Indeed, many of the Blues' players liked the fact that their families could hear the games on KMOX. 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. [13] After that season, Ornest sold the team to a group led by St. Louis businessman Michael Shanahan. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season. 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. 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. "[50][51] And it did take them to the Stanley Cup. List of former Blues players set to return to St. Louis before the end of the season . A few months later, in December 1996, both Keenan and executive Jack Quinn were fired. 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 response, the Blues moved back to KMOX starting in the 200607 season. In addition to Jaden Schwartz and Vince Dunn vs. SEA this past Tuesday, . Only Wayne Gretzky found the net more than Hull during any given three-year period. Initially, the front of the jersey featured the team name above the crest logo, but was removed in 1987. 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. Blues owner Tom Stillman, 10 years in: On the road to a Stanley Cup and At one point, the Salomons cut the team's staff down to three employees. 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, they never made an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. 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. 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. While there were a number of interested parties, none had enough cash to meet Ralston's asking price. 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. For the first time in five years (that is, since the lockout), the Blues were in the playoffs. Pronger, Doug Weight and Mike Sillinger were all sent packing. The Blues missed the playoffs during the first four full seasons of new ownership. 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. 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. An NHL lockout canceled the 2004-05 season and the Lauries put the team up for sale in June 2005, citing losses of more than $60 million over the previous two years. The emotional win two days earlier notwitstanding, the Blues lost Game 7 of the playoffs in Calgary, falling short of the Cup finals. 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. This article is about the ice hockey team. The elder Salomon was not enthralled with the idea of owning a hockey team initially, but his son persuaded him to take the plunge. 27 febrero, 2023 . 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]. 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. Goaltending anchors Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante retired, Berenson was traded and "Sid III" began changing coaches and general managers like it was a court order. Figures are updated after each completed NHL season. Things got worse after Keenan orchestrated a bold trade to acquire Wayne Gretzky late in the 1995-96 season. However, they only won three games on the road during the first two months of the season. KXOK backed out of the contract after just 2 years, and the Blues immediately went back to KMOX, who held the rights until 2000. 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. Following further contraction, the league stabilized at six teams after 1942. [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 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. St. Louis Blues (1939) - IMDb QR Code Link to This Post. 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. 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. However, Dean took the losses philosophically, having taken over out of a sense of civic responsibility. 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 addition, the contrasting shoulder yoke was removed. The navy blue third jersey was kept without any alterations, before it was retired prior the 201617 season. 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. It also replaced red with navy blue as an accent color. Movies. In 1980-81, with Berenson behind the bench, the Blues had a 107-point season and put hockey back on the St. Louis radar. Boyer also plays the latter song on the organ after Blues goals, with fans replacing the word "Saints" with "Blues. [41] However, during the 2019 playoffs, Laura Branigan's "Gloria" was played first before The Urge song. October 1, 2019. Why A Stanley Cup Would Mean Big Money For St. Louis Blues Owner Tom Coming off their defeat of the Presidents' Trophy winning Canucks, the Kings ousted the Blues in four games. [15] The team later traded veteran defenseman Bryce Salvador to the New Jersey Devils for enforcer, and St. Louis native, Cam Janssen. [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. However, they were stunned by the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the 2000 playoffs in seven games. These are the top-ten-point-scorers, goal scorers, and assist leaders in franchise playoff history. List of St. Louis Blues broadcasters | NHL Wiki | Fandom St. Louis Blues Music Genre Overview | AllMusic 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. st louis blues traditions. These are the top-ten point-scorers, goal scorers, and assist leaders in franchise regular-season history. 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. 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. In 1986, the team reached the Campbell Conference finals and produced one of its signature moments, a "Monday Night Miracle" comeback victory in Game 6. 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. [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. . The Black Hawks owners felt they could establish a "lovable loser" (much like the Cubs) with the St. Louis hockey team. They treated the players to all-expenses-paid Florida vacations when seasons ended and bought them gold wristwatches for scoring hat tricks, etc. 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. Nonetheless, the team remained competitive for the next three years, despite never advancing beyond the second round. Blues current owner Tom Stillman (left) and Carol Salomon, the former wife of original owner Sid Salomon III. He made his debut two days later, wearing number 55 against the Phoenix Coyotes. 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. Hi I have 4 tickets to the blues game tonight vs the San Jose sharks. Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game. C Dave Checketts D John Danforth L Bill Laurie O Harry Ornest S SLB Acquisition Holdings LLC The Blues chairman/owner . 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. Subscribe with this special offer to keep reading, (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). [44] Beginning in 2018, the win song has been the aforementioned song recorded by The Urge. 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. 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. 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. Jason Pippi stated "its just a testament to the passion Blues fans bring each and every night to the Cup (Stanley Cup) maybe? Blues games, many of which were crucial to playoff berths, would often be pre-empted for spring training coverage. 