38-year-old arena, expanding it from 12,000 seats to 15,000.

Beginnings and Stanley Cup Finals' appearances (1967–1970)

 
Jim Roberts was the first selected skater by the Blues in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft. He played with the Blues from 1967 to 1972.

Lynn Patrick initially served as general manager and head coach. However, he resigned as head coach in late November after recording a 4–13–2 record. He was replaced by assistant coach Scotty Bowman, who thereafter led the team to a winning record for the rest of the 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. 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.

Under the expansion playoff format, Bowman's leadership was enough as the Blues qualified for the playoffs in their inaugural season. Although they had finished in third place, St. Louis was regarded as fairly evenly matched with the other three Western qualifiers since only four points separated first and fourth place. Ultimately, it was the Blues who prevailed by winning in seven games each over the Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota North Stars to reach the 1968 Stanley Cup Finals. However, St. Louis was swept in their first Finals appearance by the heavily favored Montreal Canadiens.

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. However, they were swept in the Stanley Cup Finals by the Montreal Canadiens in 1969 and then by the Boston Bruins in 1970.

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. Phil Goyette won the Lady Byng Trophy for the Blues in 1970 and New York Rangers castoff Red Berenson became the expansion team's first major star at center. The arena quickly became one of the loudest buildings in the NHL, a reputation it maintained throughout its tenure as the Blues' home.

During that time, Salomon gained a reputation throughout the NHL as the top players' owner. He gave his players cars, signed them to deferred contracts and treated them to vacations in Florida. 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]

Financial problems, near-relocation, and playoff streak (1970–1987)

The Blues' successes in the late 1960s, however, did not continue into the 1970s. 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. The Blues lost Bowman, who left during the 1970–71 season following a power-sharing dispute with Sid Salomon III (who was taking an increasing role in team affairs),[6] as well as Hall, Plante, Goyette and ultimately Berenson, who were all lost to retirement or trade. Veteran player Al Arbour hastily stepped in to coach the team. 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. 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.

Arbour, who officially retired as a player after the 1970–71 season, would remain behind the Blues' bench for the next two seasons. 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. Defensively, however, the Blues were less than stellar and saw Chicago and the Philadelphia Flyers overtake the Division. After missing the playoffs for the first time in 1973–74, the Blues ended up in the Smythe Division after a League realignment. This division was particularly weak, and in 1976–77, the Blues won it while finishing five games below .500, though this would be their last playoff appearance in the decade.

 
Drafted by the Blues in 1976, Bernie Federko played with the team from 1976 to 1989. He holds the record for games played with the Blues.

In the meantime, the franchise was on the brink of financial collapse. 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. The deferred contracts came due just as the Blues' performance began to slip. At one point, the Salomons cut the team's staff down to three employees. One of them was Emile Francis, who served as team president, general manager and head coach. 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. The Salomons sold the Blues to Ralston on July 27, 1977. However, longtime Ralston Purina chairman R. Hal Dean said that he only intended to keep the Blues as a Ralston subsidiary only temporarily until a more stable owner could be found who would keep the team in St. Louis. Ralston renamed the arena the "Checkerdome." After two awful years, including what is still a franchise-worst 18–50–12 record with 48 points in 1979, the Blues made the playoffs the following year, the first of 25 consecutive postseason appearances.

After being one of the worst teams a couple of years before, they were one of the best in 1981, as they finished with a then-franchise-best record of 45–18–17 record which translated to 107 points and the second-best record in the league. Ten players reached at least 20 goals, including Wayne Babych, future Hall of Famer Bernie Federko, and team captain Brian Sutter. They also had strong goaltending led by Mike Liut. They would get rewarded as head coach Red Berenson won the Jack Adams Award, Mike Liut finished a close second to Wayne Gretzky in the Hart Trophy voting, and earned the top spot on the NHL All-Star team, Larry Patey finished third in the Frank J. Selke Trophy voting, and Blake Dunlop won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. Their regular-season success, however, did not transfer into the playoffs, as they were eliminated by the New York Rangers in the second round 2–4 after beating the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round 3–2. The Blues would underachieve greatly the following year as they posted a 32–40–8, but they beat the Winnipeg Jets 3–1 in the Norris Division Semi-Finals before dropping to the Chicago Black Hawks in the Norris Division 2–4.

 
"Saskatchewan's Got The Blues!" hockey puck circa 1983

While the Blues had returned to respectability on the ice, they were struggling off it. Ralston Purina lost an estimated $1.8 million a year during its six-year ownership of the Blues. However, Dean took the losses philosophically, having taken over out of a sense of civic responsibility. In 1981, Dean retired. His successor, William Stiritz, wanted to refocus on the core pet food business, and his personal sporting interests were in horse racing and not hockey. He saw the Blues as just another money-bleeding division, and put the team on the market. While there were a number of interested parties, none had enough cash to meet Ralston's asking price. On January 12, 1983, Batoni-Hunter Enterprises Ltd., led by WHA and Edmonton Oilers founder Bill Hunter, tendered an offer to buy the team. He intended to build a $43 million 18,000-seat arena in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in time for the 1983-84 season. While the fans were stunned, the players were aware of this. As the Blues faced the Oilers on December 7, 1982; brochures were distributed saying "Saskatchewan in the NHL". These distractions would greatly affect their performance as they squeezed into the playoffs with a 25–40–15 record in the 1983 season, good enough for 65 points. This led to a Norris Division semi-finals exit against the Chicago Black Hawks. Following their playoff exit, Ralston authorized the deal to Hunter's renamed company Coliseum Holdings, Ltd. for $12 million on April 21.[7] Emile Francis would call it quits on May 2, leaving for the Hartford Whalers to become president and general manager. The Blues then fired 60 percent of their employees. The remaining staff included the accounting department, scouting staff, and coach Barclay Plager. They waited for an authorization by 75% of the NHL Board of Governors for the sale and transfer of the club. However, the NHL Board of Governors rejected the deal by a 15–3 vote on May 18, feeling that Saskatoon was not big enough or financially stable enough to support an NHL team.[8][9]

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. 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. On June 3, Ralston announced that it had no interest in running the team anymore. 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 day after the draft, the NHL filed a $78 million counter-suit against Ralston, accusing Ralston of "damaging the league by willfully, wantonly and maliciously collapsing its St. Louis Blues hockey operation." The NHL also said that Ralston broke a league rule that an owner had to give two years' notice before dissolving a franchise.[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.[11] The Board of Governors rejected the offer and "terminated" the team on June 13, one day before Ralston's supposed deadline. It then took control of the franchise and began searching for a new owner. League president John Ziegler said they would try to keep the team in St. Louis. 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. On July 27, 1983, ten days before the deadline, the NHL approved a bid from businessman Harry Ornest and a group of St. Louis-based investors for the team and the arena. Ornest had made plans to buy the team as early as March, but built up his efforts in late June to have enough money. Ornest immediately reverted the name of the team's home venue to the St. Louis Arena.[12] To date, this is the closest that an NHL team has come to folding since the Cleveland Barons merged with the Minnesota North Stars after the 1977–78 season.

Ornest ran the Blues very cheaply, though the players did not mind. 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. For instance, Ornest asked many players to defer their salaries to help meet operating costs, but the players always got paid in the end. During most of Ornest's tenure, the Blues had only 26 players under contract–23 in St. Louis, plus three on their farm team, the Montana Magic. Most NHL teams during the mid-1980s had over 60 players under contract.[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. During this time, Doug Gilmour, drafted by St. Louis in 1982, emerged as a star.

While the Blues remained competitive, they were unable to keep many of their young players. More often than not, several of the Blues' emerging stars ended up as Calgary Flames, 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, Joe Mullen and Gilmour, were main cogs in the Flames' 1989 Stanley Cup win. Sutter and Federko were the only untouchables on the Blues during that era. By 1986, the team reached the Campbell Conference Finals against the Flames. 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, 2–1. 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.[13] After that season, Ornest sold the team to a group led by St. Louis businessman Michael Shanahan.

Brett Hull era (1988–1998)

 
The Blues acquired Brett Hull through a trade in March 1988. Playing with the team until 1998, he holds the record for goals scored with the team.

St. Louis kept chugging along through the late 1980s and early 1990s. 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. While the Blues contended during this time period, they never passed the second round of the playoffs. Nonetheless, their 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 Enterprise Center), which opened in 1994.

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 1990–91 en route to earning the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player. 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). Only Wayne Gretzky found the net more than Hull during any given three-year period. Despite posting the second-best regular-season record in the entire league in 1990–91, 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.

Mike Keenan was hired as both general manager and coach before the abbreviated 1994–95 season, with the hope that he could end the postseason turmoil that Blues fans had endured for years. 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. 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. 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. Caron was reinstated as interim general manager for the rest of the season, and general manager Larry Pleau was hired on June 9, 1997. Hull, who had a lengthy feud with Keenan, left for the Dallas Stars in 1998. He went on to win the Stanley Cup with the Stars the next year, scoring a controversial goal on the Buffalo Sabres' Dominik Hasek to clinch the Cup for Dallas. The Blues ended the 1990s as the only NHL team to make the playoffs for the entire decade, although a Stanley Cup title still eluded the franchise.

End of the playoff streak, lockout, and rebuild (1998–2011)

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. In 1999–2000, the team notched a franchise-record 114 points during the regular season, earning the Presidents' Trophy for the League's best record. However, they were stunned by the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the 2000 playoffs in seven games. In 2001, the Blues advanced to the Western Conference Finals before bowing out in five games to the eventual champions, the Colorado Avalanche. Nonetheless, the team remained competitive for the next three years, despite never advancing beyond the second round. 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). However, they never made an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. In fact, they made it to the conference finals only two times in their streak (1986 and 2001).

Amid several questionable personnel moves and an unstable ownership situation, the Blues finished the 2005–06 season with their worst record in 27 years. They missed the playoffs for only the fourth time in franchise history. Moreover, for the first time in club history, the normally excellent support seen by St. Louisans began decrease, with crowds normally numbering around 12,000, notably less than the team's normal high (about 18,000 in a 19,500-seat arena). Wal-Mart heir Nancy Walton Laurie and her husband Bill purchased the Blues in 1999. On June 17, 2005, the Lauries announced that they would sell the team. 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. 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. On November 14, 2005, the Blues announced that SCP Worldwide had 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, SCP entered the picture again. On March 24, 2006, the Lauries completed the sale of the Blues and the lease to the Savvis Center to SCP and TowerBrook Capital Partners, L.P., a private equity firm. 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.

 
Keith Tkachuk with the Blues. During his time with the team he became the third American player to score 500 goals, and the sixth American player to reach 1,000 points.

Following the disappointing 2005–06 season, which saw the Blues with the worst record in the NHL, the new management focused on rebuilding the franchise. Under new management, the Blues promptly installed John Davidson as president of hockey operations, moving Pleau to a mostly advisory role. 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. Weight was again traded in December 2007 to the Anaheim Ducks, along with a minor league player, in exchange for Andy McDonald. At the beginning of the 2006–07 season, the Blues looked to be competitive in the Central Division. However, injuries plagued the team all season, and the lack of a bona fide scorer hampered them as well. 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. On December 11, 2006, the Blues fired head coach Mike Kitchen and replaced him with former Los Angeles Kings head coach Andy Murray.[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. On January 4, 2007, the Blues had a record of 6–1–3 in their previous ten games, which was the best in the NHL during that stretch. 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.

