list of st louis blues owners
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. 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. During the late 1990s, the Blues nurtured a new identity. Fox Sports Midwest color commentator, Darren Pang, exclaimed he "just loved the crowd, they're singing!". 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. 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). A corresponding blue jersey was introduced the following season, thus retiring the previous set. The Blues were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Los Angeles Kings, in the following round. The arena was previously known as Scottrade Center, the Savvis Center, and before that as the Kiel Center. He has covered the team since the 2005-06 season, including a dozen years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. League president John Ziegler said they would try to keep the team in St. Louis. Indeed, many of the Blues' players liked the fact that their families could hear the games on KMOX. 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. 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. None of the previous owners has brought a Stanley Cup championship to St. Louis. The Blues then fired 60 percent of their employees. 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. Oct 17, 2016. 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 St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Salomons sold the Blues to Ralston on July 27, 1977. [47], The team also has a long tradition of fan-produced programs, sold outside the arena and providing an often biting, sarcastic, humor-filled alternative to team- and League-produced periodicals. Attendance went from 8,897 in 1967-68 to 18,238 in 1970-71. However, they were stunned by the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the 2000 playoffs in seven games. On September 2, 2020, the Blues traded goaltender Jake Allen, who had spent ten years in the Blues organization, to the Montreal Canadiens.[29]. An updated version of the blue sweater, produced by Adidas, was brought back in 2019 as their 90s Vintage Jersey.. Ornest had made plans to buy the team as early as March, but built up his efforts in late June to have enough money. The group becomes the eighth to hold the keys to the franchise since its inception. Louie is the mascot of the St. Louis Blues. 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. In response, the Blues moved back to KMOX starting in the 200607 season. 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. 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. The initial results were not good. After a strong second-half run, the Blues made the 2009 playoffs on April 10, 2009, after defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 31. Menu. There is a lot of money riding on Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals for St. Louis Blues owner Tom Stillman. Jeremy P. Rutherford Sep 29, 2013 Sep 29, 2013; 0; Facebook . [45], The Blues were one of the last teams to add a goal horn, doing so during the 199293 season at the St. Louis Arena. tickets - by owner. 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. These are the top-ten point-scorers, goal scorers, and assist leaders in franchise regular-season history. 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). [44] Beginning in 2018, the win song has been the aforementioned song recorded by The Urge. 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. 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]. 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. The NHL Board of Governors has approved the sale of the St. Louis Blues to a group headed. 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. 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 seats are in section 106 row cc seats 1-4. It was loud enough, TV cameras picked up the song loud and clear. [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 uniforms, which had the team name written around the primitive "blue note" logo along with contrasting stripes, had a gold base.[37]. The son of legendary Bobby Hull, the "Golden Brett" became the face of the franchise, with his magical name and sublime scoring touch. The Blues had remained in strong form throughout the season, finishing first in the Western Conference and second in the NHL. [32], When Adidas became the uniform provider before the 201718 season, the Blues kept most of the same template, with the exception of the home jersey numbers changing from gold to white. 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. 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. Jake Allen was now the starting goaltender for the Blues, while the team also signed former Nashville Predators backup Carter Hutton. Attendance plummeted, from 18,560 a game in 2003-04 to 12,520 in 2006-07. Rivers also fills in on color commentary whenever Pang is on a national TV assignment for the NHL on TNT. The next few seasons became like a broken record. But with former Blues goaltender and nationally renowned broadcaster John Davidson at the point, they turned the worm. QR Code Link to This Post. The team did not even participate in the 1983 NHL draft, forfeiting all of its picks. Since the St. Louis Blues were founded in 1967, the team has had a number of owners. While they kept the Reebok Edge-era template, they brought back the 19982007 look. 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. Incensed, Ralston Purina sued the NHL, padlocked the Checkerdome and abandoned the franchise, leaving a mess for the league to sort out. The Keenan coup wound up being a catastrophe. In 1984, the Blues drastically redesigned their look, adding red and darkening the shade of blue. [31], For the 201415 season, the Blues made a few tweaks to their jerseys. 