What Happens When You Touch God's Anointed, Kobalt Vs Husky Tool Box, Articles L

Ornest immediately reverted the name of the team's home venue to the St. Louis Arena. Sid Salomon III convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team. The Blues' successes in the late 1960s, however, did not continue into the 1970s. In 1981, Dean retired. It was loud enough, TV cameras picked up the song loud and clear. Seriously underwater., Arch Madness: 2023 MVC Basketball Tournament bracket, schedule, game times, TV info, Centene expects to lose millions of Medicaid customers beginning in April, St. Louis man charged in quadruple fatal crash; police say he ran off with his license plate, Neman: Missouri womans saga of trying to find common sense at Walmart, I can still hear the roaring of the engine, says father of teen maimed in downtown St. Louis. 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. The Blues were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Los Angeles Kings, in the following round. 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. [10] Ralston called the counter-suit "ridiculous" and gave the NHL an ultimatum: if the NHL would not accept Hunter's offer by June 14, Ralston would dissolve the team and sell its players and assets to other teams. Trending. The NHL Board of Governors has approved the sale of the St. Louis Blues to a group headed. 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. They waited for an authorization by 75% of the NHL Board of Governors for the sale and transfer of the club. Although they had finished in third place, St. Louis was regarded as fairly evenly matched with the other three Western qualifiers since only four points separated first and fourth place. Aside from Stillman, the ownership group includes Jerald Kent, Donn Lux, James Cooper, Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, Steve Maritz, Edward Potter, Andrew Taylor, David Steward, Jim Kavanaugh, John Danforth,. I really respect the fact that he puts the needs of the many ahead of the needs of the few. 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. The uniforms, which had the team name written around the primitive "blue note" logo along with contrasting stripes, had a gold base.[37]. Following further contraction, the league stabilized at six teams after 1942. 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. A third-round loss to Colorado in 2000-01 was especially deflating. "We've given them the extreme honor, so it's. Sidney Salomon (right) and his son, Sid, express jubilation after the group of nine individuals they head from St. Louis were awarded a conditional franchise from the National Hockey League on April 5, 1966. 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. Maybe eight will be worth the wait. [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. This led to a Norris Division semi-finals exit against the Chicago Black Hawks. In 2001, the Blues advanced to the Western Conference Finals before bowing out in five games to the eventual champions, the Colorado Avalanche. Other players like Patrik Berglund, and Alex Steen did not return in time for the season. In 201516, the Blues finished in second place in the Central Division to the Dallas Stars. Incensed, Ralston Purina sued the NHL, padlocked the Checkerdome and abandoned the franchise, leaving a mess for the league to sort out. The following season, 201314, the team hit the 100-point mark for the sixth time in franchise history, and gained a franchise record of 52 wins. While the Blues remained competitive, they were unable to keep many of their young players. 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. 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. The jersey brought back the contrasting shoulder yoke and returned to the lighter blue of previous eras. They would finish second in the Western Conference, behind the Vancouver Canucks. Jeremy Rutherford is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the St. Louis Blues. Contact Information: print. John Davidson, received the award in 2009 for his contributions in television broadcasting. The broadcasts failed to produce a profit and then returned to KPLR for the 1982 NHL playoffs and the 198283 season before returning to KDNL (currently St. Louis' ABC affiliate) for the 198384 season, the first under the ownership of Harry Ornest. The group becomes the eighth to hold the keys to the franchise since its inception. [24] Up until that point, the Blues were the oldest franchise to never win the Stanley Cup; they were also the last of the five surviving 1967 expansion teams to win the Cup for the first time. Coming off their defeat of the Presidents' Trophy winning Canucks, the Kings ousted the Blues in four games. Off the ice, the cash-poor Checketts operated with an Ornest-like budget; on the ice the team continued to stockpile picks and promise. Behind the solid goaltending of Brian Elliott and scoring heroics of Andy McDonald, the Blues defeated the Sharks in five games, advancing to the conference semifinals. In 201213, the Blues completed the lockout-shortened season in fourth place in the Western Conference. He purchased the team and its player contracts for $3 million in cash and $9 million in two notes. A Broadway musical comedy star tires of the same old grind and flees the city. The team finished last in the division and disbanded after one season. 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. [30] In 201011, the team sold out every home game. 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. The St. Louis Blues are one of the more successful NHL teams in terms of attendance. The move proved both ill-conceived and ill-timed, as the renamed St. Louis Eagles continued to lose money. Figures are updated after each completed NHL season. This third jersey was unveiled on September 21, 2008, and debuted during a Blues' home game against the Anaheim Ducks on November 21, 2008. On June 17, 2005, the Lauries announced that they would sell the team. In addition to Jaden Schwartz and Vince Dunn vs. SEA this past Tuesday, . 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. St. Louis has a record of 2-3 in games when bookmakers list them +180 or longer on the moneyline. Starting after a couple of players heard "Gloria" by Laura Branigan, after their win in Philadelphia on January 3, 2019, the team started to use the song after every home win, and lasted all the way up to their Stanley Cup win. Pronger, Doug Weight and Mike Sillinger were all sent packing. 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. Wal-Mart heir Nancy Walton Laurie and her husband Bill purchased the Blues in 1999. But the roller coaster started to descend in the mid-1970s. Ralston Purina lost an estimated $1.8 million a year during its six-year ownership of the Blues. [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. 