Just before the 2007 NHL trade deadline, the Blues traded several key players, including Bill Guerin, Keith Tkachuk and Dennis Wideman, in exchange for draft picks, though they re-signed Tkachuk after the season ended. 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 2007–08 season. During the 2007 off-season, the Blues signed free agent Paul Kariya to a three-year contract worth $18 million, re-signed defenseman Barret Jackman to a one-year contract, lost their captain Dallas Drake to the Detroit Red Wings, and traded prospect Carl Soderberg to the Bruins in exchange for yet more depth in the goal crease, Hannu Toivonen.

On October 2, 2007, the Blues finalized the season-starting roster, which included rookies David Perron, Steven Wagner and Erik Johnson. On October 10, the Blues introduced a new mascot, Louie. 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. On February 8, 2008, it was announced that, after going much of the season without a captain, defenseman Eric Brewer was chosen as the team's 19th captain.[15] The team later traded veteran defenseman Bryce Salvador to the New Jersey Devils for enforcer, and St. Louis native, Cam Janssen. He made his debut two days later, wearing number 55 against the Phoenix Coyotes.

After spending the first half of the 2008–09 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. After a strong second-half run, the Blues made the 2009 playoffs on April 10, 2009, after defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 3–1. On April 12, the Blues clinched the sixth seed in the West with a 1–0 win against the Colorado Avalanche. For the first time in five years (that is, since the lockout), the Blues were in the playoffs. 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 Blues fired head coach Andy Murray on January 2, 2010, after a disappointing record (17–17–6, 40 points), sitting in 12th place in the Conference. Especially galling were the frequent blown leads after two periods, and with the worst home record (6–13–3) posted in the entire NHL. After his duties as interim coach for the rest of the 2009–10 season, Davis Payne was named the 23rd head coach in the Blues' history on April 14. Payne was previously the head coach of the Blues top minor league affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League (AHL).[16]

Return to contention, first Stanley Cup championship (2011–present)

On March 17, 2011, it was announced that the St. Louis Blues were for sale.[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. They fired their head coach, Davis Payne, and named Ken Hitchcock as his replacement on November 6, 2011. David Backes was also announced as the new team captain.

 
David Backes was named the 20th team captain of the Blues, and remained as captain until 2016.

On March 17, 2012, the Blues became the first team to reach 100 points and clinch a playoff berth in the 2011–12 season under Hitchcock, qualifying for their first playoffs since 2008–09. They would finish second in the Western Conference, behind the Vancouver Canucks. During the 2012 playoffs, they won their first playoff series since 2002, eliminating the San Jose Sharks in five games. The Blues were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Los Angeles Kings, in the following round.

In 2012–13, the Blues completed the lockout-shortened season in fourth place in the Western Conference. They were again eliminated by Los Angeles, however, this time in six games in the first round of the playoffs, despite taking an initial 2–0 series lead.

The following season, 2013–14, the team hit the 100-point mark for the sixth time in franchise history, and gained a franchise record of 52 wins. 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 slump haunted them, as they blew a 2–0 series lead to the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks, losing the first-round series in six games. This marked the second-straight year the Blues lost in the first round of the playoffs to the reigning champions in six games after leading the series 2–0.

In 2014–15, the Blues won their second Central Division championship in four years and faced the Minnesota Wild in round one of the 2015 playoffs. However, for the third straight year, they lost in the first round and in six games. During the offseason, forward T. J. Oshie was traded to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Troy Brouwer.

In 2015–16, the Blues finished in second place in the Central Division to the Dallas Stars. The Blues took on the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks in the first-round series. The Blues jumped to a 3–1 series lead, but struggled in games 5 and 6. However, St. Louis ended their first-round losing streak by beating Chicago 3–2 in game 7 of the series. 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. The Blues season would come to an end at the hands of the San Jose Sharks, who eliminated them in six games.

On June 13, 2016, it was announced that Mike Yeo would replace Hitchcock as head coach of the Blues following the 2016–17 season. The 2016 offseason saw big changes for the Blues, as team captain David Backes left the team to sign with the Boston Bruins, and goaltender Brian Elliott was traded to the Calgary Flames, while veteran forward Troy Brouwer also signed with Calgary as a free agent. Steve Ott also left the team, signing a free-agent deal with the Red Wings. Jake Allen was now the starting goaltender for the Blues, while the team also signed former Nashville Predators backup Carter Hutton. Former Blues forward David Perron was brought back on a free agent deal, while defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was named team captain.

 

The team started the season by posting a record of 10–1–2 in their first 13 home games. However, they only won three games on the road during the first two months of the season. Despite defeating the Blackhawks in the 2017 NHL Winter Classic by the score of 4–1, the Blues fired Hitchcock and promoted Yeo to head coach on February 1, 2017. Despite an impressive run into the end of the season, when they gained most points in the league from February 1, when Hitchcock was fired, to the end of the season,[18] the Blues were eliminated in the second round by the Nashville Predators in six games.[19]

In the offseason for the 2017–18 season, the Blues would lose David Perron to the Vegas Golden Knights via an expansion draft. They would also pick up Brayden Schenn from the Philadelphia Flyers by giving away Jori Lehtera. Before the season began, the Blues were hit hard with injuries as they lost Robby Fabbri before the season began. Other players like Patrik Berglund, and Alex Steen did not return in time for the season. Despite these losses, the Blues raced out to a 21–8–2 start in their first 31 games. The Blues lost more players as Jay Bouwmeester suffered a season-ending injury, and Jaden Schwartz missed a large portion of the season. 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. After losing Vladimir Tarasenko to injury during the game, the Blues lost to the Avalanche 5–2 as they missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years.

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.[20] On November 19, 2018, the Blues fired head coach Mike Yeo after starting the season with a 7–9–3 record and replaced him with Craig Berube on an interim basis.[21] On March 29, 2019, the Blues became the seventh team in NHL since the 1967–68 season to qualify for the playoffs after being placed last after January 1.[22] This resurgence included an eleven-game winning streak between February and March, in large part thanks to the emergence of the eventual Calder Trophy nominee, rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington.

 
Patrick Maroon with the Stanley Cup at the Blues' victory parade following the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals.

On May 21, the Blues advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1970, defeating the San Jose Sharks in a six-game Western Conference Finals series. 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 (1968–1970), when they defeated the Boston Bruins 3–2 in overtime.[23] On June 12, 2019, the Blues defeated the Bruins 4–1 in Game 7 to win their first Stanley Cup. Ryan O'Reilly won the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP.[24] Up until that point, the Blues were the oldest franchise to never win the Stanley Cup; they were also the last of the five surviving 1967 expansion teams to win the Cup for the first time.[25] This all but assured that Berube would have the "interim" tag removed from his title, which occurred two weeks after their Cup victory.[26] Shortly after the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals, Karla May of the Missouri Senate introduced a bill which would officially designate several items as state symbols of Missouri; including the Blues being as the state's official hockey team.[27] The bill was signed into law by Mike Parson, the Governor of Missouri, with the revised statute becoming effective August 29, 2019.[28]

In the 2019–20 season, the Blues suffered an early blow as forward Vladimir Tarasenko suffered a season-ending injury on October 24. 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. On February 12, 2020, the Blues suffered another loss as defenseman Jay Bouwmeester suddenly collapsed on the bench in a game against the Anaheim Ducks, and would not come back to play again in the season. The game against Anaheim was suspended during the first period and postponed to March 11. This ended up being the Blues' last game in the regular season, as the season would be cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic shortly afterwards. The Blues had remained in strong form throughout the season, finishing first in the Western Conference and second in the NHL. However, as the season was put on pause due to the pandemic, no team would play the full 82 games. Instead, a Return to Play tournament was organized, starting in August 2020. 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 the first round of the playoffs, they faced the Vancouver Canucks, to whom they lost in six games. In the hiatus preceding the NHL's Return to Play, several Blues players contracted COVID-19, which was cited by the coaching staff as one of the reasons why their play faltered in the playoffs. On September 2, 2020, the Blues traded goaltender Jake Allen, who had spent ten years in the Blues organization, to the Montreal Canadiens.[29]

Team information

Arena

The Blues play in the 19,150 (not counting standing room) capacity Enterprise Center, where they have played since 1994. The arena was previously known as Scottrade Center, the Savvis Center, and before that as the Kiel Center. 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.

Attendance

The St. Louis Blues are one of the more successful NHL teams in terms of attendance. After the 2004–05 lockout, the Blues' attendance suffered, but has since improved every year since its all-time low in 2006–07. In 2009–10, 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.[30] In 2010–11, the team sold out every home game.

Jerseys

 
Before the 2014–15 season, the team released new home and away jerseys that were similar to those worn in the early 2000s. T. J. Oshie (left) models the blue home jersey, while Alex Pietrangelo models the white road jersey.

The Blues have worn blue and white jerseys with the famous "Blue Note" crest and gold accents since their inception in 1967. From 1967 to 1984, the Blues jerseys featured a lighter shade of blue along with contrasting shoulder yoke and stripes. The blue jerseys lacked the contrasting yoke until 1979.

In 1984, the Blues drastically redesigned their look, adding red and darkening the shade of blue. Initially, the front of the jersey featured the team name above the crest logo, but was removed in 1987. In addition, the contrasting shoulder yoke was removed.

For the 1994–95 season, the Blues introduced a more radical jersey set, featuring red in a more prominent role. The jersey introduced the short-lived trumpet logo on the shoulders and featured thin diagonal stripes on the tail and sleeves. The bottom of the numbers taper off to give way to the aforementioned stripes. An updated version of the blue sweater, produced by Adidas, was brought back in 2019 as their “90s Vintage Jersey.”

Before the 1997–98 season, the Blues introduced a new alternate white jersey. The jersey brought back the contrasting shoulder yoke and returned to the lighter blue of previous eras. It also replaced red with navy blue as an accent color. A corresponding blue jersey was introduced the following season, thus retiring the previous set.

