The moves kept sportswriters busy and fans captivated, and often infuriated opposing executives. 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. They were again eliminated by Los Angeles, however, this time in six games in the first round of the playoffs, despite taking an initial 20 series lead. [13] After that season, Ornest sold the team to a group led by St. Louis businessman Michael Shanahan. san jose sharks vs . st louis blues - tickets - by owner - event sale Ten players reached at least 20 goals, including Wayne Babych, future Hall of Famer Bernie Federko, and team captain Brian Sutter. 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. It wasn't. Defensively, however, the Blues were less than stellar and saw Chicago and the Philadelphia Flyers overtake the Division. 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. It also replaced red with navy blue as an accent color. 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). In 1980-81, with Berenson behind the bench, the Blues had a 107-point season and put hockey back on the St. Louis radar. After an early-season coaching change brought Ken Hitchcock aboard, the Blues broke through this season with 109 points, two points removed from the best record in the NHL. On September 2, 2020, the Blues traded goaltender Jake Allen, who had spent ten years in the Blues organization, to the Montreal Canadiens.[29]. 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. On June 13, 2016, it was announced that Mike Yeo would replace Hitchcock as head coach of the Blues following the 201617 season. Over the next few years, the franchise became one of the most colorful and controversial in the NHL. post; account; . Lynn Patrick initially served as general manager and head coach. 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. The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The move proved both ill-conceived and ill-timed, as the renamed St. Louis Eagles continued to lose money. In 2001, the Blues advanced to the Western Conference Finals before bowing out in five games to the eventual champions, the Colorado Avalanche. Here is a list of the team's owners since its inception: -Sidney Salomon Jr. -Ralph Sauer -Harry Ornest -Michael Shanahan -Dave Checketts -Tom Stillman. 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. To this day, in terms of contention, the Salomon group remains the most successful of the Blues owners. 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. 0. In 201415, the Blues won their second Central Division championship in four years and faced the Minnesota Wild in round one of the 2015 playoffs. 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". March 3, 2023 by Marcus Ashpaugh. The Blues also won the Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals (165) in the NHL, as netminder Roman Turek finished with a 1.95 goals-against average. [20] On November 19, 2018, the Blues fired head coach Mike Yeo after starting the season with a 793 record and replaced him with Craig Berube on an interim basis. The Blues were one of the six teams added to the NHL in the 1967 expansion, along with the . Only Wayne Gretzky found the net more than Hull during any given three-year period. * current Blues player 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]. After missing the playoffs for the first time in 197374, the Blues ended up in the Smythe Division after a League realignment. Following further contraction, the league stabilized at six teams after 1942. Members of the Blues' all-local ownership group include Tom Stillman, Jerald Kent, Donn Lux, James Cooper, Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, Steve Maritz, Edward Potter, Andrew Taylor, David Steward, Jim. [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. On April 12, the Blues clinched the sixth seed in the West with a 10 win against the Colorado Avalanche. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. In 1984, the Blues drastically redesigned their look, adding red and darkening the shade of blue. Los Angeles Kings vs. St. Louis Blues odds, tips and betting trends 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. "Our new ownership group is 100 percent local, and we are 100 percent committed to the Blues and to St. Louis." Stillman asked for support from fans, local businesses and the rest of the community. SponsorPitch - St. Louis Blues The Blues missed the playoffs during the first four full seasons of new ownership. Why A Stanley Cup Would Mean Big Money For St. Louis Blues Owner Tom Blues Jump Blues/Piano Blues St. Louis Blues. 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". 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. In the end, when the legal dodgeball and financial haggling between the league and Ralston Purina settled, when the budget squeezing and penny-pinching was complete, Ornest came out the big winner. They fired their head coach, Davis Payne, and named Ken Hitchcock as his replacement on November 6, 2011. 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. The elder Salomon was not enthralled with the idea of owning a hockey team initially, but his son persuaded him to take the plunge. This setupKelly as commentator, with either Kyle, Bob Plager, or Noel Picard (whose heavy French-Canadian . A corresponding blue jersey was introduced the following season, thus retiring the previous set. Hitchcock is a finalist for the Jack Adams coaching award and Doug Armstrong is a contender for general manager of the year. [27] The bill was signed into law by Mike Parson, the Governor of Missouri, with the revised statute becoming effective August 29, 2019. 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. 