1995–96 St. Louis Blues season

1995–96 St. Louis Blues
Division	4th Central
Conference	5th Western
1995–96 record	32–34–16
Home record	15–17–9
Road record	17–17–7
Goals for	219
Goals against	248
Team information
General manager	Mike Keenan
Coach	Mike Keenan
Captain	Brett Hull (Oct) Shayne Corson (Oct-Feb) Wayne Gretzky (Feb-Apr)
Alternate captains	Shayne Corson (Oct, Feb-Apr) Brett Hull (Feb-Apr) Al MacInnis
Arena	Kiel Center
Team leaders
Goals	Brett Hull (43)
Assists	Al MacInnis (44)
Points	Brett Hull (83)
Penalty minutes	Shayne Corson (192)
Wins	Grant Fuhr (30)
Goals against average	Grant Fuhr (2.87)

The 1995–96 St. Louis Blues season was the 39th in franchise history. The Blues moved to a new facility, the Kiel Center, and hired Mike Keenan as coach and general manager. The hard nosed Keenan rubbed many Blues players the wrong way, but brought a tough, winning style of play. One of Keenan's first moves was trading Brendan Shanahan to the Hartford Whalers for Chris Pronger. With Brett Hull in Keenan's dog house, the general manager made a bold move by acquiring Wayne Gretzky for the 1995–96 stretch run, reuniting him with former Oilers such as Glenn Anderson, Charlie Huddy, Craig MacTavish, Grant Fuhr, Igor Kravchuk, Shayne Corson and others. The 'Great One' couldn't do a whole lot during his limited time in St. Louis once goalie Grant Fuhr was hurt in the final game of the regular season. The Blues defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Western Conference Quarter-finals. It would be the last playoff series ever played at Maple Leaf Gardens. In the Western Conference Semi-finals, the Blues played the President's Trophy winners, the Detroit Red Wings.

Regular season

Wayne Gretzky trade

On February 27, the St. Louis Blues acquired Wayne Gretzky from the Los Angeles Kings for Craig Johnson, Patrice Tardif, Roman Vopat and draft picks. In 18 regular season games with the Blues, Gretzky notched 21 points as the Blues qualified for the playoffs for the 17th straight season with a record of 32–34–16. He scored 37 points in 31 games for the team in both the regular season and the playoffs, and the Blues came within one overtime game of the Conference finals. He also served as the team's captain in his short tenure with the Blues. despite reuniting with former Edmonton Oilers teammates Glenn Anderson, Grant Fuhr, and Craig Mactivish, who Gretzky has not played with since the 1988 Stanley Cup win, he never clicked with the team or with his new right-winger, “The Golden Brett” Hull, on the ice as well as many had expected. On July 12, he signed with the New York Rangers as a free agent, rejoining longtime Oilers teammate Mark Messier.

Final standings

Central Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	Detroit Red Wings	82	62	13	7	325	181	131
2	3	Chicago Blackhawks	82	40	28	14	273	220	94
3	4	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	34	36	12	247	252	80
4	5	St. Louis Blues	82	32	34	16	219	248	80
5	8	Winnipeg Jets	82	36	40	6	275	291	78
6	12	Dallas Stars	82	26	42	14	227	280	66

