NHL Team Guide: St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues were founded in 1967 as part of the NHL’s first major expansion after the Original Six era. The team took its name from an old W.C. Handy song called “Saint Louis Blues.” The Blues history is rich, but the franchise has struggled in the postseason.

St. Louis fans can watch the Blues on TV on NBC or NBCSN whenever the team is part of a national broadcast. Regional coverage of Blues games on TV can be found and FOX Sports Midwest. St.  Louis games are also available for streaming on the FOX Sports Go app and YouTubeTV.

NHL Standings

The Blues entered the NHL in the 1967-68 season and were part of the new West Division. After a number of realignments, St. Louis is currently in the Central Division of the Western Conference. The Blues are one of seven current teams in the division. With expansion, St. Louis will be one of eight teams in the Central Division beginning in 2021-22.

Championship History

St. Louis has had its share of success making the postseason in all but nine of the franchise’s 53 seasons. The Blues’ 42 playoff appearances are the most of any team not in the Original Six. In their first three NHL seasons, the Blues advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. They were swept in four games in each series.

St. Louis has won nine division titles: 1968-69, 1969-70, 1976-77, 1980-81, 1984-85, 1986-87, 1999-2000, 2011-12, and 2014-15. The Blues won just one conference championship and that was in 2018-19. St. Louis advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals that year and won the franchise’s first and only Cup with a seven-game victory over Boston. Until that win, the Blues were the oldest franchise to have never won the Stanley Cup.

Home of the Blues

St. Louis plays its home NHL schedule at the Enterprise Center, which is located in downtown St. Louis. The arena opened in 1994 as the Kiel Center and has undergone a series of name changes. For hockey games, the Enterprise Center seats 18,096 fans.

Best of the Blues

The Blues organization has a number of players affiliated with the team in the Hall of Fame but only six that played most of their career in St. Louis. Leading career scorer Bernie Federko played all but one of his 14 NHL (1976-90) seasons in St. Louis. Federko scored 1,073 points in 13 seasons with the Blues. He was the first player who played primarily for the Blues inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Brett Hull and his father Bobby Hull are the only father-son duo to each score 1,000 career NHL points. In 11 seasons in St. Louis, Hull totaled 936 points and a franchise-best 527 goals. He scored a career-high 86 goals in 1990-91.

Brian Sutter is one of the six famous Sutter brothers to have played in the NHL. He spent his entire 12-year career with the Blues where he remains third on the all-time scoring list with 636 points. He is the only Sutter brother to have his jersey retired.

Author: Dan Anderson