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. 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. 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. Local ownership group aims to 'put the Blues on solid financial footing.'. With silver-jacketed organist Norm Kramer pumping out "When the Blues Go Marching In," hockey became a happening in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. 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. 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 list may not reflect recent changes . 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. They also had strong goaltending led by Mike Liut. 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. Hull, who had a lengthy feud with Keenan, left for the Dallas Stars in 1998. 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. The latest STL Blues hockey news, NHL headlines, scores, standings and rosters. New owners take over Blues - STLtoday.com 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. MLS in July 2020 pushed the expansion schedule back by a year for both St. Louis and the Charlotte, North Carolina, team that began play last year, saying the Covid-19 pandemic had led to delays . In each of its first three seasons, the team advanced through the expansion side of the NHL playoff bracket to the Stanley Cup finals. They also provided the capital to build the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center), which opened in 1994. St. Louis Blues (1958) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. He gave his players cars, signed them to deferred contracts and treated them to vacations in Florida. Before the 199798 season, the Blues introduced a new alternate white jersey. 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. The next few seasons became like a broken record. Stillman group acquires full ownership of St. Louis Blues To this day, in terms of contention, the Salomon group remains the most successful of the Blues owners. At the beginning of the 200607 season, the Blues looked to be competitive in the Central Division. The Blues lost Bowman, who left during the 197071 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. 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. Dean retired and his successor, William Stiritz, had no interest in continuing the involvement in 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]. The group becomes the eighth to hold the keys to the franchise since its inception. 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. 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 Salomons sold the Blues to Ralston on July 27, 1977. In 2001, the Blues advanced to the Western Conference Finals before bowing out in five games to the eventual champions, the Colorado Avalanche. But a competing carnival owner hatches a scheme to put an end to the show before it begins. Bill Laurie - Wikipedia 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. tickets - by owner. Despite these losses, the Blues raced out to a 2182 start in their first 31 games. The sale price for the team and building lease was reported to be $100 million. The team did not even participate in the 1983 NHL draft, forfeiting all of its picks. On January 4, 2007, the Blues had a record of 613 in their previous ten games, which was the best in the NHL during that stretch. The broadcasts failed to produce a profit and then returned to KPLR for the 1982 NHL playoffs and the 198283 season before returning to KDNL (currently St. Louis' ABC affiliate) for the 198384 season, the first under the ownership of Harry Ornest. The Blues kept 26 players under contract, 23 of them in St. Louis. Category:St. Louis Blues owners Pages in category "St. Louis Blues owners" The following 5 pages are in this category, out of 5 total. 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. [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. Checketts and his group had some serious damage control to perform. They would finish second in the Western Conference, behind the Vancouver Canucks. On December 11, 2006, the Blues fired head coach Mike Kitchen and replaced him with former Los Angeles Kings head coach Andy Murray. The Blues took on the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks in the first-round series. 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. Ten days before the deadline NHL President John Ziegler set for dissolving the franchise, Los Angeles-based entrepreneur Harry Ornest stepped up with the only formal bid. Arbour, who officially retired as a player after the 197071 season, would remain behind the Blues' bench for the next two seasons. This led to a Norris Division semi-finals exit against the Chicago Black Hawks. He was replaced by assistant coach Scotty Bowman, who thereafter led the team to a winning record for the rest of the season. 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. The Enterprise Center was electric and buzzing with excitement with anticipation of the win. 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. Fox Sports Midwest color commentator, Darren Pang, exclaimed he "just loved the crowd, they're singing!". Soon after, Ornest sold the Blues to a group led by Michael Shanahan, head of Engineered Support Systems Inc. List of former Blues players set to return to St. Louis before the end Most NHL teams during the mid-1980s had over 60 players under contract. 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 Blues, who have never won the Cup, are marginally profitable during the. 0. 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. The following season, 201314, the team hit the 100-point mark for the sixth time in franchise history, and gained a franchise record of 52 wins. While the fans were stunned, the players were aware of this. The standard for other teams was 60 players. Minority owner Wolfson and Blues president Emile Francis persuaded Ralston Purina executive R. Hal Dean to invest in the franchise. Lynn Patrick initially served as general manager and head coach. The cash-poor Ornest then ran the franchise on a skeletal budget. Blues Jump Blues/Piano Blues St. Louis Blues. [a] The Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League (AHL) is the team's minor league affiliate. Attendance had gone from a peak of 18,601 a game in 1972-73 to 10,130. 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. Chris Kerber and Joe Vitale are the current radio broadcast team. New Blues ownership group Tom Stillman, chairman and CEO of Summit Distributing Donn Lux, Luxco chairman and CEO Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, president of the Enterprise Holdings Foundation Steve. 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. It was loud enough, TV cameras picked up the song loud and clear. An updated version of the blue sweater, produced by Adidas, was brought back in 2019 as their 90s Vintage Jersey.. Nevertheless, the Black Hawks owners still owned the St. Louis Arena.