32 NHL Cities in 32 Days: St. Louis Blues

Alexis Bazydola
May 26, 2020
5 min read

The Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Since moving out of St. Louis Arena in 1994, the St. Louis Blues have called the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri home. The venue hosts about 175 events per year attracting over 2 million guests. It is also home of the Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament. For a home hockey game, the arena seats just over 18,000 fans. It has also hosted various concerts throughout its history including Bon Jovi, Celine Dion, John Mayer, Carrie Underwood and so many more.

Team History

The St. Louis Blues were added to the NHL franchise list in 1967 when it expanded past its Original Six era. The Blues were able to make the Stanley Cup Finals for their first three seasons but never hoisted the coveted trophy. Fans immediately supported the team and the arena quickly became one of the loudest in the NHL.

The 70s did not prove as successful for the Blues as they lost many of their superstars, including Red Berenson, to trade or retirement. With the playoff format also changing, the Blues saw the Chicago Black Hawks move in to their division. The team was also facing financial hardships. Deferred contracts that had been made at the beginning of their tenure in the league became due and the declined performance on the ice did not help. The team was sold in 1977 to Ralston Purina.

In 1980, the team returned to the playoffs after horrendous seasons the past four years. This would begin their record of appearing in the postseason for the next 25 seasons. In 1981, the team finished with their best record yet and 107 points. Ten of their players reached the 20-goal mark including Bernie Federko and Brian Sutter. Although they were able to find regular season success, the team could not translate this to the playoffs.

More financial troubles hit the Blues throughout the 80s. After losing money each year, Purina decided to sell the team. He found a buyer in Bill Hunter who wanted to move the team to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The NHL Board of Governors rejected this proposal and in turn Purina filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the NHL. The Blues did not send a representative to the 1983 NHL Draft and thus forfeited their picks. The league countersued Purina. In turn, Purina gave an ultimatum that if the league did not accept the offer, he would dissolve the team and sell off the players. The league did not agree with the offer and took control of the team in 1983 as they searched for a new owner. Harry Ornest bought the team in July.

Although Ornest ran the team cheaply, players liked playing for him and the team remained competitive. They did have trouble retaining younger talent, however. In 1986, the team reached the Conference Finals against the Calgary Flames. Although they pushed the series to seven games, they were unable to win the title. After this season, the team was once again sold to Michael Shanahan.

Beginning in the 1990s, the team had acquired greats like Al MacInnis, Brendan Shanahan, Brett Hull and Adam Oates. They were still unable to make it past the second round of the playoffs, but they continued to tout regular season success. They ended the 1990s as the only team to make the playoffs each year but not hoist a Cup.

During the 1999-00 season, the Blues were awarded the Presidents’ Trophy ending their season with 114 points. This team was led by Chris Pronger, Keith Tkachuk, Pierre Turgeon, Al MacInnis and Roman Turek. They were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the San Jose Sharks, however. Their playoff streak ended in 2004 which is still the third longest streak in North American professional sports.

The Blues were purchased in 1999 by Nancy Walton-Laurie and her husband and again in 2006 by SCP Worldwide and TowerBrook Capital Partners, L.P. The team ended the 2005-06 season with the worst record in the league. John Davidson was brought in as president of hockey operations and began the rebuilding period. He acquired Jay McKee, Bill Guerin, Manny LeGace, and Doug Weight. Although the team looked competitive, they became plagued with injuries. Fan support continued to decline.

Davidson continued to press on and worked on the Blues’ development program. Between 2006-07, the team had selected T.J. Oshie, Erik Johnson, and David Perron. The team also traded Bill Guerin, Keith Tkachuk, and Dennis Wideman; signed Paul Kariya and Barret Jackman during the offseason; and acquired Brad Boyes. In 2009, the Blues returned to the playoffs for the first time in five years. The team was quickly swept by the Vancouver Canucks.

In 2012, the Blues became the first team to reach 100 points and clinch a playoff spot after missing out on the postseason since 2009. They won their first playoff series since 2002 when they defeated the San Jose Sharks. The Blues were ultimately eliminated in the second round by the LA Kings in the second round. The team was unable to find their rhythm in the playoffs for many years and continued to work on their roster.

In 2015, T.J. Oshie was traded to the Washington Capitals for Troy Brouwer. In 2016, they returned to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2001. The San Jose Sharks eliminated the Blues in six games. The 2016 offseason saw many roster moves for the Blues as many of their star players left during free agency. With another second-round elimination in 2017, the Blues continued to look for their shot at a Stanley Cup. 2017-18 would not be their season, however, as the team was plagued with injuries.

In November 2018, Craig Berube was promoted to interim head coach after the Blues fired Mike Yeo. For the first time since 1970, the St. Louis Blues advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2019 after besting the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals. They would face the Boston Bruins and take the series all the way to game 7 before finally being able to claim their first ever Stanley Cup title. At the pause of the 2019-20 season, the Blues sit at 2nd in the league with 94 points.

Fanbase & Traditions

One of the biggest traditions during Blues games is their use of the organ. Jeremy Boyer is the organist and plays “St. Louis Blues” by W.C. Handy in entirety before games and a shorter version in between periods. He also plays “When the Saints Go Marching In” replacing “Saints” with “Blues” after the team scores a goal. Beginning in October 2018, “The Blues Have the Urge” by The Urge was introduced as the official goal song and is played after the organ.

Fans are also known to shout “the home of the Blues” instead of “the home of the brave” during the singing of the national anthem. During the 2019 playoff run, “Gloria” by Laura Branigan became the official song of the Blues. It was retired during the raising of their 2019 Stanley Cup banner.

The Blues’ mascot, Louie, was introduced in 2007. He is a blue furred polar bear who was named by the fans.