Like all NHL teams, the Blues updated their jerseys for the 2007–08 season with new Rbk Edge jerseys. The Blues simplified their design, with only the blue note logo on the front; there were no third jerseys for the season. 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. This third jersey was unveiled on September 21, 2008, and debuted during a Blues' home game against the Anaheim Ducks on November 21, 2008.[31]

For the 2014–15 season, the Blues made a few tweaks to their jerseys. While they kept the Reebok Edge-era template, they brought back the 1998–2007 look. The navy blue third jersey was kept without any alterations, before it was retired prior the 2016–17 season.[32]

When Adidas became the uniform provider before the 2017–18 season, the Blues kept most of the same template, with the exception of the home jersey numbers changing from gold to white.[33] For the 2018–19 season, the Blues added a third jersey based on the one worn during the 2017 NHL Winter Classic.[34] A corresponding vintage white version was unveiled for the 2022 NHL Winter Classic.[35]

Prior to the 2020–21 season, the Blues unveiled a "Reverse Retro" alternate uniform based on the design worn from 1995 to 1998, but with a red base.[36] A second "Reverse Retro" uniform was released in the 2022–23 season, this time based on the prototype uniforms the team first leaked in 1966 before eventually releasing the more iconic "blue note" uniforms. The uniforms, which had the team name written around the primitive "blue note" logo along with contrasting stripes, had a gold base.[37]

 
The logo used on the Blues' jerseys from 1967 to 1984. The current logo (shown in the infobox), is similar, but with the slightly darker shade of blue used since 1984.
 
The logo used on the Blues' jerseys from 1987 to 1998.

Mascot

 
Introduced in October 2007, Louie the Bear is the mascot for the St. Louis Blues.

Louie is the mascot of the St. Louis Blues. He was introduced on October 10, 2007. On November 3, 2007, the fans voted on his name on the Blues' web site.[38] Louie is a blue polar bear and wears a Blues jersey with his name on the back, and the numbers "00".

Medical team

The St. Louis Blues medical team is a group of Washington University in St. Louis orthopedic specialists from Barnes-Jewish Hospital led by Washington University in St. Louis' Chief of Sports Medicine Matthew Matava.[39]

Radio and television

Originally, the Blues aired their games on KPLR-TV and KMOX radio, with team patron Gus Kyle calling games alongside St Louis broadcasting legend Jack Buck. Buck elected to leave the booth after one season, though, and was replaced by another famed announcer in Dan Kelly. This setup—Kelly 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 KPLR—continued through the 1975–76 season, then simulcast on KMOX and KDNL-TV for the next three seasons. KMOX is a 50,000-watt clear-channel station that reaches almost all of North America at night, allowing Kelly to become a celebrity in both the United States and Canada. Indeed, many of the Blues' players liked the fact that their families could hear the games on KMOX.

From 1979 to 1981, the radio and television broadcasts were separated for the first time since the inaugural season, with Kelly doing the radio broadcasts and Eli Gold hired to do the television. Following the 1980–81 season, the television broadcasts moved from KDNL to NBC affiliate KSD-TV for the 1981–82 season, produced by Sports Network Incorporated (SNI), owned and operated by Greg Maracek who did the broadcasts with Channel 5 sportscaster Ron Jacober. The broadcasts failed to produce a profit and then returned to KPLR for the 1982 NHL playoffs and the 1982–83 season before returning to KDNL (currently St. Louis' ABC affiliate) for the 1983–84 season, the first under the ownership of Harry Ornest. The Blues skated back to KPLR 3 years later.

In 1985, Ornest, wanting more broadcast revenue, put the radio rights up for bid. 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. However, the station was never financially competitive in the market. Additionally, fans complained they could not hear the station at night (it had to readjust its coverage due to a glut of clear channels on adjacent frequencies). KXOK backed out of the contract after just 2 years, and the Blues immediately went back to KMOX, who held the rights until 2000. Dan Kelly continued to broadcast the games on radio but was diagnosed in the summer of 1988 with lung cancer and died on February 10, 1989. 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. After Dan Kelly's death, Ken Wilson became St. Louis Blues' lead television play-by-play announcer alongside former Blues' players Joe Micheletti and Bruce Affleck. During this time, from 1989 to 2000, more games began to be aired on Prime Sports Midwest, the forerunner to today's Bally Sports Midwest.

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. Blues games, many of which were crucial to playoff berths, would often be pre-empted for spring training coverage. Angry at having to play "second fiddle", the Blues elected to leave for KTRS in 2000. However, in an ironic twist the Cards purchased a controlling interest in KTRS in 2005, and once again preferred to air preseason baseball over regular-season hockey. In response, the Blues moved back to KMOX starting in the 2006–07 season. The season of 2008–09 saw the Blues play their last game on KPLR, which had the rights since the 1986–87 season (except for the 1996–97 season on CBS affiliate KMOV), electing to move all their games to FS Midwest, starting with the 2009–10 season. The Cardinals moved back to KMOX in the 2011 season, with conflicting games moved to KYKY, an FM station owned by the same group as KMOX.

Since the 2019–20 preseason, WXOS (101 ESPN) has been the flagship radio station for the Blues. Chris Kerber and Joe Vitale are the current radio broadcast team. 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. Rivers also fills in on color commentary whenever Pang is on a national TV assignment for the NHL on TNT.

Traditions

The Blues have a tradition of live organ music. 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." Boyer also plays the latter song on the organ after Blues goals, with fans replacing the word "Saints" with "Blues."[40] On October 1, 2018, it was reported that, for the upcoming season, a new goal song recorded by St. Louis-based band The Urge, "The Blues Have The Urge," would be played after Blues goals, immediately following the traditional organ music.[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."[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.[44] Beginning in 2018, the win song has been the aforementioned song recorded by The Urge.[41] However, during the 2019 playoffs, Laura Branigan's "Gloria" was played first before The Urge song.[45]

The Blues were one of the last teams to add a goal horn, doing so during the 1992–93 season at the St. Louis Arena.[46] All of these traditions carried over to the Kiel Center (now known as Enterprise Center) in 1994. After each goal, a bell is rung and each of the goals are counted by the crowd. 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.[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.[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. It operated for over 10 years, from 1994 to 2005, when its owner decided not to resume the magazine after the 2004–05 NHL lockout (one final oversized "goodbye" issue was distributed the first two home games of the 2005–06 season). After hockey resumed in 2005, a few months after GNR's final issue, a new publication, St. Louis Game Time, was formed by several former GNR staffers.[49]

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 song has since been retired; the last time they played it was during the raising of the Stanley Cup Championship banner ceremony on October 2, 2019.

On February 9, 2019, another tradition was born. During the 3rd Period, The Blues were winning by a large margin against the visiting Nashville Predators. The Enterprise Center was electric and buzzing with excitement with anticipation of the win. Blues Director of Entertainment, Jason Pippi, commented that they played Country Roads by John Denver, "was a bit of an mistake... because people love to sing along to that song". The mistake was that play resumed before the chorus was over and the music had to stop. However, despite the music stopping, the loyal Blues fans in attendance continued to sing loudly. It was loud enough, TV cameras picked up the song loud and clear. Fox Sports Midwest color commentator, Darren Pang, exclaimed he "just loved the crowd, they're singing!". Country Roads has been played during every Home game since, at approximately the 15:00 minute mark of the 3rd Period, regardless of the current score. Jason Pippi stated "its just a testament to the passion Blues fans bring each and every night... to the Cup (Stanley Cup) maybe?"[50][51] And it did take them to the Stanley Cup. The St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history later that season.

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. It has been called the "Fan Salute" by some.

Season-by-season record

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Blues. 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

Season GP W L OTL Pts GF GA Finish Playoffs
2017–18 82 44 32 6 94 226 222 5th, Central Did not qualify
2018–19 82 45 28 9 99 247 223 3rd, Central Stanley Cup champions, 4–3 (Bruins)
2019–20 71 42 19 10 94 225 193 1st, Central Lost in First Round, 2–4 (Canucks)
2020–21 56 27 20 9 63 169 170 4th, West Lost in First Round, 0–4 (Avalanche)
2021–22 82 49 22 11 109 311 242 3rd, Central Lost in Second Round, 2–4 (Avalanche)

Players

Current roster

Updated March 3, 2023[52][53]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
59   Nikita Alexandrov C L 22 2019 Burgwedel, Germany
50   Jordan Binnington G L 29 2011 Richmond Hill, Ontario
79   Samuel Blais LW L 26 2023 Montmagny, Quebec
41   Robert Bortuzzo D R 33 2015 Thunder Bay, Ontario
22   Logan Brown C L 25 2021 Raleigh, North Carolina
89   Pavel Buchnevich LW L 27 2021 Cherepovets, Russia
72   Justin Faulk D R 30 2019 South St. Paul, Minnesota
1   Thomas Greiss G L 37 2022 Füssen, West Germany
42   Kasperi Kapanen RW R 26 2023 Kuopio, Finland
47   Torey Krug D L 31 2020 Royal Oak, Michigan
25   Jordan Kyrou C R 24 2016 Toronto, Ontario
4   Nick Leddy D L 31 2022 Eden Prairie, Minnesota
17   Josh Leivo LW R 29 2022 Innisfil, Ontario
63   Jake Neighbours   LW L 20 2020 Airdrie, Alberta
55   Colton Parayko (A) D R 29 2012 St. Albert, Alberta
9   Tyler Pitlick C R 31 2022 Minneapolis, Minnesota
43   Calle Rosen D L 29 2021 Växjö, Sweden
20   Brandon Saad LW L 30 2021 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
6   Marco Scandella D L 33 2020 Montreal, Quebec
10   Brayden Schenn (A) C L 31 2017 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
18   Robert Thomas C R 23 2017 Aurora, Ontario
13   Alexei Toropchenko RW L 23 2017 Moscow, Russia
75   Tyler Tucker D L 23 2018 Longlac, Ontario
15   Jakub Vrana LW L 27 2023 Prague, Czech Republic
26   Nathan Walker LW L 29 2019 Cardiff, United Kingdom


Team captains

Hall of Famers

The St. Louis Blues presently acknowledge an affiliation with a number of inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame. 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.[55] The seven individuals recognized as builders by the Hall of Fame includes former Blues executives, general managers, head coaches, and owners. 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.[55] Dan Kelly, the Blues' radio play-by-play announcer, was awarded the first Blues broadcaster to receive the award in 1989. John Davidson, received the award in 2009 for his contributions in television broadcasting.

Retired numbers

 
The Blues retired Bob Plager's number on February 2, 2017. He played as a defenseman with the team from 1967 to 1978.

The following numbers have been retired from use within the St. Louis Blues:

St. Louis Blues retired numbers
No. Player Position Career Date retired
2 Al MacInnis D 1994–2004 April 9, 2006
3 Bob Gassoff D 1974–1977 October 1, 1977
5 Bob Plager D 1967–1978 February 2, 2017[56]
8 Barclay Plager D 1967–1977 March 24, 1981
11 Brian Sutter LW 1976–1988 December 30, 1988
16 Brett Hull RW 1987–1998 December 5, 2006
24 Bernie Federko C 1976–1989 March 16, 1991
44 Chris Pronger D 1995–2004 January 17, 2022[57]

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.[58] Gretzky had previously played for the Blues in 1996, although the Blues did not retire his number prior to its league-wide retirement.

Numbers honored
  • 7Garry Unger, Red Berenson, Joe Mullen and Keith Tkachuk, recognized with a mural of the four players in the lower seating bowl.
  • 14Doug Wickenheiser, LW, 1984–1987, number honored and no longer issued. Recognized with a banner in the Enterprise Center rafters.
  • Dan Kelly, broadcaster, 1968–1989, recognized with an honorary shamrock that hangs from the rafters at Enterprise Center

First-round draft picks

Franchise regular season scoring leaders

 
Brett Hull is the franchise's all-time goals leader, and is second only to Bernie Federko in both points and assists.