Game log

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 7, 1995	1–4	@ Washington Capitals (1995–96)	0–1–0
2	W	October 10, 1995	5–3	Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)	1–1–0
3	W	October 12, 1995	3–1	@ Dallas Stars (1995–96)	2–1–0
4	W	October 14, 1995	4–1	Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)	3–1–0
5	L	October 17, 1995	4–7	Boston Bruins (1995–96)	3–2–0
6	T	October 19, 1995	1–1 OT	Dallas Stars (1995–96)	3–2–1
7	L	October 21, 1995	1–4	Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)	3–3–1
8	L	October 22, 1995	2–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)	3–4–1
9	W	October 25, 1995	4–2	@ Hartford Whalers (1995–96)	4–4–1
10	W	October 27, 1995	4–2	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)	5–4–1
11	L	October 29, 1995	1–3	Washington Capitals (1995–96)	5–5–1
12	L	November 1, 1995	0–3	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)	5–6–1
13	L	November 4, 1995	3–7	@ San Jose Sharks (1995–96)	5–7–1
14	L	November 7, 1995	0–1	Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)	5–8–1
15	W	November 10, 1995	3–2	Winnipeg Jets (1995–96)	6–8–1
16	W	November 11, 1995	4–1	@ New York Islanders (1995–96)	7–8–1
17	T	November 14, 1995	1–1 OT	New York Rangers (1995–96)	7–8–2
18	W	November 16, 1995	3–1	San Jose Sharks (1995–96)	8–8–2
19	L	November 18, 1995	2–5	@ Boston Bruins (1995–96)	8–9–2
20	L	November 21, 1995	2–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)	8–10–2
21	L	November 23, 1995	2–3	Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)	8–11–2
22	T	November 25, 1995	2–2 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)	8–11–3
23	L	November 27, 1995	0–2	Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)	8–12–3
24	W	November 29, 1995	5–4	Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)	9–12–3
25	W	November 30, 1995	4–1	@ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96)	10–12–3
26	W	December 2, 1995	7–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)	11–12–3
27	T	December 5, 1995	1–1 OT	@ Calgary Flames (1995–96)	11–12–4
28	W	December 8, 1995	6–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)	12–12–4
29	W	December 9, 1995	2–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)	13–12–4
30	L	December 12, 1995	2–5	Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)	13–13–4
31	T	December 14, 1995	3–3 OT	Calgary Flames (1995–96)	13–13–5
32	W	December 16, 1995	3–2	San Jose Sharks (1995–96)	14–13–5
33	W	December 19, 1995	4–1	New York Islanders (1995–96)	15–13–5
34	L	December 22, 1995	1–2	@ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)	15–14–5
35	L	December 23, 1995	1–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96)	15–15–5
36	L	December 26, 1995	2–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)	15–16–5
37	W	December 28, 1995	4–1	Dallas Stars (1995–96)	16–16–5
38	L	December 30, 1995	3–4 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)	16–17–5
39	W	January 4, 1996	3–1	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)	17–17–5
40	W	January 6, 1996	3–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)	18–17–5
41	L	January 9, 1996	2–4	@ New Jersey Devils (1995–96)	18–18–5
42	T	January 11, 1996	4–4 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)	18–18–6
43	T	January 13, 1996	3–3 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)	18–18–7
44	T	January 14, 1996	3–3 OT	@ New York Rangers (1995–96)	18–18–8
45	L	January 16, 1996	1–5	Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)	18–19–8
46	W	January 24, 1996	6–5	@ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96)	19–19–8
47	W	January 27, 1996	2–1	Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)	20–19–8
48	L	January 29, 1996	2–4	@ Ottawa Senators (1995–96)	20–20–8
49	W	January 31, 1996	4–0	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)	21–20–8
50	T	February 1, 1996	2–2 OT	Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)	21–20–9
51	L	February 3, 1996	3–7	Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)	21–21–9
52	L	February 6, 1996	2–5	Dallas Stars (1995–96)	21–22–9
53	L	February 8, 1996	1–6	Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)	21–23–9
54	W	February 10, 1996	6–3	@ Dallas Stars (1995–96)	22–23–9
55	T	February 11, 1996	2–2 OT	@ Florida Panthers (1995–96)	22–23–10
56	W	February 13, 1996	3–2	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)	23–23–10
57	W	February 16, 1996	4–3	Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)	24–23–10
58	W	February 18, 1996	3–0	Winnipeg Jets (1995–96)	25–23–10
59	L	February 20, 1996	1–7	Ottawa Senators (1995–96)	25–24–10
60	W	February 22, 1996	4–3 OT	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)	26–24–10
61	T	February 24, 1996	2–2 OT	Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)	26–24–11
62	T	February 29, 1996	2–2 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)	26–24–12
63	W	March 3, 1996	4–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)	27–24–12
64	W	March 5, 1996	2–0	Florida Panthers (1995–96)	28–24–12
65	L	March 7, 1996	2–4	Calgary Flames (1995–96)	28–25–12
66	W	March 9, 1996	6–3	Hartford Whalers (1995–96)	29–25–12
67	L	March 12, 1996	2–4	@ Calgary Flames (1995–96)	29–26–12
68	W	March 15, 1996	4–2	@ San Jose Sharks (1995–96)	30–26–12
69	L	March 17, 1996	1–5	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)	30–27–12
70	W	March 18, 1996	3–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)	31–27–12
71	L	March 20, 1996	1–2	@ Dallas Stars (1995–96)	31–28–12
72	L	March 22, 1996	1–6	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)	31–29–12
73	T	March 24, 1996	2–2 OT	Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)	31–29–13
74	L	March 26, 1996	4–8	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)	31–30–13
75	T	March 28, 1996	4–4 OT	New Jersey Devils (1995–96)	31–30–14
76	L	March 31, 1996	1–8	@ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)	31–31–14
77	W	April 3, 1996	6–3	@ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)	32–31–14
78	L	April 4, 1996	1–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)	32–32–14
79	L	April 6, 1996	1–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)	32–33–14
80	T	April 8, 1996	2–2 OT	Winnipeg Jets (1995–96)	32–33–15
81	L	April 11, 1996	2–3	Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)	32–34–15
82	T	April 14, 1996	2–2 OT	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)	32–34–16

