list of st louis blues owners

[33] For the 201819 season, the Blues added a third jersey based on the one worn during the 2017 NHL Winter Classic. 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. 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. 0. 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. Only Wayne Gretzky found the net more than Hull during any given three-year period. They treated the players to all-expenses-paid Florida vacations when seasons ended and bought them gold wristwatches for scoring hat tricks, etc. The team finished last in the division and disbanded after one season. "[42], Starting in 2014, the team introduced a win song in the form of Pitbull's "Don't Stop The Party",[43] but from 2016 to 2018, the win song was "Song 2" by Blur after public backlash against using a Pitbull song. 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. The logo used on the Blues' jerseys from 1987 to 1998. The uniforms, which had the team name written around the primitive "blue note" logo along with contrasting stripes, had a gold base.[37]. In the offseason for the 201718 season, the Blues would lose David Perron to the Vegas Golden Knights via an expansion draft. Chris Kerber and Joe Vitale are the current radio broadcast team. 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. 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. This list may not reflect recent changes . * current Blues player 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. The deferred contracts came due just as the Blues' performance began to slip. The latest STL Blues hockey news, NHL headlines, scores, standings and rosters. Oct 17, 2016. He purchased the team and its player contracts for $3 million in cash and $9 million in two notes. The emotional win two days earlier notwitstanding, the Blues lost Game 7 of the playoffs in Calgary, falling short of the Cup finals. The team started the season by posting a record of 1012 in their first 13 home games. During the late 1990s, the Blues nurtured a new identity. The NHL also said that Ralston broke a league rule that an owner had to give two years' notice before dissolving a franchise. 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. The moves kept sportswriters busy and fans captivated, and often infuriated opposing executives. This led to a Norris Division semi-finals exit against the Chicago Black Hawks. [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. Steve Ott also left the team, signing a free-agent deal with the Red Wings. However, they were swept in the Stanley Cup Finals by the Montreal Canadiens in 1969 and then by the Boston Bruins in 1970. However, for the third straight year, they lost in the first round and in six games. Early in the morning of trade deadline day, the St. Louis Blues and the Detroit Red Wings agreed to a deal. 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. Subscribe with this special offer to keep reading, (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). 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. However, after the period of exclusivity, SCP entered the picture again. 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 Blues took on the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks in the first-round series. Contact Information: print. 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. During the 2012 playoffs, they won their first playoff series since 2002, eliminating the San Jose Sharks in five games. Brad Boyes, picked up from the Boston Bruins in exchange for Wideman, became the fastest Blues player to reach 40 goals since Brett Hull, doing so during the 200708 season. The elder Salomon was not enthralled with the idea of owning a hockey team initially, but his son persuaded him to take the plunge. In 1980-81, with Berenson behind the bench, the Blues had a 107-point season and put hockey back on the St. Louis radar. Off the ice, the cash-poor Checketts operated with an Ornest-like budget; on the ice the team continued to stockpile picks and promise. [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. 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. 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. 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). Caron was reinstated as interim general manager for the rest of the season, and general manager Larry Pleau was hired on June 9, 1997. 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. 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). "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. Gretzky, whose wife is a native St. Louisan, personally approved the trade and was prepared to finish his illustrious career with the Blues. This third jersey was unveiled on September 21, 2008, and debuted during a Blues' home game against the Anaheim Ducks on November 21, 2008. The arena quickly became one of the loudest buildings in the NHL, a reputation it maintained throughout its tenure as the Blues' home. Ultimately, Keenan's playoff resume with St. Louis included a first-round exit in 1995 and a second-round exit in 1996, and he was fired on December 19, 1996. 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. In 1984, the Blues drastically redesigned their look, adding red and darkening the shade of blue. The Blues play in the 19,150 (not counting standing room) capacity Enterprise Center, where they have played since 1994. At the beginning of the 200607 season, the Blues looked to be competitive in the Central Division. The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, Missouri. Instead, a Return to Play tournament was organized, starting in August 2020. 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." Arbour, who officially retired as a player after the 197071 season, would remain behind the Blues' bench for the next two seasons. The blue jerseys lacked the contrasting yoke until 1979. Despite these losses, the Blues raced out to a 2182 start in their first 31 games. [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. He was replaced by assistant coach Scotty Bowman, who thereafter led the team to a winning record for the rest of the season. 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. 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]. 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 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. 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. The next few seasons became like a broken record. The Blues remain 0-12 in Stanley Cup finals play. October 1, 2019. 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. 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 St. Louis Blues are one of the more successful NHL teams in terms of attendance. 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. The navy blue third jersey was kept without any alterations, before it was retired prior the 201617 season. Local ownership group aims to 'put the Blues on solid financial footing.'. 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. Jeremy Rutherford is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the St. Louis Blues. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . Buck elected to leave the booth after one season, though, and was replaced by another famed announcer in Dan Kelly. 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. #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. 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. 