St. Louis Blues - (NHL) Enterprise Center - Operations only, the City of St. Louis is the owner Stifel Theatre - Majority Owner Former assets [ edit] Peoria Rivermen - (AHL) Shareholders [ edit] [3] Majority Owner [ edit] Thomas H. Stillman - Chairman of the Board & CEO, Summit Distributing. This setupKelly as commentator, with either Kyle, Bob Plager, or Noel Picard (whose heavy French-Canadian . The Blues have a rivalry with the Chicago Blackhawks, with whom they have shared a division since 1970. 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. Following further contraction, the league stabilized at six teams after 1942. The jersey brought back the contrasting shoulder yoke and returned to the lighter blue of previous eras. It was loud enough, TV cameras picked up the song loud and clear. Attendance had gone from a peak of 18,601 a game in 1972-73 to 10,130. The original owners were successful insurance executive Sid Salomon Jr., his son Sid Salomon III and Robert Wolfson. The arena quickly became one of the loudest buildings in the NHL, a reputation it maintained throughout its tenure as the Blues' home. I really respect the fact that he puts the needs of the many ahead of the needs of the few. Louie is the mascot of the St. Louis Blues. Buck elected to leave the booth after one season, though, and was replaced by another famed announcer in Dan Kelly. 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. 5 to the rafters", "Blues retire Pronger's number on 'very special' night in St. Louis", "Perfect setting: Gretzky's number retired before All-Star Game", "Brian Elliott, Blues Stats National Hockey League.com Players", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=St._Louis_Blues&oldid=1141928547, Most points in a season: Brett Hull, 131 (199091), Lowest GAA in a season (min 30 GP): Brian Elliott, 1.56 (201112), Best SV% in a season (min 30 GP): Brian Elliott, .940 (201112), This page was last edited on 27 February 2023, at 16:20. 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]. Still desperate for a championship, the Blues made another controversial move in 1995, hiring Mike Keenan right off the staff directory of the Stanley Cup winning New York Rangers. In between seasons and during trade deadlines, the Blues became a must-see attraction. 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. Seriously underwater., Arch Madness: 2023 MVC Basketball Tournament bracket, schedule, game times, TV info, Centene expects to lose millions of Medicaid customers beginning in April, St. Louis man charged in quadruple fatal crash; police say he ran off with his license plate, Neman: Missouri womans saga of trying to find common sense at Walmart, I can still hear the roaring of the engine, says father of teen maimed in downtown St. Louis. During that time, Salomon gained a reputation throughout the NHL as the top players' owner. A corresponding blue jersey was introduced the following season, thus retiring the previous set. That included Federko, Gassoff, Hull, MacInnis, Bob and Barclay Plager, Pronger and Sutter, along with Kelly, the Blues' legendary broadcaster. Dean told employes that the St. Louis-based firm had completed its second best fiscal year. Blues Chairman Tom Stillman confirmed . All that hardware notwithstanding, hopes for a Stanley Cup run turned to stunning disappointment. The team slipped under .500 the following season and managed just 65 points in 1982-83. The St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history later that season. He purchased the team and its player contracts for $3 million in cash and $9 million in two notes. The St. Louis Blues are one of the more successful NHL teams in terms of attendance. [46] All of these traditions carried over to the Kiel Center (now known as Enterprise Center) in 1994. The Blues jumped to a 31 series lead, but struggled in games 5 and 6. 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. 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. Since the 201920 preseason, WXOS (101 ESPN) has been the flagship radio station for the Blues. And within two years, Hull also was gone, left unsigned to continue a Hall of Fame career with Stanley Cup championships in Dallas and Detroit. The Blues fired head coach Andy Murray on January 2, 2010, after a disappointing record (17176, 40 points), sitting in 12th place in the Conference. 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. The Blues remain 0-12 in Stanley Cup finals play. 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. On September 2, 2020, the Blues traded goaltender Jake Allen, who had spent ten years in the Blues organization, to the Montreal Canadiens.[29]. Ornest ran the Blues very cheaply, though the players did not mind. [17] During the 2011 NHL offseason, the team signed many key free agents, including Brian Elliott, Scott Nichol, Kent Huskins, Jason Arnott and Jamie Langenbrunner. [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. As the Blues faced the Oilers on December 7, 1982; brochures were distributed saying "Saskatchewan in the NHL". Other players like Patrik Berglund, and Alex Steen did not return in time for the season. On November 14, 2005, the Blues announced that SCP Worldwide had officially withdrawn from negotiations to buy the team. 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. 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 (19681970), when they defeated the Boston Bruins 32 in overtime. Chris Kerber and Joe Vitale are the current radio broadcast team. 