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 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. [55] The seven individuals recognized as builders by the Hall of Fame includes former Blues executives, general managers, head coaches, and owners. The Blues took on the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks in the first-round series. Soon after, Ornest sold the Blues to a group led by Michael Shanahan, head of Engineered Support Systems Inc. During the 2012 playoffs, they won their first playoff series since 2002, eliminating the San Jose Sharks in five games. 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. [28], In the 201920 season, the Blues suffered an early blow as forward Vladimir Tarasenko suffered a season-ending injury on October 24. Louis Post-Dispatch, R. Hal Dean, chief executive officer and board chairman of the Ralston Purina Co., gestures as he delivers his state of the company addressSept. 30, 1971, at the annual checker day rally. Caron was reinstated as interim general manager for the rest of the season, and general manager Larry Pleau was hired on June 9, 1997. He returned to California with $3.4 million in profit on the sale of the Blues and $8.2 million in profit on the sale of the Arena. The jersey brought back the contrasting shoulder yoke and returned to the lighter blue of previous eras. The Blues had remained in strong form throughout the season, finishing first in the Western Conference and second in the NHL. They treated the players to all-expenses-paid Florida vacations when seasons ended and bought them gold wristwatches for scoring hat tricks, etc. Wal-Mart heir Nancy Walton Laurie and her husband Bill purchased the Blues in 1999. NHL Board of Governors OKs sale of St. Louis Blues 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. After each goal, a bell is rung and each of the goals are counted by the crowd. Blues Chairman Tom Stillman confirmed . They would finish second in the Western Conference, behind the Vancouver Canucks. On January 12, 1983, Batoni-Hunter Enterprises Ltd., led by WHA and Edmonton Oilers founder Bill Hunter, tendered an offer to buy the team. 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. Early life[edit] Laurie grew up in rural Missouri. Dean was the key figure in Ralston Purina's takeover of the St. Louis Blues after the 1976-77 season. In March 2011, Checketts announced he was putting the team and the Scottrade Center lease up for sale, projecting a deal would be struck before the 2011-12 season started. The Blues chairman/owner . St. Louis Blues - Owners | RetroSeasons.com While the Blues had returned to respectability on the ice, they were struggling off it. 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. Despite defeating the Blackhawks in the 2017 NHL Winter Classic by the score of 41, the Blues fired Hitchcock and promoted Yeo to head coach on February 1, 2017. Management vowed to build through the draft and implored fans to bank on the future of prospects like T.J. Oshie, David Perron and Patrik Berglund. Indeed, many of the Blues' players liked the fact that their families could hear the games on KMOX. 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. Blues' ownership: A colorful history - STLtoday.com Angry at having to play "second fiddle", the Blues elected to leave for KTRS in 2000. Attendance plummeted, from 18,560 a game in 2003-04 to 12,520 in 2006-07. He scored 16 points in 13 games after his arrival, but the season ended in frustration as the Blues lost Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals to Detroit. Checketts and his group had some serious damage control to perform. 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. 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. Figures are updated after each completed NHL season. During the 2007 off-season, the Blues signed free agent Paul Kariya to a three-year contract worth $18million, 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. He also purchased the Checkerdome from Ralston Purina for $5 million, then raised $3 million in operating expenses. [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. That included Federko, Gassoff, Hull, MacInnis, Bob and Barclay Plager, Pronger and Sutter, along with Kelly, the Blues' legendary broadcaster. Jeremy P. Rutherford Sep 29, 2013 Sep 29, 2013; 0; Facebook . The team is named after the famous W. C. Handy song "St. Louis Blues", and plays in the 19,150-seat Scottrade Center in downtown St. Louis. However, despite the music stopping, the loyal Blues fans in attendance continued to sing loudly. Beginnings and Stanley Cup Finals' appearances (19671970), Financial problems, near-relocation, and playoff streak (19701987), End of the playoff streak, lockout, and rebuild (19982011), Return to contention, first Stanley Cup championship (2011present), Last edited on 27 February 2023, at 16:20, "City Gets Big League Hockey; New Team Begins NHL Play in 196768 Season", "Musial Partner 'Biggie' Dies; Political Figure", "PHT Time Machine: When Blues skipped NHL draft", "Gettysburg Times - Google News Archive Search", "The Lewiston Daily Sun - Google News Archive Search", "Davis Payne will remain team's head coach St Louis Blues", "St. Louis Blues for sale after five years of Dave Checketts' ownership", "Predators defeat Blues, advance to first conference final", "Gameday Lineup: Sept. 18 at Dallas; O'Reilly, Maroon, Parayko, Thomas and Kyrou expected to play vs. Stars", "Yeo fired as coach of Blues, replaced by Berube on interim basis", "Blues clinch spot in Stanley Cup Playoffs", "Blues Beat the Bruins and Get Their First Stanley Cup Finals Victory", "Blues win Stanley Cup for first time, defeat Bruins in Game 7 of Final", "St. Louis Blues beat Boston Bruins, 41, to win first Stanley Cup", "Black senator from St. Louis passed bill to make Blues official state hockey team", "Chapter 10 10.225. "[50][51] And it did take them to the Stanley Cup. For the song, see. 