These are the top-ten point-scorers, goal scorers, and assist leaders in franchise regular-season history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

 *  – current Blues player Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game

Franchise playoff scoring leaders

These are the top-ten-point-scorers, goal scorers, and assist leaders in franchise playoff history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL season.

 *  – current Blues player Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game

NHL awards and trophies

Franchise individual records

 
Brian Elliott set the Blues' franchise records for shutouts, best save percentage, and lowest goals-against average in the 2011–12 season.
  • 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)
  • Most wins in a season: Roman Turek, 42 (1999–2000)
  • Most shutouts in a season: Brian Elliott, 9 (2011–12)
  • Lowest GAA in a season (min 30 GP): Brian Elliott, 1.56 (2011–12)
  • Best SV% in a season (min 30 GP): Brian Elliott, .940 (2011–12)[60]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Excluding the 2020–21 NHL season, which placed teams in different divisions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

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  2. ^ "Team Name and Emblem" (PDF). 2019–20 St. Louis Blues Media Guide (PDF). NHL Enterprises, LP. October 19, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2020. The Blues' third jersey was worn for the first time on, Nov. 21, 2008 vs. the Anaheim Ducks. In contrast to previous Blues uniforms which were (and are) primarily accented in royal blue and gold, the third jersey and matching socks lean toward navy blue and white.
  3. ^ "Seat Locator". Enterprise Center. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Jordan, Jimmy (February 10, 1966). "City Gets Big League Hockey; New Team Begins NHL Play in 1967–68 Season". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 24. Retrieved February 14, 2014.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  5. ^ "Musial Partner 'Biggie' Dies; Political Figure". The Southeast Missourian. 4B. June 20, 1967. Retrieved February 14, 2014.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
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  10. ^ "Gettysburg Times - Google News Archive Search".
  11. ^ "The Lewiston Daily Sun - Google News Archive Search".
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  13. ^ a b Duhatschek, Eric; et al. (2001). Hockey Chronicles. New York City: Checkmark Books. ISBN 0-8160-4697-2.
  14. ^ . The Sports Network. Archived from the original on October 14, 2007.
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  27. ^ King, Chris (June 13, 2019). "Black senator from St. Louis passed bill to make Blues official state hockey team". The St. Louis American. St. Louis American. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  28. ^ "Chapter 10 10.225. St. Louis Blues, official state hockey team". Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Legislature. 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
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  30. ^ "2014-2015 NHL Attendance – National Hockey League". ESPN. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
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  32. ^ Pinkert, Chris (August 25, 2014). "Blues Reveal New Look for 2014-15". St. Louis Blues. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  33. ^ "Blues unveil new adidas jersey for 2017-18 season". St. Louis Blues. June 21, 2017. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  34. ^ Pinkert, Chris (August 27, 2018). "Blues pay tribute to team heritage with third jersey". National Hockey League. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  35. ^ Pinkert, Chris (September 10, 2021). "Blues reveal 2022 NHL Winter Classic jersey". National Hockey League. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
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  37. ^ "NHL Reverse Retro jerseys for all 32 teams unveiled by adidas". NHL.com. October 20, 2022. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  38. ^ . November 1, 2007. Archived from the original on November 1, 2007.
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  40. ^ Caldwell, Dave (April 17, 2010). "Songs to Accompany an Air Horn". The New York Times. Retrieved February 25, 2018. When the St. Louis Blues score, the organist still belts out the time-tested "When the Blues Go Marching In," to the tune of "When the Saints Go Marching In."
  41. ^ a b "Blues partner with The Urge for new goal song". National Hockey League. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  42. ^ columnist, Grant R. Doty Guest. "Free speech in the 'Home of the Blues,' singing over 'the brave' in national anthem disrespects veterans more than silently kneeling". St. Louis American. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
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  44. ^ Paulas, Rick (April 7, 2017). "Woo-hoo! 20 Years Ago, Blur's 'Song 2' Became an Unlikely Sports Anthem". Sports. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
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  51. ^ "How did 'Country Roads' become a Blues home-game staple? By accident". YouTube.
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  53. ^ "St. Louis Blues Hockey Transactions". The Sports Network. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
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  55. ^ a b c d "Award Winners". St. Louis Blues. 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  56. ^ Pinkert, Chris (February 2, 2017). "Blues retire Plager's No. 5 to the rafters". National Hockey League. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  57. ^ Korac, Lou (January 17, 2022). "Blues retire Pronger's number on 'very special' night in St. Louis". NHL.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  58. ^ . CNN Sports Illustrated. Associated Press. February 6, 2000. Archived from the original on November 12, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
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External links