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. Sid Salomon III convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team. By 1986, the team reached the Campbell Conference Finals against the Flames. The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, Missouri. Subscribe with this special offer to keep reading, (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). These distractions would greatly affect their performance as they squeezed into the playoffs with a 254015 record in the 1983 season, good enough for 65 points. Minority Owners [ edit] For instance, Ornest asked many players to defer their salaries to help meet operating costs, but the players always got paid in the end. In 1984, the Blues drastically redesigned their look, adding red and darkening the shade of blue. The navy blue third jersey was kept without any alterations, before it was retired prior the 201617 season. st louis blues traditions. 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. After losing Vladimir Tarasenko to injury during the game, the Blues lost to the Avalanche 52 as they missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years. In each instance, the Blues were swept in four games, twice by the Montreal Canadiens and lastly by the Boston Bruins. 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. On March 17, 2012, the Blues became the first team to reach 100 points and clinch a playoff berth in the 201112 season under Hitchcock, qualifying for their first playoffs since 200809. ST. LOUIS (AP) Mike Shanahan, who owned the St. Louis Blues from 1986-91 and oversaw the acquisition of Hall of Famer Brett Hull, has died. [21] On March 29, 2019, the Blues became the seventh team in NHL since the 196768 season to qualify for the playoffs after being placed last after January 1. During the offseason, forward T. J. Oshie was traded to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Troy Brouwer. New owners take over Blues BY TOM TIMMERMANN May 10, 2012 0 NHL commissioner Gary Bettman (left) introduces new St. Louis Blues majority owner Tom Stillman during a press conference on. 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. There is a lot of money riding on Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals for St. Louis Blues owner Tom Stillman. Bucknor for rejecting handshake: Zero class, Man shot and killed after fight in downtown St. Louis, Fate of St. Louis Fox Theatre still undecided, Liberty High student killed in St. Charles shooting could heal you with a smile, Brothers who did everything together, fashionista among victims in fatal St. Louis crash, St. Louis prosecutors staff down by nearly half as caseloads jump. Most NHL teams during the mid-1980s had over 60 players under contract. The Blues play in the 19,150 (not counting standing room) capacity Enterprise Center, where they have played since 1994. 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. However, for the third straight year, they lost in the first round and in six games. 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. She runs into the skipper of a showboat who befriends her, and they make plans to put together a musical revue. They would also pick up Brayden Schenn from the Philadelphia Flyers by giving away Jori Lehtera. The Checkerboard Square chief even re-painted the fading Arena and re-dubbed it the Checkerdome. It operated for over 10 years, from 1994 to 2005, when its owner decided not to resume the magazine after the 200405 NHL lockout (one final oversized "goodbye" issue was distributed the first two home games of the 200506 season). During the 3rd Period, The Blues were winning by a large margin against the visiting Nashville Predators. The Blues skated back to KPLR 3 years later. [58] Gretzky had previously played for the Blues in 1996, although the Blues did not retire his number prior to its league-wide retirement. 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. Minority owner Wolfson and Blues president Emile Francis persuaded Ralston Purina executive R. Hal Dean to invest in the franchise. However, St. Louis ended their first-round losing streak by beating Chicago 32 in game 7 of the series. 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. Their regular-season success, however, did not transfer into the playoffs, as they were eliminated by the New York Rangers in the second round 24 after beating the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round 32. Aside from Stillman, the ownership group includes Jerald Kent, Donn Lux, James Cooper, Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, Steve Maritz, Edward Potter, Andrew Taylor, David Steward, Jim Kavanaugh, John Danforth,. Caron was reinstated as interim general manager for the rest of the season, and general manager Larry Pleau was hired on June 9, 1997. Early in the morning of trade deadline day, the St. Louis Blues and the Detroit Red Wings agreed to a deal. The moves kept. The Blues got off to a slow start in their initial season. These are the top-ten-point-scorers, goal scorers, and assist leaders in franchise playoff history. 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. Payne was previously the head coach of the Blues top minor league affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League (AHL).[16]. Under the expansion playoff format, Bowman's leadership was enough as the Blues qualified for the playoffs in their inaugural season. It has been called the "Fan Salute" by some. Disillusioned by Keenan's contentious style, Gretzky became a free agent and departed for New York. On December 11, 2006, the Blues fired head coach Mike Kitchen and replaced him with former Los Angeles Kings head coach Andy Murray. The NHL also said that Ralston broke a league rule that an owner had to give two years' notice before dissolving a franchise. 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. 