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No sooner had the season ended than Demers departed for Detroit. "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. He also purchased the Checkerdome from Ralston Purina for $5 million, then raised $3 million in operating expenses. 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 March 17, 2011, it was announced that the St. Louis Blues were for sale. On June 3, Ralston announced that it had no interest in running the team anymore. post; account; . This setupKelly 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 KPLRcontinued through the 197576 season, then simulcast on KMOX and KDNL-TV for the next three seasons. While they kept the Reebok Edge-era template, they brought back the 19982007 look. 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. Nonetheless, the team remained competitive for the next three years, despite never advancing beyond the second round. 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". 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. These are the top-ten-point-scorers, goal scorers, and assist leaders in franchise playoff history. Following further contraction, the league stabilized at six teams after 1942. Blues current owner Tom Stillman (left) and Carol Salomon, the former wife of original owner Sid Salomon III. Following their playoff exit, Ralston authorized the deal to Hunter's renamed company Coliseum Holdings, Ltd. for $12 million on April 21. But a competing carnival owner hatches a scheme to put an end to the show before it begins. Jeremy P. Rutherford Sep 29, 2013 Sep 29, 2013; 0; Facebook . St. Louis Blues. 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. 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. But things began to turn around as Francis drafted players like Bernie Federko, Brian Sutter, Wayne Babych and Perry Turnbull. Albums. This setupKelly as commentator, with either Kyle, Bob Plager, or Noel Picard (whose heavy French-Canadian . The moves kept. Jason Pippi stated "its just a testament to the passion Blues fans bring each and every night to the Cup (Stanley Cup) maybe? Buck elected to leave the booth after one season, though, and was replaced by another famed announcer in Dan Kelly. Nonetheless, their on-ice success was enough for a consortium of 19 companies to buy the team. After the 200405 lockout, the Blues' attendance suffered, but has since improved every year since its all-time low in 200607. The Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019 and have the most Stanley Cup playoff appearances outside of the Original Six. 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. Since the 201920 preseason, WXOS (101 ESPN) has been the flagship radio station for the Blues. 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 arena quickly became one of the loudest buildings in the NHL, a reputation it maintained throughout its tenure as the Blues' home. In each instance, the Blues were swept in four games, twice by the Montreal Canadiens and lastly by the Boston Bruins. The mainstream appeal moved a conglomerate of corporate leaders to buy out Shanahan and build the Kiel Center (now the Scottrade Center), opening the downtown doors in 1994. [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. The Blues play in the 19,150 (not counting standing room) capacity Enterprise Center, where they have played since 1994. After his death, Ron Jacober (who had left Channel 5 to be KXOK's sports director in 1985 then left for KMOX in 1987) was hired as the radio play-by-play announcer for the remainder of the season, and John Kelly succeeded in that position. The Black Hawks treated St. Louis as a secondary market, placing minor league affiliates there and even playing a few NHL games in St. Louis during the 1950's while the team still struggled to sell tickets at Chicago Stadium. Blues Chairman Tom Stillman confirmed . 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. Ralston Purina lost an estimated $1.8 million a year during its six-year ownership of the Blues. 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. Originally, the St. Louis Blues aired their games on KPLR-TV and KMOX radio, with team patron Gus Kyle calling games alongside St Louis broadcasting legend Jack Buck. In 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. Hull, who had a lengthy feud with Keenan, left for the Dallas Stars in 1998. In the first round of the playoffs, they faced the Vancouver Canucks, to whom they lost in six games. Two-year process yields the most desirable outcome in terms of the city's best interest. Hi I have 4 tickets to the blues game tonight vs the San Jose sharks. [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. Local ownership group aims to 'put the Blues on solid financial footing.'. They would also pick up Brayden Schenn from the Philadelphia Flyers by giving away Jori Lehtera. 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. 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. In response, the Blues moved back to KMOX starting in the 200607 season. St. Louis Blues, official state hockey team", "Allen traded to Canadiens by Blues for draft picks", "2014-2015 NHL Attendance National Hockey League", "Blues unveil new adidas jersey for 2017-18 season", "Blues pay tribute to team heritage with third jersey", "Blues reveal 2022 NHL Winter Classic jersey", "Reverse Retro alternate jerseys for all 31 teams unveiled by NHL, adidas", "NHL Reverse Retro jerseys for all 32 teams unveiled by adidas", "St Louis Blues Community Name the Mascot", "Blues partner with The Urge for new goal song", "Free speech in the 'Home of the Blues,' singing over 'the brave' in national anthem disrespects veterans more than silently kneeling", "Ranking the top goal songs in the NHL - Sportsnet.ca", "Woo-hoo! Photo by UPI, St. Louis Blues chairman Mike Shanahan at a game in January of 1987, agonizing from the owner's box. During this time, Doug Gilmour, drafted by St. Louis in 1982, emerged as a star. The Blues are still looking for their first Stanley Cup. [7] Emile Francis would call it quits on May 2, leaving for the Hartford Whalers to become president and general manager. 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 late September, 2005, the Lauries signed an agreement to sell the team to SCP Worldwide, a consulting and investment group led by Dave Checketts, former president of New York's Madison Square Garden. The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey . 