Blues owners. 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. 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. They also had strong goaltending led by Mike Liut. [41] However, during the 2019 playoffs, Laura Branigan's "Gloria" was played first before The Urge song. 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. The game against Anaheim was suspended during the first period and postponed to March 11. The Salomons might have been the most generous employers in sports history. Despite defeating the Blackhawks in the 2017 NHL Winter Classic by the score of 41, the Blues fired Hitchcock and promoted Yeo to head coach on February 1, 2017. He has covered the team since the 2005-06 season, including a dozen years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 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. . In hopes of saving the franchise, Francis persuaded St. Louis-based pet food giant Ralston Purina to buy the team, arena, and the $8.8 million debt. This third jersey was unveiled on September 21, 2008, and debuted during a Blues' home game against the Anaheim Ducks on November 21, 2008. They play their home games at the 18,096 seat Enterprise Center in downtown St. Louis, which has been their arena since moving from St. Louis Arena in 1994.[3]. There is a lot of money riding on Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals for St. Louis Blues owner Tom Stillman. A look at the ownership lineage: Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. In the first round of the playoffs, they faced the Vancouver Canucks, to whom they lost in six games. Following the disappointing 200506 season, which saw the Blues with the worst record in the NHL, the new management focused on rebuilding the franchise. Among the first things Ornest did during his three-year tenure was change the name of the building back to the "Arena." [44] Beginning in 2018, the win song has been the aforementioned song recorded by The Urge. [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 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. 20 Years Ago, Blur's 'Song 2' Became an Unlikely Sports Anthem", "PLAY GLORIA! Country Roads has been played during every Home game since, at approximately the 15:00 minute mark of the 3rd Period, regardless of the current score. The original owners were successful insurance executive Sid Salomon Jr., his son Sid Salomon III and Robert Wolfson. The team did not even participate in the 1983 NHL draft, forfeiting all of its picks. After missing the playoffs for the first time in 197374, the Blues ended up in the Smythe Division after a League realignment. [47], The team also has a long tradition of fan-produced programs, sold outside the arena and providing an often biting, sarcastic, humor-filled alternative to team- and League-produced periodicals. After his duties as interim coach for the rest of the 200910 season, Davis Payne was named the 23rd head coach in the Blues' history on April 14. Inductees affiliated with the Blues include 24 former players (six of whom earned their credentials primarily with the Blues) and seven builders of the sport. St. Louis businessman Tom Stillman and his band of investment brothers will announce today they have closed a deal to purchase the Blues. They also provided the capital to build the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center), which opened in 1994. 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. 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. [a] The Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League (AHL) is the team's minor league affiliate. Blues Chairman Tom Stillman confirmed . Blues games, many of which were crucial to playoff berths, would often be pre-empted for spring training coverage. Gretzky, whose wife is a native St. Louisan, personally approved the trade and was prepared to finish his illustrious career with the Blues. The move proved both ill-conceived and ill-timed, as the renamed St. Louis Eagles continued to lose money. Hi I have 4 tickets to the blues game tonight vs the San Jose sharks. In 1984, the Blues drastically redesigned their look, adding red and darkening the shade of blue. [38] Louie is a blue polar bear and wears a Blues jersey with his name on the back, and the numbers "00". Members of the Blues' all-local ownership group include Tom Stillman, Jerald Kent, Donn Lux, James Cooper, Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, Steve Maritz, Edward Potter, Andrew Taylor, David Steward, Jim. Local ownership group aims to 'put the Blues on solid financial footing.'. Former Blues forward David Perron was brought back on a free agent deal, while defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was named team captain. Photo by Lloyd Spainhower/St. After losing Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals, the team beat the San Jose Sharks in Game 2 at Scottrade Center, securing its first playoff game victory since 2004. He is the former owner of the St. Louis Bluesand is the co-chairman of Paige Sports Entertainment. From 1967 until 1994, the team played in the St. Louis Arena (known as The Checkerdome from 1977 until 1983), where the old St. Louis Eagles played, and which the original owners had to buy as a condition of the 1967 NHL expansion. 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. The Checkerboard Square chief even re-painted the fading Arena and re-dubbed it the Checkerdome. However, St. Louis ended their first-round losing streak by beating Chicago 32 in game 7 of the series. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com Photo by J.B. Forbes, staff photographer. 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. On March 17, 2011, it was announced that the St. Louis Blues were for sale. That included Federko, Gassoff, Hull, MacInnis, Bob and Barclay Plager, Pronger and Sutter, along with Kelly, the Blues' legendary broadcaster. 