St. Louis businessman Tom Stillman and his band of investment brothers will announce today they have closed a deal to purchase the Blues. Ornest ran the Blues very cheaply, though the players did not mind. 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. Sid Salomon III convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team. Wal-Mart heir Nancy Walton Laurie and her husband Bill purchased the Blues in 1999. He has covered the team since the 2005-06 season, including a dozen years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Ralston renamed the arena the "Checkerdome." 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. 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 Blues became the first team in NHL history to finish first overall in the standings and lose in the first round of the playoffs. Blues Chairman Tom Stillman confirmed . It also replaced red with navy blue as an accent color. He purchased the team and its player contracts for $3 million in cash and $9 million in two notes. The team finished last in the division and disbanded after one season. They waited for an authorization by 75% of the NHL Board of Governors for the sale and transfer of the club. Jeremy Rutherford is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the St. 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. It has an urban feeling, with little of the rural atmosphere that distinguishes country-blues. The Black Hawks owners felt they could establish a "lovable loser" (much like the Cubs) with the St. Louis hockey team. [38] Louie is a blue polar bear and wears a Blues jersey with his name on the back, and the numbers "00". During the late 1990s, the Blues nurtured a new identity. 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. However, the station was never financially competitive in the market. The Checkerboard Square chief even re-painted the fading Arena and re-dubbed it the Checkerdome. 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 20. 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. 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. Initially, the front of the jersey featured the team name above the crest logo, but was removed in 1987. However, after the period of exclusivity, SCP entered the picture again. Subscribe with this special offer to keep reading, (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). However, they never made an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. 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). However, for the third straight year, they lost in the first round and in six games. 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. Albums. [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. 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. However, the NHL Board of Governors rejected the deal by a 153 vote on May 18, feeling that Saskatoon was not big enough or financially stable enough to support an NHL team.[8][9]. 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. During that time, Salomon gained a reputation throughout the NHL as the top players' owner. The deferred contracts came due just as the Blues' performance began to slip. They missed the playoffs for only the fourth time in franchise history. 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. [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. The slump haunted them, as they blew a 20 series lead to the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks, losing the first-round series in six games. In each of its first three seasons, the team advanced through the expansion side of the NHL playoff bracket to the Stanley Cup finals. 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. Jeremy P. Rutherford Sep 29, 2013 Sep 29, 2013; 0; Facebook . But from late December through January the Blues lost only twice in 16 games and grabbed a foothold. The Blues have a tradition of live organ music. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. 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. The Keenan coup wound up being a catastrophe. The uniforms, which had the team name written around the primitive "blue note" logo along with contrasting stripes, had a gold base.[37]. Off the ice, the cash-poor Checketts operated with an Ornest-like budget; on the ice the team continued to stockpile picks and promise. Like all NHL teams, the Blues updated their jerseys for the 200708 season with new Rbk Edge jerseys. The logo used on the Blues' jerseys from 1967 to 1984. 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. 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." 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. For the song, see. 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. 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 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. 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 logo used on the Blues' jerseys from 1987 to 1998. The Blues joined the league in 1967, one of six expansion teams that doubled the size of the NHL from six to 12. [33] For the 201819 season, the Blues added a third jersey based on the one worn during the 2017 NHL Winter Classic. The emotional win two days earlier notwitstanding, the Blues lost Game 7 of the playoffs in Calgary, falling short of the Cup finals. There is a lot of money riding on Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals for St. Louis Blues owner Tom Stillman. Movies. 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. Since the St. Louis Blues were founded in 1967, the team has had a number of owners. They play their home games at the 19,150-seat Enterprise Center in downtown St. Louis, which has been their arena since moving from St. Louis Arena in 1994. 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. While the Blues contended during this time period, they never passed the second round of the playoffs. I really respect the fact that he puts the needs of the many ahead of the needs of the few. On April 12, the Blues clinched the sixth seed in the West with a 10 win against the Colorado Avalanche. They would also pick up Brayden Schenn from the Philadelphia Flyers by giving away Jori Lehtera. The St. Louis Blues are one of the more successful NHL teams in terms of attendance. The Blues were one of the six teams added to the NHL in the 1967 expansion, along with the . He intended to build a $43 million 18,000-seat arena in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in time for the 1983-84 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! Prior to that, he worked at the New York . However, St. Louis ended their first-round losing streak by beating Chicago 32 in game 7 of the series. 