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. Nonetheless, their on-ice success was enough for a consortium of 19 companies to buy the team. Ornest ran the Blues very cheaply, though the players did not mind. Subscribe with this special offer to keep reading, (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). Minority owner Wolfson and Blues president Emile Francis persuaded Ralston Purina executive R. Hal Dean to invest in the franchise. During the 2012 playoffs, they won their first playoff series since 2002, eliminating the San Jose Sharks in five games. Minority Owners [ edit] On October 10, the Blues introduced a new mascot, Louie. 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. Buck elected to leave the booth after one season, though, and was replaced by another famed announcer in Dan Kelly. Ornest had made plans to buy the team as early as March, but built up his efforts in late June to have enough money. Especially galling were the frequent blown leads after two periods, and with the worst home record (6133) posted in the entire NHL. 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. Nonetheless, the team remained competitive for the next three years, despite never advancing beyond the second round. 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. 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 sale price for the team and building lease was reported to be $100 million. A corresponding blue jersey was introduced the following season, thus retiring the previous set. The logo used on the Blues' jerseys from 1987 to 1998. The Enterprise Center was electric and buzzing with excitement with anticipation of the win. 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! 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. However, they only won three games on the road during the first two months of the season. None of the previous owners has brought a Stanley Cup championship to St. Louis. During the 3rd Period, The Blues were winning by a large margin against the visiting Nashville Predators. 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. 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. On January 12, 1983, Batoni-Hunter Enterprises Ltd., led by WHA and Edmonton Oilers founder Bill Hunter, tendered an offer to buy the team. KXOK backed out of the contract after just 2 years, and the Blues immediately went back to KMOX, who held the rights until 2000. san jose sharks vs . He was 78. The team did not even participate in the 1983 NHL draft, forfeiting all of its picks. [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. st louis blues traditions. 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]. Only Wayne Gretzky found the net more than Hull during any given three-year period. However, Dean took the losses philosophically, having taken over out of a sense of civic responsibility. 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. However, they never made an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. Jeremy P. Rutherford Sep 29, 2013 Sep 29, 2013; 0; Facebook . [41] However, during the 2019 playoffs, Laura Branigan's "Gloria" was played first before The Urge song. However, the station was never financially competitive in the market. Blues Jump Blues/Piano Blues St. Louis Blues. Nevertheless, the Black Hawks owners still owned the St. Louis Arena. [34] A corresponding vintage white version was unveiled for the 2022 NHL Winter Classic. Albums. The Blues season would come to an end at the hands of the San Jose Sharks, who eliminated them in six games. "[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. An NHL lockout canceled the 2004-05 season and the Lauries put the team up for sale in June 2005, citing losses of more than $60 million over the previous two years. The 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. Doug Wickenheiser's overtime goal in Game 6 to cap a furious comeback remains one of the greatest moments in team history (known locally as the "Monday Night Miracle"), but the Blues lost Game 7, 21. 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 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]. [7] Emile Francis would call it quits on May 2, leaving for the Hartford Whalers to become president and general manager. A few months later, in December 1996, both Keenan and executive Jack Quinn were fired. This setupKelly as commentator, with either Kyle, Bob Plager, or Noel Picard (whose heavy French-Canadian . You have permission to edit this article. While there were a number of interested parties, none had enough cash to meet Ralston's asking price. During the offseason, forward T. J. Oshie was traded to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Troy Brouwer. [55] The seven individuals recognized as builders by the Hall of Fame includes former Blues executives, general managers, head coaches, and owners. 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 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. This list may not reflect recent changes . st louis blues traditions. In 200910, despite not having a playoff year, the Blues had an average attendance of 18,883 (98.6% total capacity), selling out 34 of its 40 home games, which placed them seventh in the NHL in attendance. 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. 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. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season. 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. They also provided the capital to build the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center), which opened in 1994. [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. [25] This all but assured that Berube would have the "interim" tag removed from his title, which occurred two weeks after their Cup victory. During this time, Doug Gilmour, drafted by St. Louis in 1982, emerged as a star. "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. C Dave Checketts D John Danforth L Bill Laurie O Harry Ornest S SLB Acquisition Holdings LLC [a] The Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League (AHL) is the team's minor league affiliate. During that time, Salomon gained a reputation throughout the NHL as the top players' owner. [23] On June 12, 2019, the Blues defeated the Bruins 41 in Game 7 to win their first Stanley Cup. However, St. Louis was swept in their first Finals appearance by the heavily favored Montreal Canadiens. 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 Salomons sold the Blues to Ralston on July 27, 1977. 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 . 