  • Official website
  • Enterprise Center

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This article is about the ice hockey team For the song see Saint Louis Blues song For other uses see St Louis Blues disambiguation The St Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St Louis The Blues compete in the National Hockey League NHL as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference 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 They play their home games at the 18 096 seat Enterprise Center in downtown St Louis which has been their arena since moving from St Louis Arena in 1994 3 St Louis Blues2022 23 St Louis Blues seasonConferenceWesternDivisionCentralFounded1967HistorySt Louis Blues1967 presentHome arenaEnterprise CenterCitySt Louis MissouriColorsRoyal blue gold navy blue white 1 2 MediaBally Sports Midwest101 ESPNOwner s SLB Acquisition Holdings LLC Tom Stillman chairman and governor General managerDoug ArmstrongHead coachCraig BerubeCaptainVacantMinor league affiliatesSpringfield Thunderbirds AHL Stanley Cups1 2018 19 Conference championships1 2018 19 Presidents Trophy1 1999 00 Division championships10 1968 69 1969 70 1976 77 1980 81 1984 85 1986 87 1999 00 2011 12 2014 15 2019 20 Official websitenhl wbr com wbr bluesThe Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019 and have the most Stanley Cup playoff appearances outside of the Original Six 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 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 Blues have a rivalry with the Chicago Blackhawks with whom they have shared a division since 1970 a The Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League AHL is the team s minor league affiliate Contents 1 Franchise history 1 1 Hockey in St Louis before 1967 1 2 1967 expansion 1 3 Beginnings and Stanley Cup Finals appearances 1967 1970 1 4 Financial problems near relocation and playoff streak 1970 1987 1 5 Brett Hull era 1988 1998 1 6 End of the playoff streak lockout and rebuild 1998 2011 1 7 Return to contention first Stanley Cup championship 2011 present 2 Team information 2 1 Arena 2 2 Attendance 2 3 Jerseys 2 4 Mascot 2 5 Medical team 2 6 Radio and television 3 Traditions 4 Season by season record 5 Players 5 1 Current roster 5 2 Team captains 5 3 Hall of Famers 5 4 Retired numbers 5 5 First round draft picks 5 6 Franchise regular season scoring leaders 5 7 Franchise playoff scoring leaders 6 NHL awards and trophies 7 Franchise individual records 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 External linksFranchise historyHockey in St Louis before 1967 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 After an ice plant was installed the minor league St Louis Flyers began play there in 1929 St Louis soon began to attract the interest as a potential NHL market eventually leading the owners of the moribund Ottawa Senators to relocate there for the 1934 35 season The move proved both ill conceived and ill timed as the renamed St Louis Eagles continued to lose money 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 The team finished last in the division and disbanded after one season Following further contraction the league stabilized at six teams after 1942 During this period the NHL rebuffed attempts at further expansion Eventually the St Louis Arena came under the control of the owners of the Chicago Black Hawks 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 1967 expansion 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 St Louis was the last of the six expansion teams to gain entry into the League the market was chosen over Baltimore at the insistence of the Black Hawks owners James D Norris and Arthur Wirtz 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 Nevertheless the Black Hawks owners still owned the St Louis Arena 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 The Black Hawks owners felt they could establish a lovable loser much like the Cubs with the St Louis hockey team NHL president Clarence Campbell said during the 1967 expansion meetings We want a team in St Louis because of the city s geographical location and the fact that it has an adequate building 4 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 Sid Salomon III convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team 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 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 5 Upon acquiring the franchise in 1966 Salomon then spent several million dollars on extensive renovations for the 38 year old arena expanding it from 12 000 seats to 15 000 Beginnings and Stanley Cup Finals appearances 1967 1970 Jim Roberts was the first selected skater by the Blues in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft He played with the Blues from 1967 to 1972 Lynn Patrick initially served as general manager and head coach However he resigned as head coach in late November after recording a 4 13 2 record He was replaced by assistant coach Scotty Bowman who thereafter led the team to a winning record for the rest of the 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 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 Under the expansion playoff format Bowman s leadership was enough as the Blues qualified for the playoffs in their inaugural season Although they had finished in third place St Louis was regarded as fairly evenly matched with the other three Western qualifiers since only four points separated first and fourth place Ultimately it was the Blues who prevailed by winning in seven games each over the Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota North Stars to reach the 1968 Stanley Cup Finals However St Louis was swept in their first Finals appearance by the heavily favored Montreal Canadiens 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 However they were swept in the Stanley Cup Finals by the Montreal Canadiens in 1969 and then by the Boston Bruins in 1970 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 Phil Goyette won the Lady Byng Trophy for the Blues in 1970 and New York Rangers castoff Red Berenson became the expansion team s first major star at center The arena quickly became one of the loudest buildings in the NHL a reputation it maintained throughout its tenure as the Blues home During that time Salomon gained a reputation throughout the NHL as the top players owner He gave his players cars signed them to deferred contracts and treated them to vacations in Florida 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 Financial problems near relocation and playoff streak 1970 1987 The Blues successes in the late 1960s however did not continue into the 1970s 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 The Blues lost Bowman who left during the 1970 71 season following a power sharing dispute with Sid Salomon III who was taking an increasing role in team affairs 6 as well as Hall Plante Goyette and ultimately Berenson who were all lost to retirement or trade Veteran player Al Arbour hastily stepped in to coach the team 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 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 Arbour who officially retired as a player after the 1970 71 season would remain behind the Blues bench for the next two seasons 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 Defensively however the Blues were less than stellar and saw Chicago and the Philadelphia Flyers overtake the Division After missing the playoffs for the first time in 1973 74 the Blues ended up in the Smythe Division after a League realignment This division was particularly weak and in 1976 77 the Blues won it while finishing five games below 500 though this would be their last playoff appearance in the decade Drafted by the Blues in 1976 Bernie Federko played with the team from 1976 to 1989 He holds the record for games played with the Blues In the meantime the franchise was on the brink of financial collapse 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 The deferred contracts came due just as the Blues performance began to slip At one point the Salomons cut the team s staff down to three employees One of them was Emile Francis who served as team president general manager and head coach 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 The Salomons sold the Blues to Ralston on July 27 1977 However longtime Ralston Purina chairman R Hal Dean said that he only intended to keep the Blues as a Ralston subsidiary only temporarily until a more stable owner could be found who would keep the team in St Louis Ralston renamed the arena the Checkerdome After two awful years including what is still a franchise worst 18 50 12 record with 48 points in 1979 the Blues made the playoffs the following year the first of 25 consecutive postseason appearances After being one of the worst teams a couple of years before they were one of the best in 1981 as they finished with a then franchise best record of 45 18 17 record which translated to 107 points and the second best record in the league Ten players reached at least 20 goals including Wayne Babych future Hall of Famer Bernie Federko and team captain Brian Sutter They also had strong goaltending led by Mike Liut They would get rewarded as head coach Red Berenson won the Jack Adams Award Mike Liut finished a close second to Wayne Gretzky in the Hart Trophy voting and earned the top spot on the NHL All Star team Larry Patey finished third in the Frank J Selke Trophy voting and Blake Dunlop won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy Their regular season success however did not transfer into the playoffs as they were eliminated by the New York Rangers in the second round 2 4 after beating the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round 3 2 The Blues would underachieve greatly the following year as they posted a 32 40 8 but they beat the Winnipeg Jets 3 1 in the Norris Division Semi Finals before dropping to the Chicago Black Hawks in the Norris Division 2 4 Saskatchewan s Got The Blues hockey puck circa 1983While the Blues had returned to respectability on the ice they were struggling off it Ralston Purina lost an estimated 1 8 million a year during its six year ownership of the Blues However Dean took the losses philosophically having taken over out of a sense of civic responsibility In 1981 Dean retired His successor William Stiritz wanted to refocus on the core pet food business and his personal sporting interests were in horse racing and not hockey He saw the Blues as just another money bleeding division and put the team on the market While there were a number of interested parties none had enough cash to meet Ralston s asking price On January 12 1983 Batoni Hunter Enterprises Ltd led by WHA and Edmonton Oilers founder Bill Hunter tendered an offer to buy the team He intended to build a 43 million 18 000 seat arena in Saskatoon Saskatchewan in time for the 1983 84 season While the fans were stunned the players were aware of this As the Blues faced the Oilers on December 7 1982 brochures were distributed saying Saskatchewan in the NHL These distractions would greatly affect their performance as they squeezed into the playoffs with a 25 40 15 record in the 1983 season good enough for 65 points This led to a Norris Division semi finals exit against the Chicago Black Hawks Following their playoff exit Ralston authorized the deal to Hunter s renamed company Coliseum Holdings Ltd for 12 million on April 21 7 Emile Francis would call it quits on May 2 leaving for the Hartford Whalers to become president and general manager The Blues then fired 60 percent of their employees The remaining staff included the accounting department scouting staff and coach Barclay Plager They waited for an authorization by 75 of the NHL Board of Governors for the sale and transfer of the club However the NHL Board of Governors rejected the deal by a 15 3 vote on May 18 feeling that Saskatoon was not big enough or financially stable enough to support an NHL team 8 9 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 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 On June 3 Ralston announced that it had no interest in running the team anymore 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 day after the draft the NHL filed a 78 million counter suit against Ralston accusing Ralston of damaging the league by willfully wantonly and maliciously collapsing its St Louis Blues hockey operation The NHL also said that Ralston broke a league rule that an owner had to give two years notice before dissolving a franchise 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 11 The Board of Governors rejected the offer and terminated the team on June 13 one day before Ralston s supposed deadline It then took control of the franchise and began searching for a new owner League president John Ziegler said they would try to keep the team in St Louis 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 On July 27 1983 ten days before the deadline the NHL approved a bid from businessman Harry Ornest and a group of St Louis based investors for the team and the arena Ornest had made plans to buy the team as early as March but built up his efforts in late June to have enough money Ornest immediately reverted the name of the team s home venue to the St Louis Arena 12 To date this is the closest that an NHL team has come to folding since the Cleveland Barons merged with the Minnesota North Stars after the 1977 78 season Ornest ran the Blues very cheaply though the players did not mind 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 For instance Ornest asked many players to defer their salaries to help meet operating costs but the players always got paid in the end During most of Ornest s tenure the Blues had only 26 players under contract 23 in St Louis plus three on their farm team the Montana Magic Most NHL teams during the mid 1980s had over 60 players under contract 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 During this time Doug Gilmour drafted by St Louis in 1982 emerged as a star While the Blues remained competitive they were unable to keep many of their young players More often than not several of the Blues emerging stars ended up as Calgary Flames 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 Joe Mullen and Gilmour were main cogs in the Flames 1989 Stanley Cup win Sutter and Federko were the only untouchables on the Blues during that era By 1986 the team reached the Campbell Conference Finals against the Flames 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 2 1 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 13 After that season Ornest sold the team to a group led by St Louis businessman Michael Shanahan Brett Hull era 1988 1998 The Blues acquired Brett Hull through a trade in March 1988 Playing with the team until 1998 he holds the record