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). The Blues missed the playoffs during the first four full seasons of new ownership. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. 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. However, injuries plagued the team all season, and the lack of a bona fide scorer hampered them as well. 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. The season of 200809 saw the Blues play their last game on KPLR, which had the rights since the 198687 season (except for the 199697 season on CBS affiliate KMOV), electing to move all their games to FS Midwest, starting with the 200910 season. 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 1986, the team reached the Campbell Conference finals and produced one of its signature moments, a "Monday Night Miracle" comeback victory in Game 6. The bottom of the numbers taper off to give way to the aforementioned stripes. post; account; . There is a lot of money riding on Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals for St. Louis Blues owner Tom Stillman. [46] All of these traditions carried over to the Kiel Center (now known as Enterprise Center) in 1994. On October 2, 2007, the Blues finalized the season-starting roster, which included rookies David Perron, Steven Wagner and Erik Johnson. 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. 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. 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. While there were a number of interested parties, none had enough cash to meet Ralston's asking price. 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. Nonetheless, their on-ice success was enough for a consortium of 19 companies to buy the team. However, they never made an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. The cash-poor Ornest then ran the franchise on a skeletal budget. Two-year process yields the most desirable outcome in terms of the city's best interest. Ten players reached at least 20 goals, including Wayne Babych, future Hall of Famer Bernie Federko, and team captain Brian Sutter. Coming off their defeat of the Presidents' Trophy winning Canucks, the Kings ousted the Blues in four games. However, St. Louis was swept in their first Finals appearance by the heavily favored Montreal Canadiens. 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. 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 Blues were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Los Angeles Kings, in the following round. Among the first things Ornest did during his three-year tenure was change the name of the building back to the "Arena." 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. The Blues got off to a slow start in their initial season. Buck elected to leave the booth after one season, though, and was replaced by another famed announcer in Dan Kelly. It also replaced red with navy blue as an accent color. That was the highlight of the Ornest years; the bottom fell out soon after. By 1986, the team reached the Campbell Conference Finals against the Flames. They missed the playoffs for only the fourth time in franchise history. The Salomons sold the Blues to Ralston on July 27, 1977. However, they only won three games on the road during the first two months of the season. During this time, Doug Gilmour, drafted by St. Louis in 1982, emerged as a star. Ralston renamed the arena the "Checkerdome." 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 Blues jumped to a 31 series lead, but struggled in games 5 and 6. To this day, in terms of contention, the Salomon group remains the most successful of the Blues owners. [11] The Board of Governors rejected the offer and "terminated" the team on June 13, one day before Ralston's supposed deadline. John Davidson, received the award in 2009 for his contributions in television broadcasting. However, they would continue their strong play even despite being plagued with various other injuries, consistently remaining at or near the top of the Western Conference. 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 Blues fired head coach Andy Murray on January 2, 2010, after a disappointing record (17176, 40 points), sitting in 12th place in the Conference. (Jeremy Rutherford photo / Post-Dispatch) Jeremy P. Rutherford , Tom . They would also pick up Brayden Schenn from the Philadelphia Flyers by giving away Jori Lehtera. Ryan O'Reilly won the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP. 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. The Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019 and have the most Stanley Cup playoff appearances outside of the Original Six. 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. Nevertheless, the Black Hawks owners still owned the St. Louis Arena. 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. In fact, several of the Blues' young stars, such as Rob Ramage, Joe Mullen and Gilmour, were main cogs in the Flames' 1989 Stanley Cup win. But from late December through January the Blues lost only twice in 16 games and grabbed a foothold. 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". [23] On June 12, 2019, the Blues defeated the Bruins 41 in Game 7 to win their first Stanley Cup. On June 17, 2005, the Lauries announced that they would sell the team. In 2001, the Blues advanced to the Western Conference Finals before bowing out in five games to the eventual champions, the Colorado Avalanche. When the period of exclusivity expired without a deal, SCP jumped back into the picture. 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 . Boyer also plays the latter song on the organ after Blues goals, with fans replacing the word "Saints" with "Blues. On November 14, 2005, the Blues announced that SCP Worldwide had officially withdrawn from negotiations to buy the team. During the offseason, forward T. J. Oshie was traded to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Troy Brouwer. In 1981, Dean retired. {{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. 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. Hull, who had a lengthy feud with Keenan, left for the Dallas Stars in 1998. 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. 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. The Blues season would come to an end at the hands of the San Jose Sharks, who eliminated them in six games. 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. Dean told employes that the St. Louis-based firm had completed its second best fiscal year. Minority owner Wolfson and Blues president Emile Francis persuaded Ralston Purina executive R. Hal Dean to invest in the franchise. [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. 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. After two awful years, including what is still a franchise-worst 185012 record with 48 points in 1979, the Blues made the playoffs the following year, the first of 25 consecutive postseason appearances. Early life[edit] Laurie grew up in rural Missouri. The Blues' successes in the late 1960s, however, did not continue into the 1970s. 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. [44] Beginning in 2018, the win song has been the aforementioned song recorded by The Urge. While the Blues had returned to respectability on the ice, they were struggling off it. 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.

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