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. Eventually, the St. Louis Arena came under the control of the owners of the Chicago Black Hawks. Gretzky, whose wife is a native St. Louisan, personally approved the trade and was prepared to finish his illustrious career with the Blues. Declining revenue reached a critical stage by the end of the 1976-77 season, and the Blues reduced their management staff to three. [11] The Board of Governors rejected the offer and "terminated" the team on June 13, one day before Ralston's supposed deadline. The navy blue third jersey was kept without any alterations, before it was retired prior the 201617 season. 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. Angry at having to play "second fiddle", the Blues elected to leave for KTRS in 2000. The Blues ended the 1990s as the only NHL team to make the playoffs for the entire decade, although a Stanley Cup title still eluded the franchise. 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. 0. 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. 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. 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 cash-poor Ornest then ran the franchise on a skeletal budget. League president John Ziegler said they would try to keep the team in St. Louis. Their chance of winning the Central Division title, the top seed in the West, and the Presidents' Trophy would all evaporate, after they lost their final six games and wound up in second place in the Division, this time to the Colorado Avalanche. October 1, 2019. (Jeremy Rutherford photo / Post-Dispatch) Jeremy P. Rutherford , Tom . The day after the draft, the NHL filed a $78 million counter-suit against Ralston, accusing Ralston of "damaging the league by willfully, wantonly and maliciously collapsing its St. Louis Blues hockey operation." On June 13, 2016, it was announced that Mike Yeo would replace Hitchcock as head coach of the Blues following the 201617 season. Jeremy Rutherford is the lead Blues beat writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. From 1967 to 1984, the Blues jerseys featured a lighter shade of blue along with contrasting shoulder yoke and stripes. Although the St. Louis Arena was not originally designed with hockey in mind, it met NHL standards of the era for size and had good sight lines for the game. Bill Laurie, a former point guard at Memphis State University, had long desired to buy and move a National Basketball Association (NBA) team to St. Louis (coming close to achieving this in 1999, with an unsuccessful attempt to purchase the then-Vancouver Grizzlies), and it was thought that this desire caused him to neglect the Blues. Caron was reinstated as interim general manager for the rest of the season, and general manager Larry Pleau was hired on June 9, 1997. [13] After that season, Ornest sold the team to a group led by St. Louis businessman Michael Shanahan. On November 14, 2005, the Blues announced that SCP Worldwide had officially withdrawn from negotiations to buy the team. 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. 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". 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. While the Blues had returned to respectability on the ice, they were struggling off it. 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 December 27, 2005, it was announced that the Blues had signed a letter of intent to exclusively negotiate with General Sports and Entertainment, LLC. 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). 27 febrero, 2023 . The Blues had remained in strong form throughout the season, finishing first in the Western Conference and second in the NHL. He was introduced on October 10, 2007. They treated the players to all-expenses-paid Florida vacations when seasons ended and bought them gold wristwatches for scoring hat tricks, etc. 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. The team is named after the famous W. C. Handy song "St. Louis Blues", and plays in the 19,150-seat Scottrade Center in downtown St. Louis. 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. They missed the playoffs for only the fourth time in franchise history. They also had strong goaltending led by Mike Liut. In 1985, Ornest, wanting more broadcast revenue, put the radio rights up for bid. List of former Blues players set to return to St. Louis before the end of the season . 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. 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. The moves kept. [17] During the 2011 NHL offseason, the team signed many key free agents, including Brian Elliott, Scott Nichol, Kent Huskins, Jason Arnott and Jamie Langenbrunner. 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. Chris Kerber and Joe Vitale are the current radio broadcast team. 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 have a rivalry with the Chicago Blackhawks, with whom they have shared a division since 1970. 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. Finally, in March 2006, the Lauries completed the sale of the team and the Savvis Center lease to SCP and a private equity firm, TowerBrook Capital Partners, L.P. However, injuries plagued the team all season, and the lack of a bona fide scorer hampered them as well. Under new management, the Blues promptly installed John Davidson as president of hockey operations, moving Pleau to a mostly advisory role. Team owner puts St. Louis Blues up for sale 5 is #1 Show Me 5 Sally Sally Jessy Raphael at KSDK Today In St. Louis Be the first to know Making a Difference Mike Bush Fantasy Baseball. The Blues have worn blue and white jerseys with the famous "Blue Note" crest and gold accents since their inception in 1967. Tom Stillman becomes the eighth owner in Blues franchise history. 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. It has an urban feeling, with little of the rural atmosphere that distinguishes country-blues. 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. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com Photo by J.B. Forbes, staff photographer. Menu. After Dan Kelly's death, Ken Wilson became St. Louis Blues' lead television play-by-play announcer alongside former Blues' players Joe Micheletti and Bruce Affleck. On June 3, Ralston announced that it had no interest in running the team anymore. In the 1999-2000 season, Quenneville's club won 51 games and collected 114 points, capturing the first Presidents' Trophy in franchise history. The Checkerboard Square chief even re-painted the fading Arena and re-dubbed it the Checkerdome. However, as the season was put on pause due to the pandemic, no team would play the full 82 games. The team started the season by posting a record of 1012 in their first 13 home games. For the song, see. 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. Ten days before the deadline NHL President John Ziegler set for dissolving the franchise, Los Angeles-based entrepreneur Harry Ornest stepped up with the only formal bid. 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 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. 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.