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. In the midst of it, in 1999, the Clark Enterprises consortium of 19 St. Louis companies that owned the franchise sold it to Bill Laurie and his wife, Nancy, daughter of Wal-Mart co-founder Sam Walton. [33] For the 201819 season, the Blues added a third jersey based on the one worn during the 2017 NHL Winter Classic. The jersey introduced the short-lived trumpet logo on the shoulders and featured thin diagonal stripes on the tail and sleeves. The team did not even participate in the 1983 NHL draft, forfeiting all of its picks. KXOK backed out of the contract after just 2 years, and the Blues immediately went back to KMOX, who held the rights until 2000. However, despite the music stopping, the loyal Blues fans in attendance continued to sing loudly. Defensively, however, the Blues were less than stellar and saw Chicago and the Philadelphia Flyers overtake the Division. The Blues lost more players as Jay Bouwmeester suffered a season-ending injury, and Jaden Schwartz missed a large portion of the season. Menu. Doug Wickenheiser's overtime goal in Game 6 to cap a furious comeback remains one of the greatest moments in team history (known locally as the "Monday Night Miracle"), but the Blues lost Game 7, 21. While the disappointment of that series loss is still fresh, hope springs eternal with the announcement that a new ownership group is in place. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . At one point, the Salomons cut the team's staff down to three employees. The Blues have worn blue and white jerseys with the famous "Blue Note" crest and gold accents since their inception in 1967. 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. C Dave Checketts D John Danforth L Bill Laurie O Harry Ornest S SLB Acquisition Holdings LLC In 57.4% of St. Louis' previous games this season (35/61), the teams combined to score over Saturday's over/under of 6.5 goals. It also replaced red with navy blue as an accent color. In 1981, Dean retired. This article is about the ice hockey team. However, Dean took the losses philosophically, having taken over out of a sense of civic responsibility. After an ice plant was installed, the minor league St. Louis Flyers began play there in 1929. Following the 198081 season, the television broadcasts moved from KDNL to NBC affiliate KSD-TV for the 198182 season, produced by Sports Network Incorporated (SNI), owned and operated by Greg Maracek who did the broadcasts with Channel 5 sportscaster Ron Jacober. Movies. "We've given them the extreme honor, so it's. League president John Ziegler said they would try to keep the team in St. Louis. [55] The seven individuals recognized as builders by the Hall of Fame includes former Blues executives, general managers, head coaches, and owners. The team made headlines with free-agent signings and trades that landed stars like Brett Hull, Adam Oates, Brendan Shanahan, Scott Stevens, Grant Fuhr, Phil Housley and Al MacInnis. ST. LOUIS (KTVI) - There's been talk that the Rams move is great news for the St. Louis Blues: freeing up more money for St. Louis sports fans to spend on hockey. Brandon Saad and Robert Thomas both recorded a goal and an assist, helping the Blues earn a 5-2 win over the Predators at home 04:56 January 19, 2023 ST. LOUIS -- Brandon Saad and Robert. In fact, they made it to the conference finals only two times in their streak (1986 and 2001). 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." After a strong second-half run, the Blues made the 2009 playoffs on April 10, 2009, after defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 31. Two months later, they traded Doug Weight, a 38-year-old four-time All-Star center, to the Anaheim Ducks as part of a package to acquire 30-year-old center Andy McDonald. The St. Louis Blues presently acknowledge an affiliation with a number of inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Blues' successes in the late 1960s, however, did not continue into the 1970s. [1] The Blues would underachieve greatly the following year as they posted a 32408, but they beat the Winnipeg Jets 31 in the Norris Division Semi-Finals before dropping to the Chicago Black Hawks in the Norris Division 24. 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. 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. After two awful years, including what is still a franchise-worst 185012 record with 48 points in 1979, the Blues made the playoffs the following year, the first of 25 consecutive postseason appearances. 20 Years Ago, Blur's 'Song 2' Became an Unlikely Sports Anthem", "PLAY GLORIA! In response, the Blues moved back to KMOX starting in the 200607 season. He intended to build a $43 million 18,000-seat arena in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in time for the 1983-84 season. The Blues season would come to an end at the hands of the San Jose Sharks, who eliminated them in six games. Checketts and his group had some serious damage control to perform. But from late December through January the Blues lost only twice in 16 games and grabbed a foothold. However, the station was never financially competitive in the market. Sidney Salomon (right) and his son, Sid, express jubilation after the group of nine individuals they head from St. Louis were awarded a conditional franchise from the National Hockey League on April 5, 1966. [30] In 201011, the team sold out every home game. Especially galling were the frequent blown leads after two periods, and with the worst home record (6133) posted in the entire NHL. Reluctant to give up on the St. Louis market, the NHL blocked the sale. [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. DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- St. Louis Blues minority owner David L. Steward was celebrating on the TD Garden ice with his son after the Blues defeated the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of . The team would dominate the postseason awards, as Pronger earned a Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player, Pavol Demitra got the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly play and Quenneville was named coach of the year. "[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. With Dorothy Lamour, Lloyd Nolan, Tito Guzar, Jerome Cowan. The bottom of the numbers taper off to give way to the aforementioned stripes. Jeremy P. Rutherford Sep 29, 2013 Sep 29, 2013; 0; Facebook . It then took control of the franchise and began searching for a new owner. 