for goals scored with the team St Louis kept chugging along through the late 1980s and early 1990s 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 While the Blues contended during this time period they never passed the second round of the playoffs Nonetheless their 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 Enterprise Center which opened in 1994 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 1990 91 en route to earning the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league s most valuable player 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 Only Wayne Gretzky found the net more than Hull during any given three year period Despite posting the second best regular season record in the entire league in 1990 91 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 Mike Keenan was hired as both general manager and coach before the abbreviated 1994 95 season with the hope that he could end the postseason turmoil that Blues fans had endured for years 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 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 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 Caron was reinstated as interim general manager for the rest of the season and general manager Larry Pleau was hired on June 9 1997 Hull who had a lengthy feud with Keenan left for the Dallas Stars in 1998 He went on to win the Stanley Cup with the Stars the next year scoring a controversial goal on the Buffalo Sabres Dominik Hasek to clinch the Cup for Dallas The Blues ended the 1990s as the only NHL team to make the playoffs for the entire decade although a Stanley Cup title still eluded the franchise End of the playoff streak lockout and rebuild 1998 2011 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 In 1999 2000 the team notched a franchise record 114 points during the regular season earning the Presidents Trophy for the League s best record However they were stunned by the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the 2000 playoffs in seven games In 2001 the Blues advanced to the Western Conference Finals before bowing out in five games to the eventual champions the Colorado Avalanche Nonetheless the team remained competitive for the next three years despite never advancing beyond the second round 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 However they never made an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals In fact they made it to the conference finals only two times in their streak 1986 and 2001 Amid several questionable personnel moves and an unstable ownership situation the Blues finished the 2005 06 season with their worst record in 27 years They missed the playoffs for only the fourth time in franchise history Moreover for the first time in club history the normally excellent support seen by St Louisans began decrease with crowds normally numbering around 12 000 notably less than the team s normal high about 18 000 in a 19 500 seat arena Wal Mart heir Nancy Walton Laurie and her husband Bill purchased the Blues in 1999 On June 17 2005 the Lauries announced that they would sell the team 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 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 On November 14 2005 the Blues announced that SCP Worldwide had 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 SCP entered the picture again On March 24 2006 the Lauries completed the sale of the Blues and the lease to the Savvis Center to SCP and TowerBrook Capital Partners L P a private equity firm 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 Keith Tkachuk with the Blues During his time with the team he became the third American player to score 500 goals and the sixth American player to reach 1 000 points Following the disappointing 2005 06 season which saw the Blues with the worst record in the NHL the new management focused on rebuilding the franchise Under new management the Blues promptly installed John Davidson as president of hockey operations moving Pleau to a mostly advisory role 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 Weight was again traded in December 2007 to the Anaheim Ducks along with a minor league player in exchange for Andy McDonald At the beginning of the 2006 07 season the Blues looked to be competitive in the Central Division However injuries plagued the team all season and the lack of a bona fide scorer hampered them as well 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 On December 11 2006 the Blues fired head coach Mike Kitchen and replaced him with former Los Angeles Kings head coach Andy Murray 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 On January 4 2007 the Blues had a record of 6 1 3 in their previous ten games which was the best in the NHL during that stretch 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 Just before the 2007 NHL trade deadline the Blues traded several key players including Bill Guerin Keith Tkachuk and Dennis Wideman in exchange for draft picks though they re signed Tkachuk after the season ended 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 2007 08 season During the 2007 off season the Blues signed free agent Paul Kariya to a three year contract worth 18 million re signed defenseman Barret Jackman to a one year contract lost their captain Dallas Drake to the Detroit Red Wings and traded prospect Carl Soderberg to the Bruins in exchange for yet more depth in the goal crease Hannu Toivonen On October 2 2007 the Blues finalized the season starting roster which included rookies David Perron Steven Wagner and Erik Johnson On October 10 the Blues introduced a new mascot Louie 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 On February 8 2008 it was announced that after going much of the season without a captain defenseman Eric Brewer was chosen as the team s 19th captain 15 The team later traded veteran defenseman Bryce Salvador to the New Jersey Devils for enforcer and St Louis native Cam Janssen He made his debut two days later wearing number 55 against the Phoenix Coyotes After spending the first half of the 2008 09 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 After a strong second half run the Blues made the 2009 playoffs on April 10 2009 after defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 3 1 On April 12 the Blues clinched the sixth seed in the West with a 1 0 win against the Colorado Avalanche For the first time in five years that is since the lockout the Blues were in the playoffs 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 Blues fired head coach Andy Murray on January 2 2010 after a disappointing record 17 17 6 40 points sitting in 12th place in the Conference Especially galling were the frequent blown leads after two periods and with the worst home record 6 13 3 posted in the entire NHL After his duties as interim coach for the rest of the 2009 10 season Davis Payne was named the 23rd head coach in the Blues history on April 14 Payne was previously the head coach of the Blues top minor league affiliate the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League AHL 16 Return to contention first Stanley Cup championship 2011 present On March 17 2011 it was announced that the St Louis Blues were for sale 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 They fired their head coach Davis Payne and named Ken Hitchcock as his replacement on November 6 2011 David Backes was also announced as the new team captain David Backes was named the 20th team captain of the Blues and remained as captain until 2016 On March 17 2012 the Blues became the first team to reach 100 points and clinch a playoff berth in the 2011 12 season under Hitchcock qualifying for their first playoffs since 2008 09 They would finish second in the Western Conference behind the Vancouver Canucks During the 2012 playoffs they won their first playoff series since 2002 eliminating the San Jose Sharks in five games The Blues were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champions the Los Angeles Kings in the following round In 2012 13 the Blues completed the lockout shortened season in fourth place in the Western Conference They were again eliminated by Los Angeles however this time in six games in the first round of the playoffs despite taking an initial 2 0 series lead The following season 2013 14 the team hit the 100 point mark for the sixth time in franchise history and gained a franchise record of 52 wins 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 slump haunted them as they blew a 2 0 series lead to the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks losing the first round series in six games This marked the second straight year the Blues lost in the first round of the playoffs to the reigning champions in six games after leading the series 2 0 In 2014 15 the Blues won their second Central Division championship in four years and faced the Minnesota Wild in round one of the 2015 playoffs However for the third straight year they lost in the first round and in six games During the offseason forward T J Oshie was traded to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Troy Brouwer In 2015 16 the Blues finished in second place in the Central Division to the Dallas Stars The Blues took on the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks in the first round series The Blues jumped to a 3 1 series lead but struggled in games 5 and 6 However St Louis ended their first round losing streak by beating Chicago 3 2 in game 7 of the series 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 The Blues season would come to an end at the hands of the San Jose Sharks who eliminated them in six games On June 13 2016 it was announced that Mike Yeo would replace Hitchcock as head coach of the Blues following the 2016 17 season The 2016 offseason saw big changes for the Blues as team captain David Backes left the team to sign with the Boston Bruins and goaltender Brian Elliott was traded to the Calgary Flames while veteran forward Troy Brouwer also signed with Calgary as a free agent Steve Ott also left the team signing a free agent deal with the Red Wings Jake Allen was now the starting goaltender for the Blues while the team also signed former Nashville Predators backup Carter Hutton Former Blues forward David Perron was brought back on a free agent deal while defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was named team captain The Blues hosted the Chicago Blackhawks at Busch Stadium for the 2017 NHL Winter Classic The team started the season by posting a record of 10 1 2 in their first 13 home games However they only won three games on the road during the first two months of the season Despite defeating the Blackhawks in the 2017 NHL Winter Classic by the score of 4 1 the Blues fired Hitchcock and promoted Yeo to head coach on February 1 2017 Despite an impressive run into the end of the season when they gained most points in the league from February 1 when Hitchcock was fired to the end of the season 18 the Blues were eliminated in the second round by the Nashville Predators in six games 19 In the offseason for the 2017 18 season the Blues would lose David Perron to the Vegas Golden Knights via an expansion draft They would also pick up Brayden Schenn from the Philadelphia Flyers by giving away Jori Lehtera Before the season began the Blues were hit hard with injuries as they lost Robby Fabbri before the season began Other players like Patrik Berglund and Alex Steen did not return in time for the season Despite these losses the Blues raced out to a 21 8 2 start in their first 31 games The Blues lost more players as Jay Bouwmeester suffered a season ending injury and Jaden Schwartz missed a large portion of the season 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 After losing Vladimir Tarasenko to injury during the game the Blues lost to the Avalanche 5 2 as they missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years 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 20 On November 19 2018 the Blues fired head coach Mike Yeo after starting the season with a 7 9 3 record and replaced him with Craig Berube on an interim basis 21 On March 29 2019 the Blues became the seventh team in NHL since the 1967 68 season to qualify for the playoffs after being placed last after January 1 22 This resurgence included an eleven game winning streak between February and March in large part thanks to the emergence of the eventual Calder Trophy nominee rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington Patrick Maroon with the Stanley Cup at the Blues victory parade following the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals On May 21 the Blues advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1970 defeating the San Jose Sharks in a six game Western Conference Finals series 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 1968 1970 when they defeated the Boston Bruins 3 2 in overtime 23 On June 12 2019 the Blues defeated the Bruins 4 1 in Game 7 to win their first Stanley Cup Ryan O Reilly won the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP 24 Up until that point the Blues were the oldest franchise to never win the Stanley Cup they were also the last of the five surviving 1967 expansion teams to win the Cup for the first time 25 This all but assured that Berube would have the interim tag removed from his title which occurred two weeks after their Cup victory 26 Shortly after the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals Karla May of the Missouri Senate introduced a bill which would officially designate several items as state symbols of Missouri including the Blues being as the state s official hockey team 27 The bill was signed into law by Mike Parson the Governor of Missouri with the revised statute becoming effective August 29 2019 28 In the 2019 20 season the Blues suffered an early blow as forward Vladimir Tarasenko suffered a season ending injury on October 24 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 On February 12 2020 the Blues suffered another loss as defenseman Jay Bouwmeester suddenly collapsed on the bench in a game against the Anaheim Ducks and would not come back to play again in the season The game against Anaheim was suspended during the first period and postponed to March 11 This ended up being the Blues last game in the regular season as the season would be cut short by the COVID 19 pandemic shortly afterwards The Blues had remained in strong form throughout the season finishing first in the Western Conference and second in the NHL However as the season was put on pause due to the pandemic no team would play the full 82 games Instead a Return to Play tournament was organized starting in August 2020 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 the first round of the playoffs they faced the Vancouver Canucks to whom they