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. He had 70 or more goals in three consecutive seasons, including 1990-91 when he scored 86 and the team finished with 105 points. However, Dean took the losses philosophically, having taken over out of a sense of civic responsibility. #19 St Louis Blues Team Value 1 $880M Calculated December 2022 Owner (s) Tom Stillman Championships 1 Year Purchased 2012 Price Paid $180M Revenue 2 $180M Operating Income 3 $56M Debt/Value 4. The jersey introduced the short-lived trumpet logo on the shoulders and featured thin diagonal stripes on the tail and sleeves. 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. After hockey resumed in 2005, a few months after GNR's final issue, a new publication, St. Louis Game Time, was formed by several former GNR staffers.[49]. Jeremy Rutherford is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the St. Louis Blues. However, for the third straight year, they lost in the first round and in six games. Movies. 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]. Albums. In 1981, Dean retired. St. Louis was the last of the six expansion teams to gain entry into the League; the market was chosen over Baltimore at the insistence of the Black Hawks owners, James D. Norris and Arthur Wirtz. 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. None of the previous owners has brought a Stanley Cup championship to St. Louis. The Blues will receive 27-year-old forward Jakub Vrana . 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. However, St. Louis was swept in their first Finals appearance by the heavily favored Montreal Canadiens. 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. The standard for other teams was 60 players. Keenan instituted major changes, including trades that sent away fan favorites Brendan Shanahan and Curtis Joseph, as well as the acquisition of the legendary-but-aging Wayne Gretzky and goaltender Grant Fuhr, both from the declining Los Angeles Kings. During most of Ornest's tenure, the Blues had only 26 players under contract23 in St. Louis, plus three on their farm team, the Montana Magic. For instance, Ornest asked many players to defer their salaries to help meet operating costs, but the players always got paid in the end. This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Blues. 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. 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. However, as the season was put on pause due to the pandemic, no team would play the full 82 games. Ultimately, it was the Blues who prevailed by winning in seven games each over the Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota North Stars to reach the 1968 Stanley Cup Finals. Boyer also plays the latter song on the organ after Blues goals, with fans replacing the word "Saints" with "Blues. The current logo (shown in the infobox), is similar, but with the slightly darker shade of blue used since 1984. List of former Blues players set to return to St. Louis before the end of the season . [31], For the 201415 season, the Blues made a few tweaks to their jerseys. He was 78. In addition to Jaden Schwartz and Vince Dunn vs. SEA this past Tuesday, . On October 10, the Blues introduced a new mascot, Louie. tickets - by owner. Wal-Mart heir Nancy Walton Laurie and her husband Bill purchased the Blues in 1999. In 201516, the Blues finished in second place in the Central Division to the Dallas Stars. While the fans were stunned, the players were aware of this. That was the highlight of the Ornest years; the bottom fell out soon after. Since the St. Louis Blues were founded in 1967, the team has had a number of owners. 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. st louis blues traditions. In the 1999-2000 season, Quenneville's club won 51 games and collected 114 points, capturing the first Presidents' Trophy in franchise history. However, they never made an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. By 1986, the team reached the Campbell Conference Finals against the Flames. From 1967 to 1984, the Blues jerseys featured a lighter shade of blue along with contrasting shoulder yoke and stripes. 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. The following numbers have been retired from use within the St. Louis Blues: In addition to the aforementioned numbers, the NHL also retired Wayne Gretzky's number 99 from use for all of its members teams, including the Blues, at the 2000 NHL All-Star Game. 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. Goaltending anchors Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante retired, Berenson was traded and "Sid III" began changing coaches and general managers like it was a court order. 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. During the 2012 playoffs, they won their first playoff series since 2002, eliminating the San Jose Sharks in five games. When Red Berenson scored six goals in a game on Nov. 7, 1968, ownership presented the outdoor enthusiast with a new station wagon, a canoe attached to the top and a Browning 20-gauge shotgun inside. On September 2, 2020, the Blues traded goaltender Jake Allen, who had spent ten years in the Blues organization, to the Montreal Canadiens.[29]. 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". While the first Blues teams included fading veterans like Doug Harvey, Don McKenney and Dickie Moore, the goaltending tandem of veterans Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante proved more durable, winning a Vezina Trophy in 1969 behind a sterling defense that featured players like skilled defensive forward Jim Roberts, team captain Al Arbour and hardrock brothers Bob and Barclay Plager. The group spent $2 million to buy the franchise, $4 million to purchase the 38-year-old Arena on Oakland Avenue from Chicago's Bill Wirtz and $2.5 million more to renovate the building. It wasn't. Jeff Gordon writes: Controlling the Blues is a great honor for diehard fan Tom Stillman. The slump haunted them, as they blew a 20 series lead to the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks, losing the first-round series in six games. 