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 . The bottom of the numbers taper off to give way to the aforementioned stripes. 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. Figures are updated after each completed NHL season. They fired their head coach, Davis Payne, and named Ken Hitchcock as his replacement on November 6, 2011. All that hardware notwithstanding, hopes for a Stanley Cup run turned to stunning disappointment. 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. Dean retired and his successor, William Stiritz, had no interest in continuing the involvement in hockey. In addition to Jaden Schwartz and Vince Dunn vs. SEA this past Tuesday, . 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. 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. Photo by Scott C. Dine/St. During that time, Salomon gained a reputation throughout the NHL as the top players' owner. 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. The Blues kept 26 players under contract, 23 of them in St. Louis. Follow Jeremy P. Rutherford This led to a Norris Division semi-finals exit against the Chicago Black Hawks. 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 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. Center David Backes has been named a finalist for the Frank Selke Trophy as the league's top two-way player. [12] To date, this is the closest that an NHL team has come to folding since the Cleveland Barons merged with the Minnesota North Stars after the 197778 season. At the beginning of the 200607 season, the Blues looked to be competitive in the Central Division. 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. The logo used on the Blues' jerseys from 1967 to 1984. [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. 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. Ornest immediately reverted the name of the team's home venue to the St. Louis Arena. 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. Blues current owner Tom Stillman (left) and Carol Salomon, the former wife of original owner Sid Salomon III. St. Louis Blues (1958) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. 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. That included Federko, Gassoff, Hull, MacInnis, Bob and Barclay Plager, Pronger and Sutter, along with Kelly, the Blues' legendary broadcaster. 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. [55] Dan Kelly, the Blues' radio play-by-play announcer, was awarded the first Blues broadcaster to receive the award in 1989. For the first time in five years (that is, since the lockout), the Blues were in the playoffs. 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! 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. This list may not reflect recent changes . They would also pick up Brayden Schenn from the Philadelphia Flyers by giving away Jori Lehtera. Early in the morning of trade deadline day, the St. Louis Blues and the Detroit Red Wings agreed to a deal. 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. 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. In 1981, Dean retired. Inductees affiliated with the Blues include 24 former players (six of whom earned their credentials primarily with the Blues) and seven builders of the sport. 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. However, after the period of exclusivity, SCP entered the picture again. 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. 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. Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game. The Blues are still looking for their first Stanley Cup. 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". Hull, who had a lengthy feud with Keenan, left for the Dallas Stars in 1998. These are the top-ten-point-scorers, goal scorers, and assist leaders in franchise playoff history. Amid several questionable personnel moves and an unstable ownership situation, the Blues finished the 200506 season with their worst record in 27 years. St. Louis businessman Tom Stillman and his band of investment brothers will announce today they have closed a deal to purchase the Blues. The Blues have worn blue and white jerseys with the famous "Blue Note" crest and gold accents since their inception in 1967. The team slipped under .500 the following season and managed just 65 points in 1982-83. [15] The team later traded veteran defenseman Bryce Salvador to the New Jersey Devils for enforcer, and St. Louis native, Cam Janssen. Checks were back in the Checkerdome. The deferred contracts came due just as the Blues' performance began to slip. He had 70 or more goals in three consecutive seasons, including 1990-91 when he scored 86 and the team finished with 105 points. [7] Emile Francis would call it quits on May 2, leaving for the Hartford Whalers to become president and general manager. In addition, the contrasting shoulder yoke was removed. During the 2012 playoffs, they won their first playoff series since 2002, eliminating the San Jose Sharks in five games. St. Louis Blues. They also provided the capital to build the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center), which opened in 1994. 