lost in six games In the hiatus preceding the NHL s Return to Play several Blues players contracted COVID 19 which was cited by the coaching staff as one of the reasons why their play faltered in the playoffs On September 2 2020 the Blues traded goaltender Jake Allen who had spent ten years in the Blues organization to the Montreal Canadiens 29 Team informationArena The Blues play in the 19 150 not counting standing room capacity Enterprise Center where they have played since 1994 The arena was previously known as Scottrade Center the Savvis Center and before that as the Kiel Center 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 Attendance The St Louis Blues are one of the more successful NHL teams in terms of attendance After the 2004 05 lockout the Blues attendance suffered but has since improved every year since its all time low in 2006 07 In 2009 10 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 30 In 2010 11 the team sold out every home game Jerseys Before the 2014 15 season the team released new home and away jerseys that were similar to those worn in the early 2000s T J Oshie left models the blue home jersey while Alex Pietrangelo models the white road jersey The Blues have worn blue and white jerseys with the famous Blue Note crest and gold accents since their inception in 1967 From 1967 to 1984 the Blues jerseys featured a lighter shade of blue along with contrasting shoulder yoke and stripes The blue jerseys lacked the contrasting yoke until 1979 In 1984 the Blues drastically redesigned their look adding red and darkening the shade of blue Initially the front of the jersey featured the team name above the crest logo but was removed in 1987 In addition the contrasting shoulder yoke was removed For the 1994 95 season the Blues introduced a more radical jersey set featuring red in a more prominent role The jersey introduced the short lived trumpet logo on the shoulders and featured thin diagonal stripes on the tail and sleeves The bottom of the numbers taper off to give way to the aforementioned stripes An updated version of the blue sweater produced by Adidas was brought back in 2019 as their 90s Vintage Jersey Before the 1997 98 season the Blues introduced a new alternate white jersey The jersey brought back the contrasting shoulder yoke and returned to the lighter blue of previous eras It also replaced red with navy blue as an accent color A corresponding blue jersey was introduced the following season thus retiring the previous set Like all NHL teams the Blues updated their jerseys for the 2007 08 season with new Rbk Edge jerseys The Blues simplified their design with only the blue note logo on the front there were no third jerseys for the season 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 This third jersey was unveiled on September 21 2008 and debuted during a Blues home game against the Anaheim Ducks on November 21 2008 31 For the 2014 15 season the Blues made a few tweaks to their jerseys While they kept the Reebok Edge era template they brought back the 1998 2007 look The navy blue third jersey was kept without any alterations before it was retired prior the 2016 17 season 32 When Adidas became the uniform provider before the 2017 18 season the Blues kept most of the same template with the exception of the home jersey numbers changing from gold to white 33 For the 2018 19 season the Blues added a third jersey based on the one worn during the 2017 NHL Winter Classic 34 A corresponding vintage white version was unveiled for the 2022 NHL Winter Classic 35 Prior to the 2020 21 season the Blues unveiled a Reverse Retro alternate uniform based on the design worn from 1995 to 1998 but with a red base 36 A second Reverse Retro uniform was released in the 2022 23 season this time based on the prototype uniforms the team first leaked in 1966 before eventually releasing the more iconic blue note uniforms The uniforms which had the team name written around the primitive blue note logo along with contrasting stripes had a gold base 37 The logo used on the Blues jerseys from 1967 to 1984 The current logo shown in the infobox is similar but with the slightly darker shade of blue used since 1984 The logo used on the Blues jerseys from 1987 to 1998 Mascot Introduced in October 2007 Louie the Bear is the mascot for the St Louis Blues Louie is the mascot of the St Louis Blues He was introduced on October 10 2007 On November 3 2007 the fans voted on his name on the Blues web site 38 Louie is a blue polar bear and wears a Blues jersey with his name on the back and the numbers 00 Medical team The St Louis Blues medical team is a group of Washington University in St Louis orthopedic specialists from Barnes Jewish Hospital led by Washington University in St Louis Chief of Sports Medicine Matthew Matava 39 Radio and television Originally the Blues aired their games on KPLR TV and KMOX radio with team patron Gus Kyle calling games alongside St Louis broadcasting legend Jack Buck Buck elected to leave the booth after one season though and was replaced by another famed announcer in Dan Kelly This setup Kelly 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 KPLR continued through the 1975 76 season then simulcast on KMOX and KDNL TV for the next three seasons KMOX is a 50 000 watt clear channel station that reaches almost all of North America at night allowing Kelly to become a celebrity in both the United States and Canada Indeed many of the Blues players liked the fact that their families could hear the games on KMOX From 1979 to 1981 the radio and television broadcasts were separated for the first time since the inaugural season with Kelly doing the radio broadcasts and Eli Gold hired to do the television Following the 1980 81 season the television broadcasts moved from KDNL to NBC affiliate KSD TV for the 1981 82 season produced by Sports Network Incorporated SNI owned and operated by Greg Maracek who did the broadcasts with Channel 5 sportscaster Ron Jacober The broadcasts failed to produce a profit and then returned to KPLR for the 1982 NHL playoffs and the 1982 83 season before returning to KDNL currently St Louis ABC affiliate for the 1983 84 season the first under the ownership of Harry Ornest The Blues skated back to KPLR 3 years later In 1985 Ornest wanting more broadcast revenue put the radio rights up for bid 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 However the station was never financially competitive in the market Additionally fans complained they could not hear the station at night it had to readjust its coverage due to a glut of clear channels on adjacent frequencies KXOK backed out of the contract after just 2 years and the Blues immediately went back to KMOX who held the rights until 2000 Dan Kelly continued to broadcast the games on radio but was diagnosed in the summer of 1988 with lung cancer and died on February 10 1989 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 After Dan Kelly s death Ken Wilson became St Louis Blues lead television play by play announcer alongside former Blues players Joe Micheletti and Bruce Affleck During this time from 1989 to 2000 more games began to be aired on Prime Sports Midwest the forerunner to today s Bally Sports Midwest 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 Blues games many of which were crucial to playoff berths would often be pre empted for spring training coverage Angry at having to play second fiddle the Blues elected to leave for KTRS in 2000 However in an ironic twist the Cards purchased a controlling interest in KTRS in 2005 and once again preferred to air preseason baseball over regular season hockey In response the Blues moved back to KMOX starting in the 2006 07 season The season of 2008 09 saw the Blues play their last game on KPLR which had the rights since the 1986 87 season except for the 1996 97 season on CBS affiliate KMOV electing to move all their games to FS Midwest starting with the 2009 10 season The Cardinals moved back to KMOX in the 2011 season with conflicting games moved to KYKY an FM station owned by the same group as KMOX Since the 2019 20 preseason WXOS 101 ESPN has been the flagship radio station for the Blues Chris Kerber and Joe Vitale are the current radio broadcast team 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 Rivers also fills in on color commentary whenever Pang is on a national TV assignment for the NHL on TNT TraditionsThe Blues have a tradition of live organ music 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 Boyer also plays the latter song on the organ after Blues goals with fans replacing the word Saints with Blues 40 On October 1 2018 it was reported that for the upcoming season a new goal song recorded by St Louis based band The Urge The Blues Have The Urge would be played after Blues goals immediately following the traditional organ music 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 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 44 Beginning in 2018 the win song has been the aforementioned song recorded by The Urge 41 However during the 2019 playoffs Laura Branigan s Gloria was played first before The Urge song 45 The Blues were one of the last teams to add a goal horn doing so during the 1992 93 season at the St Louis Arena 46 All of these traditions carried over to the Kiel Center now known as Enterprise Center in 1994 After each goal a bell is rung and each of the goals are counted by the crowd 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 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 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 It operated for over 10 years from 1994 to 2005 when its owner decided not to resume the magazine after the 2004 05 NHL lockout one final oversized goodbye issue was distributed the first two home games of the 2005 06 season After hockey resumed in 2005 a few months after GNR s final issue a new publication St Louis Game Time was formed by several former GNR staffers 49 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 song has since been retired the last time they played it was during the raising of the Stanley Cup Championship banner ceremony on October 2 2019 On February 9 2019 another tradition was born During the 3rd Period The Blues were winning by a large margin against the visiting Nashville Predators The Enterprise Center was electric and buzzing with excitement with anticipation of the win Blues Director of Entertainment Jason Pippi commented that they played Country Roads by John Denver was a bit of an mistake because people love to sing along to that song The mistake was that play resumed before the chorus was over and the music had to stop However despite the music stopping the loyal Blues fans in attendance continued to sing loudly It was loud enough TV cameras picked up the song loud and clear Fox Sports Midwest color commentator Darren Pang exclaimed he just loved the crowd they re singing Country Roads has been played during every Home game since at approximately the 15 00 minute mark of the 3rd Period regardless of the current score Jason Pippi stated its just a testament to the passion Blues fans bring each and every night to the Cup Stanley Cup maybe 50 51 And it did take them to the Stanley Cup The St Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history later that season 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 It has been called the Fan Salute by some Season by season recordThis is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Blues For the full season by season history see List of St Louis Blues seasonsNote GP Games played W Wins L Losses OTL Overtime losses Pts Points GF Goals for GA Goals against Season GP W L OTL Pts GF GA Finish Playoffs2017 18 82 44 32 6 94 226 222 5th Central Did not qualify2018 19 82 45 28 9 99 247 223 3rd Central Stanley Cup champions 4 3 Bruins 2019 20 71 42 19 10 94 225 193 1st Central Lost in First Round 2 4 Canucks 2020 21 56 27 20 9 63 169 170 4th West Lost in First Round 0 4 Avalanche 2021 22 82 49 22 11 109 311 242 3rd Central Lost in Second Round 2 4 Avalanche PlayersSee also List of St Louis Blues players Current roster viewtalkedit Updated March 3 2023 52 53 No Nat Player Pos S G Age Acquired Birthplace59 Nikita Alexandrov C L 22 2019 Burgwedel Germany50 Jordan Binnington G L 29 2011 Richmond Hill Ontario79 Samuel Blais LW L 26 2023 Montmagny Quebec41 Robert Bortuzzo D R 33 2015 Thunder Bay Ontario22 Logan Brown C L 25 2021 Raleigh North Carolina89 Pavel Buchnevich LW L 27 2021 Cherepovets Russia72 Justin Faulk D R 30 2019 South St Paul Minnesota1 Thomas Greiss G L 37 2022 Fussen West Germany42 Kasperi Kapanen RW R 26 2023 Kuopio Finland47 Torey Krug D L 31 2020 Royal Oak Michigan25 Jordan Kyrou C R 24 2016 Toronto Ontario4 Nick Leddy D L 31 2022 Eden Prairie Minnesota17 Josh Leivo LW R 29 2022 Innisfil Ontario63 Jake Neighbours LW L 20 2020 Airdrie Alberta55 Colton Parayko A D R 29 2012 St Albert Alberta9 Tyler Pitlick C R 31 2022 Minneapolis Minnesota43 Calle Rosen D L 29 2021 Vaxjo Sweden20 Brandon Saad LW L 30 2021 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania6 Marco Scandella D L 33 2020 Montreal Quebec10 Brayden Schenn A C L 31 2017 Saskatoon Saskatchewan18 Robert Thomas C R 23 2017 Aurora Ontario13 Alexei Toropchenko RW L 23 2017 Moscow Russia75 Tyler Tucker D L 23 2018 Longlac Ontario15 Jakub Vrana LW L 27 2023 Prague Czech Republic26 Nathan Walker LW L 29 2019 Cardiff United Kingdom Team captains Al Arbour 1967 1970 1971 Red Berenson 1970 1971 1976 1977 1978 Jim Roberts 1971 1972 Barclay Plager 1972 1976 Garry Unger 1976 1977 Barry Gibbs 1978 1979 Brian Sutter 1979 1988 Bernie Federko 1988 1989 Rick Meagher 1989 1990 Scott Stevens 1990 1991 Garth Butcher 1991 1992 Brett Hull 1992 1995 Shayne Corson 1995 1996 Wayne Gretzky 1996 Chris Pronger 1997 2003 Al MacInnis 2003 2004 54 Dallas Drake 2005 2007 Eric Brewer 2008 2011 David Backes 2011 2016 Alex Pietrangelo 2016 2020 Ryan O Reilly 2020 2023 Hall of Famers The St Louis Blues presently acknowledge an affiliation with a number of inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame 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 55 The seven individuals recognized as builders by the Hall of Fame includes former Blues executives general managers head coaches and owners 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 55 Dan Kelly the Blues radio play by play announcer was awarded the first Blues broadcaster to receive the award in 1989 John Davidson received the award in 2009 for his contributions in television broadcasting St Louis Blues Hall of FamersAffiliation with inductees based on team acknowledgementHall of Fame players 55 Glenn AndersonMartin BrodeurGuy CarbonneauBernie Federko Grant FuhrDoug GilmourWayne GretzkyGlenn Hall Doug HarveyDale HawerchukPhil HousleyBrett Hull Paul KariyaGuy LapointeAl MacInnisDickie Moore