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). 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. This ended up being the Blues' last game in the regular season, as the season would be cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic shortly afterwards. The Blues got off to a slow start in their initial 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. New owners take over Blues BY TOM TIMMERMANN May 10, 2012 0 NHL commissioner Gary Bettman (left) introduces new St. Louis Blues majority owner Tom Stillman during a press conference on. Ralston renamed the arena the "Checkerdome." I really respect the fact that he puts the needs of the many ahead of the needs of the few. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Checketts and his group had some serious damage control to perform. In response, the Blues moved back to KMOX starting in the 200607 season. Ornest ran the Blues very cheaply, though the players did not mind. 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]. A new company who had purchased KXOK won the bid for a three-year contract and Kelly moved over from KMOX to do the games on KXOK. The NHL Board of Governors has approved the sale of the St. Louis Blues to a group headed. After the 200405 lockout, the Blues' attendance suffered, but has since improved every year since its all-time low in 200607. The Blues season would come to an end at the hands of the San Jose Sharks, who eliminated them in six games. Early life[edit] Laurie grew up in rural Missouri. Still desperate for a championship, the Blues made another controversial move in 1995, hiring Mike Keenan right off the staff directory of the Stanley Cup winning New York Rangers. Trending. The seats are in section 106 row cc seats 1-4. The Enterprise Center was electric and buzzing with excitement with anticipation of the win. Other players like Patrik Berglund, and Alex Steen did not return in time for the season. This setupKelly as commentator, with either Kyle, Bob Plager, or Noel Picard (whose heavy French-Canadian accent became famous, such as pronouncing owner Sid Salomon III "Sid the Turd" instead of "Third") joining as an analyst, simulcast on KMOX and KPLRcontinued through the 197576 season, then simulcast on KMOX and KDNL-TV for the next three seasons. But the renaissance was short-lived. [55] The seven individuals recognized as builders by the Hall of Fame includes former Blues executives, general managers, head coaches, and owners. By accident", "Pronger steps aside as captain; MacInnis steps in", "Blues retire Plager's No. Following the 198081 season, the television broadcasts moved from KDNL to NBC affiliate KSD-TV for the 198182 season, produced by Sports Network Incorporated (SNI), owned and operated by Greg Maracek who did the broadcasts with Channel 5 sportscaster Ron Jacober. A few months later, in December 1996, both Keenan and executive Jack Quinn were fired. On May 21, the Blues advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1970, defeating the San Jose Sharks in a six-game Western Conference Finals series. Buck elected to leave the booth after one season, though, and was replaced by another famed announcer in Dan Kelly. Tom Stillman becomes the eighth owner in Blues franchise history. The Stanley Cup playoff format changed in such a way that a Western team was no longer guaranteed a Finals berth, and also the Chicago Black Hawks were moved into the Western Division following the 1970 expansion. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . Rivers also fills in on color commentary whenever Pang is on a national TV assignment for the NHL on TNT. The deferred contracts came due just as the Blues' performance began to slip. Photo by Scott C. Dine/St. The team finished last in the division and disbanded after one season. st louis blues - $75 (Saint Louis) wednesday 2023-03-01. number available: 4 venue: enterprise center. Two-year process yields the most desirable outcome in terms of the city's best interest. In the offseason for the 201718 season, the Blues would lose David Perron to the Vegas Golden Knights via an expansion draft. The NHL also said that Ralston broke a league rule that an owner had to give two years' notice before dissolving a franchise. While the Blues remained competitive, they were unable to keep many of their young players. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. Angry at having to play "second fiddle", the Blues elected to leave for KTRS in 2000. The blue jerseys lacked the contrasting yoke until 1979. "[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. He made his debut two days later, wearing number 55 against the Phoenix Coyotes. She runs into the skipper of a showboat who befriends her, and they make plans to put together a musical revue. [55] Dan Kelly, the Blues' radio play-by-play announcer, was awarded the first Blues broadcaster to receive the award in 1989. 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. One of them was Emile Francis, who served as team president, general manager and head coach. "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. The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. [15] The team later traded veteran defenseman Bryce Salvador to the New Jersey Devils for enforcer, and St. Louis native, Cam Janssen. The Berenson trade did bring then-Detroit Red Wings star center Garry Unger, who ultimately scored 30 goals in eight consecutive seasons while breaking the NHL's consecutive games played record. [1] 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). St Louis Blues Players. Dean was the key figure in Ralston Purina's takeover of the St. Louis Blues after the 1976-77 season. The arena was previously known as Scottrade Center, the Savvis Center, and before that as the Kiel Center. They faced the third-seeded Vancouver Canucks in the first round, but despite the team's tremendous run to end the season, the Blues would ultimately lose the series in a quick four-game sweep. 