list of st louis blues owners

The move proved both ill-conceived and ill-timed, as the renamed St. Louis Eagles continued to lose money. 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. It also replaced red with navy blue as an accent color. He returned to California with $3.4 million in profit on the sale of the Blues and $8.2 million in profit on the sale of the Arena. 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 Blues lost more players as Jay Bouwmeester suffered a season-ending injury, and Jaden Schwartz missed a large portion of the season. [36] A second "Reverse Retro" uniform was released in the 202223 season, this time based on the prototype uniforms the team first leaked in 1966 before eventually releasing the more iconic "blue note" uniforms. The remaining staff included the accounting department, scouting staff, and coach Barclay Plager. These are the top-ten point-scorers, goal scorers, and assist leaders in franchise regular-season history. [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. From 1967 to 1984, the Blues jerseys featured a lighter shade of blue along with contrasting shoulder yoke and stripes. DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- St. Louis Blues minority owner David L. Steward was celebrating on the TD Garden ice with his son after the Blues defeated the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of . 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. 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. Jeff Gordon writes: Controlling the Blues is a great honor for diehard fan Tom Stillman. St. Louis has a record of 2-3 in games when bookmakers list them +180 or longer on the moneyline. But the memorable season came to an abrupt end at the hands of the surging Los Angles Kings. The Blues chairman/owner . A corresponding blue jersey was introduced the following season, thus retiring the previous set. However, as the season was put on pause due to the pandemic, no team would play the full 82 games. The Blues jumped to a 31 series lead, but struggled in games 5 and 6. The initial results were not good. For the first time in five years (that is, since the lockout), the Blues were in the playoffs. 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. As part of the expansion, the NHL had agreed to put all of the expansion teams in the new Western Division, an arrangement which was intended to ensure all of the new teams all had an equal chance of reaching the playoffs. 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 navy blue third jersey was kept without any alterations, before it was retired prior the 201617 season. In between seasons and during trade deadlines, the Blues became a must-see attraction. After an ice plant was installed, the minor league St. Louis Flyers began play there in 1929. The Black Hawks owners felt they could establish a "lovable loser" (much like the Cubs) with the St. Louis hockey team. The moves kept sportswriters busy and fans captivated, and often infuriated opposing executives. Ten players reached at least 20 goals, including Wayne Babych, future Hall of Famer Bernie Federko, and team captain Brian Sutter. David Backes was also announced as the new team captain. 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. Weight was again traded in December 2007 to the Anaheim Ducks, along with a minor league player, in exchange for Andy McDonald. 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. Jeremy Rutherford is the lead Blues beat writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The arena quickly became one of the loudest buildings in the NHL, a reputation it maintained throughout its tenure as the Blues' home. 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. The Blues' successes in the late 1960s, however, did not continue into the 1970s. Hull, who had a lengthy feud with Keenan, left for the Dallas Stars in 1998. "[50][51] And it did take them to the Stanley Cup. The jersey introduced the short-lived trumpet logo on the shoulders and featured thin diagonal stripes on the tail and sleeves. At one point, the Salomons cut the team's staff down to three employees. Rivers also fills in on color commentary whenever Pang is on a national TV assignment for the NHL on TNT. Like the other five expansion teams, the Blues' roster consisted primarily of castoffs from the Original Six and players who had previously never managed to break out of the minor leagues. Early life[edit] Laurie grew up in rural Missouri. During the offseason, forward T. J. Oshie was traded to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Troy Brouwer. On June 17, 2005, the Lauries announced that they would sell the team. With Dorothy Lamour, Lloyd Nolan, Tito Guzar, Jerome Cowan. Buck elected to leave the booth after one season, though, and was replaced by another famed announcer in Dan Kelly. Jake Allen was now the starting goaltender for the Blues, while the team also signed former Nashville Predators backup Carter Hutton. 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. 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. 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. [58] Gretzky had previously played for the Blues in 1996, although the Blues did not retire his number prior to its league-wide retirement. Blues current owner Tom Stillman (left) and Carol Salomon, the former wife of original owner Sid Salomon III. 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. He went on to win the Stanley Cup with the Stars the next year, scoring a controversial goal on the Buffalo Sabres' Dominik Hasek to clinch the Cup for Dallas. "[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. Like all NHL teams, the Blues updated their jerseys for the 200708 season with new Rbk Edge jerseys. 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). List Of St Louis Blues Owners. 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. 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. The standard for other teams was 60 players. In 1981, Dean retired. Despite an impressive run into the end of the season, when they gained most points in the league from February 1, when Hitchcock was fired, to the end of the season,[18] the Blues were eliminated in the second round by the Nashville Predators in six games.[19]. Angry at having to play "second fiddle", the Blues elected to leave for KTRS in 2000. Pronger, Doug Weight and Mike Sillinger were all sent packing. Wal-Mart heir Nancy Walton Laurie and her husband Bill purchased the Blues in 1999. While the Blues contended during this time period, they never passed the second round of the playoffs. 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. 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. [22] This resurgence included an eleven-game winning streak between February and March, in large part thanks to the emergence of the eventual Calder Trophy nominee, rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington. Soon after, Ornest sold the Blues to a group led by Michael Shanahan, head of Engineered Support Systems Inc. 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. [15] The team later traded veteran defenseman Bryce Salvador to the New Jersey Devils for enforcer, and St. Louis native, Cam Janssen. Veteran player Al Arbour hastily stepped in to coach the team. But a competing carnival owner hatches a scheme to put an end to the show before it begins. st louis blues traditions. The Blues joined the league in 1967, one of six expansion teams that doubled the size of the NHL from six to 12. Prior to that, he worked at the New York . Mike Keenan was hired as both general manager and coach before the abbreviated 199495 season, with the hope that he could end the postseason turmoil that Blues fans had endured for years. 