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. Since the 201920 preseason, WXOS (101 ESPN) has been the flagship radio station for the Blues. Blues games, many of which were crucial to playoff berths, would often be pre-empted for spring training coverage. Despite these losses, the Blues raced out to a 2182 start in their first 31 games. 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. St. Louis Blues: Directed by Raoul Walsh. The St. Louis Blues presently acknowledge an affiliation with a number of inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame. He asked many players to defer contracts to help meet operating costs and through much of Ornest's tenure, the team operated with a small office staff. 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. In the meantime, the franchise was on the brink of financial collapse. However, he resigned as head coach in late November after recording a 4132 record. Ornest had made plans to buy the team as early as March, but built up his efforts in late June to have enough money. 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. The Salomons sold the Blues to Ralston on July 27, 1977. The Blues lost more players as Jay Bouwmeester suffered a season-ending injury, and Jaden Schwartz missed a large portion of the season. 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]. During the late 1990s, the Blues nurtured a new identity. In addition, the contrasting shoulder yoke was removed. The emotional win two days earlier notwitstanding, the Blues lost Game 7 of the playoffs in Calgary, falling short of the Cup finals. It has been called the "Fan Salute" by some. John Davidson, received the award in 2009 for his contributions in television broadcasting. Stillman group acquires full ownership of St. Louis Blues When Red Berenson scored six goals in a game on Nov. 7, 1968, ownership presented the outdoor enthusiast with a new station wagon, a canoe attached to the top and a Browning 20-gauge shotgun inside. Under new management, the Blues promptly installed John Davidson as president of hockey operations, moving Pleau to a mostly advisory role. Jason Pippi stated "its just a testament to the passion Blues fans bring each and every night to the Cup (Stanley Cup) maybe? As the Blues faced the Oilers on December 7, 1982; brochures were distributed saying "Saskatchewan in the NHL". [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. The Blues kept 26 players under contract, 23 of them in St. Louis. 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. [30] In 201011, the team sold out every home game. 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. Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Top 250 TV Shows Most Popular TV Shows Most Popular Video Games Most Popular Music Videos Most Popular Podcasts. 27 febrero, 2023 . St. Louis Blues (1958) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb However, as the season was put on pause due to the pandemic, no team would play the full 82 games. On October 10, the Blues introduced a new mascot, Louie. Reluctant to give up on the St. Louis market, the NHL blocked the sale. While the disappointment of that series loss is still fresh, hope springs eternal with the announcement that a new ownership group is in place. Nonetheless, the team remained competitive for the next three years, despite never advancing beyond the second round. The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. 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. However, they only won three games on the road during the first two months of the season. [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. [58] Gretzky had previously played for the Blues in 1996, although the Blues did not retire his number prior to its league-wide retirement. The Blues joined the league in 1967, one of six expansion teams that doubled the size of the NHL from six to 12. SLB Acquisition Holdings LLC - Wikipedia During this period, the NHL rebuffed attempts at further expansion. Originally, the St. Louis Blues aired their games on KPLR-TV and KMOX radio, with team patron Gus Kyle calling games alongside St Louis broadcasting legend Jack Buck. St. Louis has embraced team's victory anthem", "The history behind the NHL's ubiquitous sound for scoring: the goal horn", "A Look at Five St. Louis Blues' Superfans", "Celebrate 20 years of fan-run papers on Friday", "How did 'Country Roads' become a Blues home-game staple? The broadcasts failed to produce a profit and then returned to KPLR for the 1982 NHL playoffs and the 198283 season before returning to KDNL (currently St. Louis' ABC affiliate) for the 198384 season, the first under the ownership of Harry Ornest. 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. Looking at losses of more than $10 million over six seasons, the pet food giant put the Blues up for sale and in January 1983, announced it had a buyer in Saskatoon-based Batoni-Hunter Enterprises, Ltd. Batoni's president, Bill Hunter, said his group was ready to break ground on a $43 million building, which could be ready for the Saskatoon Blues in time for the 1983-84 season. Attendance went from 8,897 in 1967-68 to 18,238 in 1970-71. List of former Blues players set to return to St. Louis before the end of the season . In 1985, Ornest, wanting more broadcast revenue, put the radio rights up for bid. The Enterprise Center was electric and buzzing with excitement with anticipation of the win. Amid several questionable personnel moves and an unstable ownership situation, the Blues finished the 200506 season with their worst record in 27 years. At one point, the Salomons cut the team's staff down to three employees. Quenneville was fired during the 2003-04 season and like so many prominent Blues alumni before him Hull, Shanahan, Stevens, Pronger he went on to win a Cup elsewhere.
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