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. Steve Ott also left the team, signing a free-agent deal with the Red Wings. They would finish second in the Western Conference, behind the Vancouver Canucks. However, they were stunned by the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the 2000 playoffs in seven games. Sid Salomon III convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team. [46] All of these traditions carried over to the Kiel Center (now known as Enterprise Center) in 1994. 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. [13] After that season, Ornest sold the team to a group led by St. Louis businessman Michael Shanahan. Under Arbour, the Blues essentially matched their 1969-70 regular season performance in their fourth season, and were still the best of the expansion teams; however, it was only good enough for second place in the West as St. Louis finished twenty points behind Chicago. They treated the players to all-expenses-paid Florida vacations when seasons ended and bought them gold wristwatches for scoring hat tricks, etc. Sutter and Federko were the only untouchables on the Blues during that era. A corresponding blue jersey was introduced the following season, thus retiring the previous set. 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. On June 3, Ralston announced that it had no interest in running the team anymore. Years later, Sutter argued that had the Blues made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, they would have likely beaten the Canadiens, having won two out of three games against the Habs in the regular season. In 201415, the Blues won their second Central Division championship in four years and faced the Minnesota Wild in round one of the 2015 playoffs. 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 are still looking for their first Stanley Cup. [23] On June 12, 2019, the Blues defeated the Bruins 41 in Game 7 to win their first Stanley Cup. 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. However, he resigned as head coach in late November after recording a 4132 record. Follow Jeremy P. Rutherford Center David Backes has been named a finalist for the Frank Selke Trophy as the league's top two-way player. On February 8, 2008, it was announced that, after going much of the season without a captain, defenseman Eric Brewer was chosen as the team's 19th captain. 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. 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. In fact, they made it to the conference finals only two times in their streak (1986 and 2001). Indeed, many of the Blues' players liked the fact that their families could hear the games on KMOX. Things got worse after Keenan orchestrated a bold trade to acquire Wayne Gretzky late in the 1995-96 season. The Blues have a rivalry with the Chicago Blackhawks, with whom they have shared a division since 1970. These are the top-ten point-scorers, goal scorers, and assist leaders in franchise regular-season history. 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. Since the 201920 preseason, WXOS (101 ESPN) has been the flagship radio station for the Blues. 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. The Blues, who have never won the Cup, are marginally profitable during the. After being one of the worst teams a couple of years before, they were one of the best in 1981, as they finished with a then-franchise-best record of 451817 record which translated to 107 points and the second-best record in the league. The next few seasons became like a broken record. Additionally, fans complained they could not hear the station at night (it had to readjust its coverage due to a glut of clear channels on adjacent frequencies). [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. 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. In 2001, the Blues advanced to the Western Conference Finals before bowing out in five games to the eventual champions, the Colorado Avalanche. 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). The jersey brought back the contrasting shoulder yoke and returned to the lighter blue of previous eras. Ralston Purina lost an estimated $1.8 million a year during its six-year ownership of the Blues. The Blues were one of the six teams added to the NHL in the 1967 expansion, along with the . [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. [14] Davidson also installed a strong development program under head scout Jarmo Kekalainen, using the team's raft of high draft picks in 2006 and 2007 to select highly touted prospects such as T. J. Oshie, Erik Johnson and David Perron. In addition, the contrasting shoulder yoke was removed. Before the 199798 season, the Blues introduced a new alternate white jersey. However, in an ironic twist the Cards purchased a controlling interest in KTRS in 2005, and once again preferred to air preseason baseball over regular-season hockey. [58] Gretzky had previously played for the Blues in 1996, although the Blues did not retire his number prior to its league-wide retirement. 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. 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. Dean retired and his successor, William Stiritz, had no interest in continuing the involvement in hockey. They also requested that the court allow them to give up the team and bar the NHL from interfering with the sale of the team. While the Blues contended during this time period, they never passed the second round of the playoffs. The moves kept sportswriters busy and fans captivated, and often infuriated opposing executives. The moves kept. Guided by young coach Joel Quenneville, built on the backline presence of MacInnis and Chris Pronger who came in the Shanahan deal the Blues embarked on one of their most rewarding periods.