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. After each goal, a bell is rung and each of the goals are counted by the crowd. In the 1999-2000 season, Quenneville's club won 51 games and collected 114 points, capturing the first Presidents' Trophy in franchise history. Following their playoff exit, Ralston authorized the deal to Hunter's renamed company Coliseum Holdings, Ltd. for $12 million on April 21. However, as the season was put on pause due to the pandemic, no team would play the full 82 games. The moves kept sportswriters busy and fans captivated, and often infuriated opposing executives. On December 11, 2006, the Blues fired head coach Mike Kitchen and replaced him with former Los Angeles Kings head coach Andy Murray. 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. After spending the first half of the 200809 season at or near the bottom of the Western Conference standings, the Blues began to turn things around behind the solid goaltending of Chris Mason. Phil Goyette won the Lady Byng Trophy for the Blues in 1970 and New York Rangers castoff Red Berenson became the expansion team's first major star at center. Ralston Purina lost an estimated $1.8 million a year during its six-year ownership of the Blues. 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]. The St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history later that season. Blues Front Office Ownership Tom Stillman, Jerald Kent, Donn Lux, James Cooper, Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, Steve Maritz, Edward Potter, Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Taylor, David Steward, James Kavanaugh, John. The current logo (shown in the infobox), is similar, but with the slightly darker shade of blue used since 1984. John Kelly (son of Dan) and Darren Pang are the current team for television coverage, while Scott Warmann, Alexa Datt, Bernie Federko, and Jamie Rivers present the pre-game and post-game shows. Blues games, many of which were crucial to playoff berths, would often be pre-empted for spring training coverage. They missed the playoffs for only the fourth time in franchise history. During the season, he publicly criticized Gretzky, who entered free agency after the season, declined an offer from the Blues, and took a less lucrative contract with the New York Rangers. While the Blues contended during this time period, they never passed the second round of the playoffs. In 1978-79, the Blues won 18 of 80 games, or just one more than the NFL's 1972 Miami Dophins. On June 17, 2005, the Lauries announced that they would sell the team. 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. "[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. The team started the season by posting a record of 1012 in their first 13 home 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. 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. C Dave Checketts D John Danforth L Bill Laurie O Harry Ornest S SLB Acquisition Holdings LLC Former Blues forward David Perron was brought back on a free agent deal, while defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was named team captain. St Louis Blues Players. 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. They also had strong goaltending led by Mike Liut. Payne was previously the head coach of the Blues top minor league affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League (AHL).[16]. 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. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, 4 killed, 4 critically injured in crash at South Grand Boulevard and Forest Park Avenue, Parents push back on allegations against St. Louis transgender center. Category:St. Louis Blues owners Pages in category "St. Louis Blues owners" The following 5 pages are in this category, out of 5 total. However, longtime Ralston Purina chairman R. Hal Dean said that he only intended to keep the Blues as a Ralston subsidiary only temporarily until a more stable owner could be found who would keep the team in St. Louis. 20 Years Ago, Blur's 'Song 2' Became an Unlikely Sports Anthem", "PLAY GLORIA! Following further contraction, the league stabilized at six teams after 1942. Photo by UPI, St. Louis Blues chairman Mike Shanahan at a game in January of 1987, agonizing from the owner's box. [38] Louie is a blue polar bear and wears a Blues jersey with his name on the back, and the numbers "00". By 1986, the team reached the Campbell Conference Finals against the Flames. The Salomons might have been the most generous employers in sports history. 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. The Blues will receive 27-year-old forward Jakub Vrana . 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]. On March 17, 2011, it was announced that the St. Louis Blues were for sale. The team finished last in the division and disbanded after one season. 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. 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. It also replaced red with navy blue as an accent color. 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. 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]. The Blues took on the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks in the first-round series. When the period of exclusivity expired without a deal, SCP jumped back into the picture. The Blues have a tradition of live organ music. st louis blues traditions. 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. 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. Audience capacity was increased from 12,000 to 15,000 at the Arena, which had been home to the Central Hockey League's St. Louis Braves. 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. This article is about the ice hockey team. In fact, they made it to the conference finals only two times in their streak (1986 and 2001).
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