- 1967
- 1977
- 1983
- 1994
- 2005
- 2019
-
St. Louis Blues Team Formation
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. St. Louis was the last of the six expansion teams to gain entry into the league, chosen over Baltimore at the insistence of the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks ... -
Ralston Purina Ownership
In the meantime, the franchise was on the brink of financial collapse. This was partly due to the pressures of the World Hockey Association, but mostly the result of financial decisions made when the Salomons first acquired the franchise. Deferred contracts came due just as the Blues’ performance began to slip. At one point, the Salomons cut the team’s staff ... -
Harry Ornest Ownership
Purina lost an estimated $1.8 million a year during its six-year ownership of the Blues, but took the losses philosophically, having taken over out of a sense of civic responsibility. In 1983, Purina’s longtime chairman, R. Hal Dean, retired. His successor wanted to refocus on the core pet food business and had no interest in hockey. He saw the Blues ... -
Kiel Center Opens
They also provided the capital to build the Kiel Center (now the Scottrade Center), which opened in 1994. Scottrade Center (originally Kiel Center and formerly Savvis Center) is a 19,150 seat arena located in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, which opened in 1994. It is the home of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League. -
St. Louis Blues Hockey Club, Inc. Ownership
Amid several questionable personnel moves and an unstable ownership situation, the Blues finished the 2005 – 2006 season with their worst record in 27 years. They missed the playoffs for only the fourth time in franchise history. Also, for the first time in club history, the normally excellent support seen by St. Louisans began to fade away, with crowds normally ... -
Stanley Cup Winner 2018 – 2019
The 2019 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) 2018 – 2019 season and the culmination of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Western Conference champion St. Louis Blues defeated the Eastern Conference champion Boston Bruins four games to three to win their first championship, in their 51st season of play, ending the third-longest ...
History of the Blues
The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team is named after the famous W. C. Handy song “Saint Louis Blues,” and plays in the 19,150-seat Scottrade Center in downtown St. Louis. The franchise was founded in 1967 as an expansion team during the league’s original expansion from six to 12 teams. The Blues are the oldest NHL team ever to have won the Stanley Cup.
Established
1967
City
St. Louis
League History
1967 – Present / National Hockey League
Team History
1967 – Present / St. Louis Blues
Nickname
Blues – Owner Sid Saloman Jr. selected the nickname Blues in 1967 after W.C. Handy’s famous 1914 song, “St. Louis Blues.” Mercury and Apollo were two of the other nicknames that were considered.
“The name of the team has to be the Blues,” Salomon said. “It’s part of the city where W.C. Handy composed his famed song while thinking of his girl one morning. No matter where you go in town there’s singing. That’s the spirit of St. Louis.”
Championship
Stanley Cup 1
2019
Arena
2019 - Present / Enterprise Center
2007 – 2018 / Scottrade Center
2000 – 2006 / Savvis Center
1994 – 2000 / Kiel Center
1967 – 1994 / St. Louis Arena
Owner
2012 – Present / St. Louis Blues Hockey Club, Inc.
2005 – 2012 / Dave Checketts
1999 – 2005 / Bill Laurie and Nancy Walton Laurie
1986 – 1999 / Michael Shanahan, Sr.
1983 – 1986 / Harry Ornest
1977 – 1983 / Ralston Purina
1967 – 1977 / Sid Salomon, Jr., Sid Salomon III, and Robert Wolfson
To qualify as the greatest player for this team, the player must have played one season for this team. If not, we will remove the player.
* verifies that player has played for this team as an added player by a fan.
Retired Number
2 / Al MacInnis
3 / Bob Gassoff
5 / Bob Plager
8 / Barclay Plager
11 / Brian Sutter
16 / Brett Hull
24 / Bernie Federko
99 / Wayne Gretzky
*Blue is this team’s history