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. Ryan O'Reilly won the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP. Ralston Purina lost an estimated $1.8 million a year during its six-year ownership of the Blues. The blue jerseys lacked the contrasting yoke until 1979. 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. 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. Attendance had gone from a peak of 18,601 a game in 1972-73 to 10,130. The jersey brought back the contrasting shoulder yoke and returned to the lighter blue of previous eras. Blues Chairman Tom Stillman confirmed . 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. Things got worse after Keenan orchestrated a bold trade to acquire Wayne Gretzky late in the 1995-96 season. Im baffled., Suspect charged in fatal shooting in downtown St. Louis, Former Sweetie Pies TV star Tim Norman gets two life sentences in nephews death, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol slams ump C.B. Following their playoff exit, Ralston authorized the deal to Hunter's renamed company Coliseum Holdings, Ltd. for $12 million on April 21. 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. During the 2012 playoffs, they won their first playoff series since 2002, eliminating the San Jose Sharks in five games. 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. [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. Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game. Photo by Scott C. Dine/St. 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. No sooner had the season ended than Demers departed for Detroit. 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. The Blues took on the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks in the first-round series. None of the previous owners has brought a Stanley Cup championship to St. Louis. [28], In the 201920 season, the Blues suffered an early blow as forward Vladimir Tarasenko suffered a season-ending injury on October 24. In the 1999-2000 season, Quenneville's club won 51 games and collected 114 points, capturing the first Presidents' Trophy in franchise history. Checks were back in the Checkerdome. [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. The Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019 and have the most Stanley Cup playoff appearances outside of the Original Six. Sid Salomon III convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team. Incensed, Ralston Purina sued the NHL, padlocked the Checkerdome and abandoned the franchise, leaving a mess for the league to sort out. He made his debut two days later, wearing number 55 against the Phoenix Coyotes. 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. 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. 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. Photo by Lloyd Spainhower/St. Indeed, many of the Blues' players liked the fact that their families could hear the games on KMOX. The Blues have a tradition of live organ music. On March 24, 2006, the Lauries completed the sale of the Blues and the lease to the Savvis Center to SCP and TowerBrook Capital Partners, L.P., a private equity firm. Among the first things Ornest did during his three-year tenure was change the name of the building back to the "Arena." 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. Off the ice, the cash-poor Checketts operated with an Ornest-like budget; on the ice the team continued to stockpile picks and promise. 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. The team did not even participate in the 1983 NHL draft, forfeiting all of its picks. [44] Beginning in 2018, the win song has been the aforementioned song recorded by The Urge. The Keenan coup wound up being a catastrophe. 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 original owners were successful insurance executive Sid Salomon Jr., his son Sid Salomon III and Robert Wolfson. This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Blues. [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. 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. During that time, Salomon gained a reputation throughout the NHL as the top players' owner. 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. Most NHL teams during the mid-1980s had over 60 players under contract. 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". In the meantime, the franchise was on the brink of financial collapse. It wasn't. 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. Maybe eight will be worth the wait. The Blues would go on to be upset by the North Stars in six games, thus failing to advance past the first round for the first time in franchise history. They also had strong goaltending led by Mike Liut. 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! 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. He is the former owner of the St. Louis Bluesand is the co-chairman of Paige Sports Entertainment. 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]. Attendance plummeted, from 18,560 a game in 2003-04 to 12,520 in 2006-07. 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. 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 Blues have worn blue and white jerseys with the famous "Blue Note" crest and gold accents since their inception in 1967. Early in the morning of trade deadline day, the St. Louis Blues and the Detroit Red Wings agreed to a deal. However, Dean took the losses philosophically, having taken over out of a sense of civic responsibility. Initially, the front of the jersey featured the team name above the crest logo, but was removed in 1987. 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. tickets - by owner. That was the highlight of the Ornest years; the bottom fell out soon after. He has covered the team since the 2005-06 season, including a dozen years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Oct 17, 2016. 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. Tom Stillman becomes the eighth owner in Blues franchise history. After each goal, a bell is rung and each of the goals are counted by the crowd. The team slipped under .500 the following season and managed just 65 points in 1982-83. But with former Blues goaltender and nationally renowned broadcaster John Davidson at the point, they turned the worm. 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. 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. Although perennial postseason contenders for most of their history, the franchise frequently struggled in the playoffs, including consecutive Stanley Cup Finals defeats at the end of their first three seasons. The Blues skated back to KPLR 3 years later. However, St. Louis ended their first-round losing streak by beating Chicago 32 in game 7 of the series. I really respect the fact that he puts the needs of the many ahead of the needs of the few. 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 sale price for the team and building lease was reported to be $100 million. 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. Jeremy Rutherford is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the St. Louis Blues. The moneyline in this contest implies a 35.7% chance for the Blues to win. 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. The moves kept. For instance, Ornest asked many players to defer their salaries to help meet operating costs, but the players always got paid in the end. Blues games, many of which were crucial to playoff berths, would often be pre-empted for spring training coverage. 20 Years Ago, Blur's 'Song 2' Became an Unlikely Sports Anthem", "PLAY GLORIA! 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 team started the season by posting a record of 1012 in their first 13 home games. The team would dominate the postseason awards, as Pronger earned a Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player, Pavol Demitra got the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly play and Quenneville was named coach of the year.

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