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. 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). 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". [46] All of these traditions carried over to the Kiel Center (now known as Enterprise Center) in 1994. Coming off their defeat of the Presidents' Trophy winning Canucks, the Kings ousted the Blues in four games. 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. The cash-poor Ornest then ran the franchise on a skeletal budget. 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. All that hardware notwithstanding, hopes for a Stanley Cup run turned to stunning disappointment. 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. 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. The Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019 and have the most Stanley Cup playoff appearances outside of the Original Six. However, he resigned as head coach in late November after recording a 4132 record. 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. 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. St. Louis Blues (1958) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. [41] However, during the 2019 playoffs, Laura Branigan's "Gloria" was played first before The Urge song. 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. In 1978-79, the Blues won 18 of 80 games, or just one more than the NFL's 1972 Miami Dophins. Figures are updated after each completed NHL season. "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. Fox Sports Midwest color commentator, Darren Pang, exclaimed he "just loved the crowd, they're singing!". 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). The NHL also said that Ralston broke a league rule that an owner had to give two years' notice before dissolving a franchise. 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. 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. Over the next few years, the franchise became one of the most colorful and controversial in the NHL. They also provided the capital to build the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center), which opened in 1994. 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. With his aging father stepping back, Sid Salomon III took a more prominent role in running the franchise and upheaval became the order of the day. Angry at having to play "second fiddle", the Blues elected to leave for KTRS in 2000. The Blues missed the playoffs during the first four full seasons of new ownership. Louie is the mascot of the St. Louis Blues. 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. 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). In 1985, Ornest, wanting more broadcast revenue, put the radio rights up for bid. 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. 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. During the offseason, forward T. J. Oshie was traded to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Troy Brouwer. It has been called the "Fan Salute" by some. 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. The Blues are still looking for their first Stanley Cup. The Blues jumped to a 31 series lead, but struggled in games 5 and 6. The latest STL Blues hockey news, NHL headlines, scores, standings and rosters. This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Blues. [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. However, injuries plagued the team all season, and the lack of a bona fide scorer hampered them as well. [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. #19 St Louis Blues Team Value 1 $880M Calculated December 2022 Owner (s) Tom Stillman Championships 1 Year Purchased 2012 Price Paid $180M Revenue 2 $180M Operating Income 3 $56M Debt/Value 4. 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. [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. 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. Buck elected to leave the booth after one season, though, and was replaced by another famed announcer in Dan Kelly. Despite posting the second-best regular-season record in the entire league in 199091, 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. Checks were back in the Checkerdome. 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. 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. Baie-Comeau Drakkar Players Bakersfield Condors Players Barrie Colts Players Barys Astana Players Belarusian Hockey Players Belleville Senators Players Bemidji State Beavers Players Bentley Falcons. st louis blues traditions. But a competing carnival owner hatches a scheme to put an end to the show before it begins. 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. 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. The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey . 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. "[50][51] And it did take them to the Stanley Cup. On March 17, 2011, it was announced that the St. Louis Blues were for sale. Oct 17, 2016. 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. He was 78. The Blues will receive 27-year-old forward Jakub Vrana . On June 13, 2016, it was announced that Mike Yeo would replace Hitchcock as head coach of the Blues following the 201617 season. The next few seasons became like a broken record. For instance, Ornest asked many players to defer their salaries to help meet operating costs, but the players always got paid in the end. The moneyline in this contest implies a 35.7% chance for the Blues to win. Early life[edit] Laurie grew up in rural Missouri. This article is about the ice hockey team. 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. Checketts and his group had some serious damage control to perform. He also purchased the Checkerdome from Ralston Purina for $5 million, then raised $3 million in operating expenses. Most NHL teams during the mid-1980s had over 60 players under contract. [34] A corresponding vintage white version was unveiled for the 2022 NHL Winter Classic. 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. 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. That included Federko, Gassoff, Hull, MacInnis, Bob and Barclay Plager, Pronger and Sutter, along with Kelly, the Blues' legendary broadcaster. By 1986, the team reached the Campbell Conference Finals against the Flames. Following the disappointing 200506 season, which saw the Blues with the worst record in the NHL, the new management focused on rebuilding the franchise.
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