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. Former Blues forward David Perron was brought back on a free agent deal, while defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was named team captain. An updated version of the blue sweater, produced by Adidas, was brought back in 2019 as their 90s Vintage Jersey.. 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. On June 13, 2016, it was announced that Mike Yeo would replace Hitchcock as head coach of the Blues following the 201617 season. tickets - by owner. Jake Allen was now the starting goaltender for the Blues, while the team also signed former Nashville Predators backup Carter Hutton. 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. Under the expansion playoff format, Bowman's leadership was enough as the Blues qualified for the playoffs in their inaugural season. 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. 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. 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. Guided by young coach Joel Quenneville, built on the backline presence of MacInnis and Chris Pronger who came in the Shanahan deal the Blues embarked on one of their most rewarding periods. Follow Jeremy P. Rutherford 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 199091 en route to earning the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player. On October 10, the Blues introduced a new mascot, Louie. This led to a Norris Division semi-finals exit against the Chicago Black Hawks. The next few seasons became like a broken record. But the roller coaster started to descend in the mid-1970s. [36] A second "Reverse Retro" uniform was released in the 202223 season, this time based on the prototype uniforms the team first leaked in 1966 before eventually releasing the more iconic "blue note" uniforms. In addition, the contrasting shoulder yoke was removed. All that hardware notwithstanding, hopes for a Stanley Cup run turned to stunning disappointment. Attendance went from 8,897 in 1967-68 to 18,238 in 1970-71. The Blues kept 26 players under contract, 23 of them in St. Louis. [30] In 201011, the team sold out every home game. [11] The Board of Governors rejected the offer and "terminated" the team on June 13, one day before Ralston's supposed deadline. 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. One of them was Emile Francis, who served as team president, general manager and head coach. The arrangement made the Blues the only major sports team in North America to be owned by a private equity firm. During the 2012 playoffs, they won their first playoff series since 2002, eliminating the San Jose Sharks in five games. At one point, the Salomons cut the team's staff down to three employees. [25] This all but assured that Berube would have the "interim" tag removed from his title, which occurred two weeks after their Cup victory. The Blues' successes in the late 1960s, however, did not continue into the 1970s. 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. Among the first things Ornest did during his three-year tenure was change the name of the building back to the "Arena." Dean told employes that the St. Louis-based firm had completed its second best fiscal year. The team slipped under .500 the following season and managed just 65 points in 1982-83. During most of Ornest's tenure, the Blues had only 26 players under contract23 in St. Louis, plus three on their farm team, the Montana Magic. st louis blues traditions. 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. A few weeks later, SCP withdrew and a month later, the Blues announced they had signed an exclusive letter of intent to negotiate with General Sports and Entertainment, LLC. Angry at having to play "second fiddle", the Blues elected to leave for KTRS in 2000. He saw the Blues as just another money-bleeding division, and put the team on the market. The Blues were one of the six teams added to the NHL in the 1967 expansion, along with the . Arbour, who officially retired as a player after the 197071 season, would remain behind the Blues' bench for the next two seasons. [44] Beginning in 2018, the win song has been the aforementioned song recorded by The Urge. 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. David Backes was also announced as the new team captain. [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. In 1985, Ornest, wanting more broadcast revenue, put the radio rights up for bid. With Dorothy Lamour, Lloyd Nolan, Tito Guzar, Jerome Cowan. 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. [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 elder Salomon was not enthralled with the idea of owning a hockey team initially, but his son persuaded him to take the plunge. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. St. Louis Blues owner Tom Stillman is a former lawyer who worked with the U.S. Department of Commerce where he was Chief Counsel for Export Administration. That included Federko, Gassoff, Hull, MacInnis, Bob and Barclay Plager, Pronger and Sutter, along with Kelly, the Blues' legendary broadcaster. 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. He had 70 or more goals in three consecutive seasons, including 1990-91 when he scored 86 and the team finished with 105 points. Contact Information: print. 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. 0. 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. However, St. Louis was swept in their first Finals appearance by the heavily favored Montreal Canadiens. Payne was previously the head coach of the Blues top minor league affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League (AHL).[16]. Steve Ott also left the team, signing a free-agent deal with the Red Wings. They captured the Jennings Trophy once more for allowing the fewest goals in the league (165). 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. Team owner puts St. Louis Blues up for sale 5 is #1 Show Me 5 Sally Sally Jessy Raphael at KSDK Today In St. Louis Be the first to know Making a Difference Mike Bush Fantasy Baseball. 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. In each of its first three seasons, the team advanced through the expansion side of the NHL playoff bracket to the Stanley Cup finals. 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 451817 record which translated to 107 points and the second-best record in the league.