Joe MullenVaclav NedomanskyAdam OatesChris Pronger Jacques PlanteBrendan ShanahanPeter StastnyScott StevensHall of Fame builders 55 Al ArbourLynn Patrick Scotty Bowman Jim Devellano Cliff Fletcher Emile Francis Roger NeilsonRetired numbers The Blues retired Bob Plager s number on February 2 2017 He played as a defenseman with the team from 1967 to 1978 The following numbers have been retired from use within the St Louis Blues St Louis Blues retired numbers No Player Position Career Date retired2 Al MacInnis D 1994 2004 April 9 20063 Bob Gassoff D 1974 1977 October 1 19775 Bob Plager D 1967 1978 February 2 2017 56 8 Barclay Plager D 1967 1977 March 24 198111 Brian Sutter LW 1976 1988 December 30 198816 Brett Hull RW 1987 1998 December 5 200624 Bernie Federko C 1976 1989 March 16 199144 Chris Pronger D 1995 2004 January 17 2022 57 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 58 Gretzky had previously played for the Blues in 1996 although the Blues did not retire his number prior to its league wide retirement Numbers honored7 Garry Unger Red Berenson Joe Mullen and Keith Tkachuk recognized with a mural of the four players in the lower seating bowl 14 Doug Wickenheiser LW 1984 1987 number honored and no longer issued Recognized with a banner in the Enterprise Center rafters Dan Kelly broadcaster 1968 1989 recognized with an honorary shamrock that hangs from the rafters at Enterprise CenterFirst round draft picks See also List of St Louis Blues draft picks 1967 None passed on their opportunity to make a selection 59 1968 Gary Edwards 6th overall 1969 None 1970 None 1971 Gene Carr 4th overall 1972 Wayne Merrick 9th overall 1973 John Davidson 5th overall 1974 None 1975 None 1976 Bernie Federko 7th overall 1977 Scott Campbell 9th overall 1978 Wayne Babych 3rd overall 1979 Perry Turnbull 2nd overall 1980 Rik Wilson 12th overall 1981 Marty Ruff 20th overall 1982 None 1983 None Did not participate 1984 None 1985 None 1986 Jocelyn Lemieux 10th overall 1987 Keith Osborne 12th overall 1988 Rod Brind Amour 9th overall 1989 Jason Marshall 9th overall 1990 pick traded to Montreal Canadiens 1991 pick transferred to Washington Capitals as compensation 1992 pick transferred to Washington Capitals as compensation 1993 pick transferred to Washington Capitals as compensation 1994 pick transferred to Washington Capitals as compensation 1995 pick transferred to Washington Capitals as compensation 1996 Marty Reasoner 14th overall 1997 pick traded to Los Angeles Kings 1998 Christian Backman 24th overall 1999 Barret Jackman 17th overall 2000 Jeff Taffe 30th overall 2001 pick traded to Florida Panthers 2002 pick traded to Phoenix Coyotes 2003 Shawn Belle 30th overall 2004 Marek Schwarz 17th overall 2005 T J Oshie 24th overall 2006 Erik Johnson 1st overall and Patrik Berglund 25th overall 2007 Lars Eller 13th overall Ian Cole 18th overall and David Perron 26th overall 2008 Alex Pietrangelo 4th overall 2009 David Rundblad 17th overall 2010 Jaden Schwartz 14th overall and Vladimir Tarasenko 16th overall 2011 pick traded to Colorado Avalanche 2012 Jordan Schmaltz 25th overall 2013 pick traded to Calgary Flames 2014 Robby Fabbri 21st overall 2015 pick traded to Buffalo Sabres 2016 Tage Thompson 26th overall 2017 Robert Thomas 20th overall and Klim Kostin 31st overall 2018 Dominik Bokk 25th overall 2019 pick traded to Buffalo Sabres 2020 Jake Neighbours 26th overall 2021 Zachary Bolduc 17th overall 2022 Jimmy Snuggerud 23rd overall Franchise regular season scoring leaders Brett Hull is the franchise s all time goals leader and is second only to Bernie Federko in both points and assists These are the top ten point scorers goal scorers and assist leaders in franchise regular season history Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season current Blues player Note Pos Position GP Games played G Goals A Assists Pts Points P G Points per game Points Player Pos GP G A Pts P GBernie Federko C 927 352 721 1 073 1 16Brett Hull RW 744 527 409 936 1 26Brian Sutter LW 779 303 333 636 82Garry Unger C 662 292 283 575 87Vladimir Tarasenko RW 644 262 291 553 86Alexander Steen LW 765 195 301 496 65Pavol Demitra RW 494 204 289 493 1 00David Perron LW 673 196 269 465 69David Backes RW 727 206 254 460 63Al MacInnis D 613 127 325 452 74 Goals Player Pos GBrett Hull RW 527Bernie Federko C 352Brian Sutter LW 303Garry Unger C 292Vladimir Tarasenko RW 262Keith Tkachuk LW 208David Backes RW 206Pavol Demitra RW 204David Perron LW 196Alexander Steen LW 195 Assists Player Pos ABernie Federko C 721Brett Hull RW 409Alex Pietrangelo D 341Brian Sutter LW 333Al MacInnis D 325Alexander Steen LW 301Vladimir Tarasenko RW 291Pavol Demitra RW 289Garry Unger C 283Chris Pronger D 272 Franchise playoff scoring leaders These are the top ten point scorers goal scorers and assist leaders in franchise playoff history Figures are updated after each completed NHL season current Blues player Note Pos Position GP Games played G Goals A Assists Pts Points P G Points per game Points Player Pos GP G A Pts P GBrett Hull RW 102 67 50 117 1 15Bernie Federko C 91 35 66 101 1 11Vladimir Tarasenko RW 90 41 19 60 67Al MacInnis D 82 14 44 58 71Doug Gilmour C 49 17 38 55 1 12Jaden Schwartz LW 88 26 28 54 61Chris Pronger D 85 10 41 51 60Alex Pietrangelo D 92 8 43 51 55Ryan O Reilly C 51 19 30 49 96David Perron LW 77 22 26 48 62 Goals Player Pos GBrett Hull RW 67Vladimir Tarasenko RW 41Bernie Federko C 35Jaden Schwartz LW 26David Perron LW 22Red Berenson C 21Brian Sutter LW 21Scott Young RW 19Ryan O Reilly C 19Frank St Marseille RW 19 Assists Player Pos ABernie Federko C 66Brett Hull RW 50Al MacInnis D 44Alex Pietrangelo D 43Chris Pronger D 41Doug Gilmour C 38Pierre Turgeon C 31Ryan O Reilly C 30Jaden Schwartz LW 28Jeff Brown D 28NHL awards and trophiesMain article List of St Louis Blues award winners Stanley Cup 2018 19Presidents Trophy 1999 2000Clarence S Campbell Bowl 1968 69 1969 70 2018 19Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy Blake Dunlop 1980 81 Jamie McLennan 1997 98Calder Memorial Trophy Barret Jackman 2002 03Conn Smythe Trophy Glenn Hall 1967 68 Ryan O Reilly 2018 19Frank J Selke Trophy Rick Meagher 1989 90 Ryan O Reilly 2018 19Hart Memorial Trophy Brett Hull 1990 91 Chris Pronger 1999 2000 Jack Adams Award Gordon Red Berenson 1980 81 Brian Sutter 1990 91 Joel Quenneville 1999 2000 Ken Hitchcock 2011 12James Norris Memorial Trophy Al MacInnis 1998 99 Chris Pronger 1999 2000King Clancy Memorial Trophy Kelly Chase 1997 98Lady Byng Memorial Trophy Phil Goyette 1969 70 Brett Hull 1989 90 Pavol Demitra 1999 2000 Lester B Pearson Award Mike Liut 1980 81 Brett Hull 1990 91Lester Patrick Trophy Larry Pleau 2001 02NHL General Manager of the Year Award Doug Armstrong 2011 12NHL Plus Minus Award Paul Cavallini 1989 90 Chris Pronger 1997 98 1999 2000Vezina Trophy Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante 1968 69William M Jennings Trophy Roman Turek 1999 2000 Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak 2011 12Franchise individual recordsSee also List of St Louis Blues records Brian Elliott set the Blues franchise records for shutouts best save percentage and lowest goals against average in the 2011 12 season 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 Most wins in a season Roman Turek 42 1999 2000 Most shutouts in a season Brian Elliott 9 2011 12 Lowest GAA in a season min 30 GP Brian Elliott 1 56 2011 12 Best SV in a season min 30 GP Brian Elliott 940 2011 12 60 See also Ice hockey portal United States portalList of St Louis Blues general managers List of St Louis Blues head coaches Sports in St LouisNotes Excluding the 2020 21 NHL season which placed teams in different divisions due to the COVID 19 pandemic References Blues Unveil New Uniform at FANfest StLouisBlues com NHL Enterprises LP September 15 2007 Retrieved February 23 2017 Team Name and Emblem PDF 2019 20 St Louis Blues Media Guide PDF NHL Enterprises LP October 19 2019 Retrieved October 11 2020 The Blues third jersey was worn for the first time on Nov 21 2008 vs the Anaheim Ducks In contrast to previous Blues uniforms which were and are primarily accented in royal blue and gold the third jersey and matching socks lean toward navy blue and white Seat Locator Enterprise Center Retrieved May 15 2022 a b Jordan Jimmy February 10 1966 City Gets Big League Hockey New Team Begins NHL Play in 1967 68 Season Pittsburgh Post Gazette p 24 Retrieved February 14 2014 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint location link Musial Partner Biggie Dies Political Figure The Southeast Missourian 4B June 20 1967 Retrieved February 14 2014 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint location link a b Diamond Dan 2003 Total NHL Triumph Books ISBN 1 57243 604 2 Saskatoon Group Purchases Blues The New York Times April 21 1983 Blues Transfer Rejected The New York Times May 19 1983 Gretz Adam July 23 2018 PHT Time Machine When Blues skipped NHL draft ProHockeyTalk Retrieved August 13 2018 Gettysburg Times Google News Archive Search The Lewiston Daily Sun Google News Archive Search The Saskatoon Blues The Story April 5 2009 a b Duhatschek Eric et al 2001 Hockey Chronicles New York City Checkmark Books ISBN 0 8160 4697 2 Blues replace Kitchen with Murray The Sports Network Archived from the original on October 14 2007 Coats Bill February 9 2008 Brewer will wear C for Blues St Louis Post Dispatch Archived from the original on January 8 2016 Retrieved February 13 2008 Davis Payne will remain team s head coach St Louis Blues National Hockey League Retrieved May 10 2015 St Louis Blues for sale after five years of Dave Checketts ownership ESPN March 17 2011 Retrieved May 10 2015 NHL com Stats National Hockey League Retrieved June 17 2017 Predators defeat Blues advance to first conference final National Hockey League Retrieved June 17 2017 Pinkert Chris Gameday Lineup Sept 18 at Dallas O Reilly Maroon Parayko Thomas and Kyrou expected to play vs Stars National Hockey League Retrieved September 19 2018 Yeo fired as coach of Blues replaced by Berube on interim basis National Hockey League November 19 2018 Retrieved November 21 2018 Pinkert Chris March 29 2019 Blues clinch spot in Stanley Cup Playoffs National Hockey League Retrieved April 1 2019 Blues Beat the Bruins and Get Their First Stanley Cup Finals Victory The New York Times May 30 2019 Retrieved May 30 2019 Blues win Stanley Cup for first time defeat Bruins in Game 7 of Final National Hockey League June 12 2019 Retrieved June 12 2019 Johnson Alex June 12 2019 St Louis Blues beat Boston Bruins 4 1 to win first Stanley Cup NBC News Retrieved June 13 2019 Blues sign Berube to 3 year contract NHL com June 24 2019 Retrieved June 28 2019 King Chris June 13 2019 Black senator from St Louis passed bill to make Blues official state hockey team The St Louis American St Louis American Retrieved September 12 2019 Chapter 10 10 225 St Louis Blues official state hockey team Revisor of Statutes Missouri Legislature 2019 Retrieved September 12 2019 Allen traded to Canadiens by Blues for draft picks 2014 2015 NHL Attendance National Hockey League ESPN Retrieved May 10 2015 Pinkert Chris September 21 2008 Blues Unveil Third Jersey St Louis Blues Retrieved October 9 2008 Pinkert Chris August 25 2014 Blues Reveal New Look for 2014 15 St Louis Blues Retrieved January 6 2016 Blues unveil new adidas jersey for 2017 18 season St Louis Blues June 21 2017 Retrieved May 11 2019 Pinkert Chris August 27 2018 Blues pay tribute to team heritage with third jersey National Hockey League Retrieved August 27 2018 Pinkert Chris September 10 2021 Blues reveal 2022 NHL Winter Classic jersey National Hockey League Retrieved September 11 2021 Reverse Retro alternate jerseys for all 31 teams unveiled by NHL adidas National Hockey League December 1 2020 Retrieved December 5 2020 NHL Reverse Retro jerseys for all 32 teams unveiled by adidas NHL com October 20 2022 Retrieved October 20 2022 St Louis Blues Community Name the Mascot November 1 2007 Archived from the original on November 1 2007 Blues Physicians St Louis Blues Retrieved February 24 2020 Caldwell Dave April 17 2010 Songs to Accompany an Air Horn The New York Times Retrieved February 25 2018 When the St Louis Blues score the organist still belts out the time tested When the Blues Go Marching In to the tune of When the Saints Go Marching In a b Blues partner with The Urge for new goal song National Hockey League Retrieved January 26 2019 columnist Grant R Doty Guest Free speech in the Home of the Blues singing over the brave in national anthem disrespects veterans more than silently kneeling St Louis American Retrieved January 26 2019 Ranking the top goal songs in the NHL Sportsnet ca sportsnet ca Retrieved January 26 2019 Paulas Rick April 7 2017 Woo hoo 20 Years Ago Blur s Song 2 Became an Unlikely Sports Anthem Sports Retrieved January 26 2019 PLAY GLORIA St Louis has embraced team s victory anthem National Hockey League Retrieved April 27 2019 Grossman Evan April 25 2016 The history behind the NHL s ubiquitous sound for scoring the goal horn Daily News New York Retrieved February 25 2018 Mallozzi Vincent October 15 2006 In St Louis the Towel Man Cometh The New York Times Retrieved April 20 2012 Dillon Dennis December 15 2016 A Look at Five St Louis Blues Superfans St Louis Magazine Retrieved December 15 2016 Lee Brad January 25 2015 Celebrate 20 years of fan run papers on Friday St Louis Game Time Retrieved January 26 2019 How did Country Roads become a Blues home game staple By accident May 18 2019 How did Country Roads become a Blues home game staple By accident YouTube St Louis Blues Roster National Hockey League Retrieved March 3 2023 St Louis Blues Hockey Transactions The Sports Network Retrieved March 3 2023 Pronger steps aside as captain MacInnis steps in USA Today September 15 2003 a b c d Award Winners St Louis Blues 2018 Retrieved April 12 2018 Pinkert Chris February 2 2017 Blues retire Plager s No 5 to the rafters National Hockey League Retrieved February 3 2017 Korac Lou January 17 2022 Blues retire Pronger s number on very special night in St Louis NHL com Retrieved January 20 2022 Perfect setting Gretzky s number retired before All Star Game CNN Sports Illustrated Associated Press February 6 2000 Archived from the original on November 12 2013 Retrieved June 9 2014 Holland Dave 2003 Total NHL The Ultimate Source on the National Hockey League D Diamond and Associates pp 368 69 ISBN 0 920445 86 1 Brian Elliott Blues Stats National Hockey League com Players National Hockey League April 9 1985 Retrieved May 10 2015 External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to St Louis Blues Official website Enterprise Center Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title St Louis Blues amp oldid 1141928547, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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