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 arena was previously known as Scottrade Center, the Savvis Center, and before that as the Kiel Center. 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. Only Wayne Gretzky found the net more than Hull during any given three-year period. Jake Allen was now the starting goaltender for the Blues, while the team also signed former Nashville Predators backup Carter Hutton. To this day, in terms of contention, the Salomon group remains the most successful of the Blues owners. As general manager and coach, Keenan traded away the popular Brendan Shanahan, tested patience with other curious transactions and cultivated a toxic relationship with Hull. 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. Hi I have 4 tickets to the blues game tonight vs the San Jose sharks. None of the previous owners has brought a Stanley Cup championship to St. Louis. St. Louis kept chugging along through the late 1980s and early 1990s. The move proved both ill-conceived and ill-timed, as the renamed St. Louis Eagles continued to lose money. Indeed, many of the Blues' players liked the fact that their families could hear the games on KMOX. The Blues will receive 27-year-old forward Jakub Vrana . Mike Keenan was hired as both general manager and coach before the abbreviated 199495 season, with the hope that he could end the postseason turmoil that Blues fans had endured for years. A third-round loss to Colorado in 2000-01 was especially deflating. Rivers also fills in on color commentary whenever Pang is on a national TV assignment for the NHL on TNT. Category:St. Louis Blues owners Pages in category "St. Louis Blues owners" The following 5 pages are in this category, out of 5 total. 27 febrero, 2023 . In the offseason for the 201718 season, the Blues would lose David Perron to the Vegas Golden Knights via an expansion draft. They would finish second in the Western Conference, behind the Vancouver Canucks. 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. 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. But the roller coaster started to descend in the mid-1970s. But with Ron Caron as the general manager and Jacques Demers as the coach, with Federko and Sutter as the foundation, the Blues were competitive. 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]. Ralston renamed the arena the "Checkerdome." The Blues became the first team in NHL history to finish first overall in the standings and lose in the first round of the playoffs. 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. He has covered the team since the 2005-06 season, including a dozen years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Attendance plummeted, from 18,560 a game in 2003-04 to 12,520 in 2006-07. During this period, the NHL rebuffed attempts at further expansion. 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). The emotional win two days earlier notwitstanding, the Blues lost Game 7 of the playoffs in Calgary, falling short of the Cup finals. While the Blues remained competitive, they were unable to keep many of their young players. Veteran player Al Arbour hastily stepped in to coach the team. The Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019 and have the most Stanley Cup playoff appearances outside of the Original Six. Ornest immediately reverted the name of the team's home venue to the St. Louis Arena. March 3, 2023 by Marcus Ashpaugh. [27] The bill was signed into law by Mike Parson, the Governor of Missouri, with the revised statute becoming effective August 29, 2019. The Blues, who have never won the Cup, are marginally profitable during the. St. Louis Blues tends to be a variation on jump blues or piano blues, featuring solo singers or a pianist performing with small combos or large bands. 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. [55] Dan Kelly, the Blues' radio play-by-play announcer, was awarded the first Blues broadcaster to receive the award in 1989. The current logo (shown in the infobox), is similar, but with the slightly darker shade of blue used since 1984. In each of its first three seasons, the team advanced through the expansion side of the NHL playoff bracket to the Stanley Cup finals. By accident", "Pronger steps aside as captain; MacInnis steps in", "Blues retire Plager's No. [34] A corresponding vintage white version was unveiled for the 2022 NHL Winter Classic. John Davidson, received the award in 2009 for his contributions in television broadcasting. In 201516, the Blues finished in second place in the Central Division to the Dallas Stars. 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. After each goal, a bell is rung and each of the goals are counted by the crowd. 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. October 1, 2019. In 1985, Ornest, wanting more broadcast revenue, put the radio rights up for bid. After the 200405 lockout, the Blues' attendance suffered, but has since improved every year since its all-time low in 200607. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. After his duties as interim coach for the rest of the 200910 season, Davis Payne was named the 23rd head coach in the Blues' history on April 14. They waited for an authorization by 75% of the NHL Board of Governors for the sale and transfer of the club.

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