1967–68 St. Louis Blues season



The 1967–68 St. Louis Blues season was the team's inaugural season in the National Hockey League (NHL). They finished 3rd in the West Division and lost in the 1968 Stanley Cup Finals to the Montreal Canadiens 4 games to 0.

Off-season
The Blues were one of the six new teams added to the NHL in the 1967 expansion. The other franchises were the Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and California Seals. The league doubled in size from its Original Six.

St. Louis was the last of the expansion teams to officially get into the league. The Blues were chosen over Baltimore at the insistence of the Chicago Black Hawks. The Black Hawks were owned at that time by the Wirtz family, who also owned the St. Louis Arena. The team's first owners were insurance tycoon Sid Salomon Jr., his son, Sid Salomon III, and Robert L. Wolfson. Sid Salomon III convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team. Salomon then spent several million dollars on renovations for the 38-year-old Arena, which increased the number of seats from 12,000 to 15,000 and provided its first significant maintenance since the 1940s.

The Blues inaugural jersey colours were blue, white and yellow with a primarily blue home jersey and a primarily white away jersey. The jerseys had three stripes on the arms and body of the blue jersey and five on the white. There were no names on the back, the jersey numbers were outlined and the white jersey had an outlined shoulder yolk. The logo was a blue, white and yellow winged music note. These jerseys would remain in use for this season only.

Expansion Draft
St. Louis Blues selections

Pre-season
The Blues held their training camp in St. Louis.

Regular Season
On October 11, 1967 the Blues played their first game. The Blues and Minnesota North Stars played to a 2–2 tie at the St. Louis Arena with Larry Keenan scoring the first goal in franchise history while Wayne Rivers scored a late goal to tie the game.

Claude Cardin played his only NHL game on November 25, 1967 against the Philadelphia Flyers and was held scoreless.

The Blues were originally coached by Lynn Patrick who resigned in late November and was replaced by Scotty Bowman. Soon after, on November 29, St. Louis made a trade with the New York Rangers that would shape the franchise for the next decade.

Red Berenson and Barclay Plager were acquired for Ron Stewart and Ron Attwell. Both immediately became regulars, both would become captain of the team and Plager would play his entire career for the Blues. Berenson led the Blues in scoring in 1967-68, more than doubling his career point total in only 55 games.

Goalie Don Caley played his only NHL game on December 30, 1967 as the Blues were thrashed 8-1 by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Caley came into the game in relief of Seth Martin with the score 5-0.

Although the league's rules effectively kept star players with the Original Six teams, the Blues were one of the stronger teams in the Western Division. The playoff format required an expansion team to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals which the Blues made.

St. Louis Blues 4, Minnesota North Stars 3
The West Division Final between St. Louis and the Minnesota North Stars was one of the closest seven game series in NHL history. Games 2 (won by Minnesota on Parker MacDonald's goal), 4 (won by St. Louis' Gary Sabourin's goal) and 5 (won by St. Louis' Bill McCreary, Sr.'s goal) all went to overtime. Game 7 went to double overtime and was won by the Blues Ron Schock's breakaway goal.

Montreal Canadiens 4, St. Louis Blues 0
The St. Louis Blues made a series of the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals although they lost in four straight games. Glenn Hall was sensational, especially in game three when the Blues were outshot 46 to 15. Wrote Red Burnett, the dean of hockey writers then: "A number of Hall's saves were seemingly impossible. Experts walked out of the Forum convinced no other goaltender had performed so brilliantly in a losing cause." In the overtime of game three, Hall made a spectacular save on Dick Duff and then, standing on his head, made another save. "It was a heartbreaker to see" said Burnett "After the saves on Duff, Bobby Rousseau came and batted home the second rebound." Hall's heroics won him the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.

However, the Montreal Canadiens was not to be denied and won the Stanley Cup in game four as J.C. Tremblay fired home the winning goal. When the game ended, the fans came on the ice to celebrate, and balloons, hats and programs were thrown from the stands. Jean Beliveau, in a cast and crutches from his broken ankle, with Ralph Backstrom accepted the Cup from NHL president Clarence Campbell and the players did a victory lap with the Cup.

Less than 30 minutes after the Canadiens won the Cup, Canadiens coach Toe Blake announced his retirement. He gave reason that it had been a hard season, but the real reason was that his wife was dying of cancer and he wanted to spent his time with her. The celebration turned to a mournful event with players paying tribute to Blake, many in tears.

Forwards
Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Defencemen
Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Goaltending
Note: GP= Games played; MIN= Minutes; W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against

Forwards
Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Defencemen
Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Goaltending
Note: GP= Games played; MIN= Minutes; W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against

Awards and Records

 * Conn Smythe Trophy: Glenn Hall

Trivia

 * No Blues recorded a hat trick this season.

Video
Blues-Leafs game from December 30, 1967.