St Louis Blues

St Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The name of the team was an inspiration from the famous W. C. Handy song "St. Louis Blues". They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). 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 when the league doubled in size from its Original Six. They are, along with the Los Angeles Kings, one of the two teams from the 1967 Expansion not to have won a Stanley Cup; the Philadelphia Flyers won it in 1974 and 1975, the Pittsburgh Penguins won it in 1991 and 1992 and the North Stars, in 1978 won it in 1999 as the Dallas Stars.

The Blues' remarkable victory in the late 1960s, however, did not continue in the 1970s due to the fact that the playoff format changed and the Chicago Blackhawks were moved into the Western Division to bring strength to the still-inferior division. Further, the Blues lost Bowman, who went to Montreal following a power-sharing dispute with Sid Salomon III, who had a growing interest and an increasing role in team affairs, as well as Hall, Plante, Goyette, and ultimately Berenson, who were lost to retirement or trade. The Berenson trade, however, did bring then-Red Wings star center Garry Unger, who ultimately scored 30 goals in eight consecutive seasons while breaking the NHL's consecutive games played record.

Logo used (1984-98) Ornest ran the Blues on a shoestring budget. However, the players didn't mind, because (according to Sutter) they badly wanted to stay in St. Louis. For instance, he asked many players to defer their salaries to help meet operating costs, but they always got paid in the end. During most of his tenure, the Blues had only 26 players under contract--23 in St. Louis, plus three on their farm team in Montana. Most NHL teams during the mid-1980s had over 60 players under contract. Despite being run on the cheap, the Blues remained competitive even though they never finished more than six games over .500 in Ornest's three years as owner.

Keenan was hired as both general manager and coach prior to a very minimal 1995 season, lauded as the "playoff coach" that could cure the postseason turmoil Blues fans had endured for years. He instituted major changes, among them trades that sent away fan favorites Brendan Shanahan and Curtis Joseph, as well as the acquisition of the legendary but aging Gretzky and goalie Grant Fuhr, both from the falling-apart Los Angeles Kings. In spite of all he was prophesied to accomplish, Keenan's playoff resume with St. Louis included a first-round exit in 1995 and a second-round exit in 1996. Following the disappointing 2005-06 season, which saw the Blues with the worst record in the NHL, the new management focused on rebuilding the franchise. At the beginning of the 2007 season, the Blues looked to be competitive in the Central Division. However, injuries plagued the team all season, and the lack of a sniper hampered them as well. Fan support was sluggish during the first half of the campaign, and the end of the calendar year was capped by an 11-game losing streak. On December 11, 2006, the Blues fired Coach Mike Kitchen and he was replaced by former Los Angeles Kings coach Andy Murray. On January 4, 2007, the Blues had a record of 6-1-3 in their previous 10 games, which was the best in the NHL during that stretch. 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.

Just prior to the 2007 Trade Deadline, the Blues traded Bill Guerin to the San Jose Sharks, Keith Tkachuk to the Atlanta Thrashers, and Dennis Wideman to the Boston Bruins. On June 30, 2007, the Blues signed Tkachuk, after receiving his rights from Atlanta on June 26. Since the Blues acquired exclusive negotiating rights with Tkachuk and resigned him to a two-year deal, Atlanta will now receive a conditional 4th round pick in 2008.

On July 1, 2007, the Blues signed free agent Paul Kariya to a 3 year contract worth $18 million, and also re-signed defenseman Barret Jackman to a one-year contract. On July 9, 2007, after having been put on waivers, Dallas Drake, the Blues' captain for two seasons, signed a one year deal with the Detroit Red Wings, temporarily leaving the captain spot vacant. On July 23, 2007, the Blues traded prospect Carl Soderberg to the Boston Bruins, for goalie Hannu Toivonen.

On September 16, 2007, the Blues had their first pre-season game against the Atlanta Thrashers. The Blues lost 3-1 while Paul Kariya was the only pride of the team in that game when he scored the Blues' only goal. On October 2, 2007 the Blues finalized the season starting roster which included 19 year old rookie David Perron and Steve Wagner. In addition the Blues waived long time center Peter Cajanek. On October 4, 2007, the Alaska Aces agreed to a one-year affiliation extension with the Blues and the Peoria Rivermen.