Playoffs

In the playoffs Gretzky would provide a spark as the Blues overcame an injury to goalie Grant Fuhr in Game 1 to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in 6 games. Backup goalie Jon Casey continued to keep the Blues hopes alive as they jumped out to a 3–2 series lead against the Detroit Red Wings. However, the Wings would rally and win the series in double overtime in Game 7 on Steve Yzerman's goal.

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Hull, BrettBrett Hull	RW	70	43	40	83	30	4	16	5	6
MacInnis, AlAl MacInnis	D	82	17	44	61	88	5	9	1	1
Corson, ShayneShayne Corson	LW	77	18	28	46	192	3	13	0	0
Hawerchuk, DaleDale Hawerchuk	C	66	13	28	41	22	5	5	0	1
Courtnall, GeoffGeoff Courtnall	LW	69	24	16	40	101	-9	7	1	1
Noonan, BrianBrian Noonan	RW	81	13	22	35	84	2	3	1	6
Pronger, ChrisChris Pronger	D	78	7	18	25	110	-18	3	1	1
Creighton, AdamAdam Creighton	C	61	11	10	21	78	0	2	0	3
Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky	C	18	8	13	21	2	-6	1	1	1
Zezel, PeterPeter Zezel	C	57	8	13	21	12	-2	2	0	1
Matteau, StephaneStephane Matteau	LW	46	7	13	20	65	-4	3	0	2
Johnson, CraigCraig Johnson	LW	49	8	7	15	30	-4	1	0	0
Hudson, MikeMike Hudson	C/LW	32	3	12	15	26	7	0	0	0
Kravchuk, IgorIgor Kravchuk	D	40	3	12	15	24	-6	0	0	1
Norton, JeffJeff Norton	D	36	4	7	11	26	4	0	0	1
Baron, MurrayMurray Baron	D	82	2	9	11	190	3	0	0	0
Pearson, RobRob Pearson	RW	27	6	4	10	54	4	1	0	1
Olsson, ChristerChrister Olsson	D	26	2	8	10	14	-6	2	0	0
Laperriere, IanIan Laperriere	RW	33	3	6	9	87	-4	1	0	1
Roberts, DavidDavid Roberts	LW	28	1	6	7	12	-7	1	0	1
Leach, StephenStephen Leach	RW	14	2	4	6	22	-3	0	0	0
Twist, TonyTony Twist	LW	51	3	2	5	100	-1	0	0	1
Vopat, RomanRoman Vopat	C	25	2	3	5	48	-8	1	0	1
Tikkanen, EsaEsa Tikkanen	LW	11	1	4	5	18	1	0	1	0
Anderson, GlennGlenn Anderson	RW	15	2	2	4	6	-11	2	0	0
Daigneault, J. J.J. J. Daigneault	D	37	1	3	4	24	-6	0	0	0
Chasse, DenisDenis Chasse	RW	42	3	0	3	108	-9	1	0	1
Tardif, PatricePatrice Tardif	C	23	3	0	3	12	-2	0	0	1
Wells, JayJay Wells	D	76	0	3	3	67	-8	0	0	0
McRae, BasilBasil McRae	LW	18	1	1	2	40	-5	0	0	0
Broten, PaulPaul Broten	RW	17	0	1	1	4	-1	0	0	0
Eakins, DallasDallas Eakins	D	16	0	1	1	34	-2	0	0	0
Fuhr, GrantGrant Fuhr	G	79	0	1	1	8	0	0	0	0
Gilbert, GregGreg Gilbert	LW	17	0	1	1	8	-1	0	0	0
Khmylev, YuriYuri Khmylev	LW	7	0	1	1	0	-5	0	0	0
MacTavish, CraigCraig MacTavish	C	13	0	1	1	8	-6	0	0	0
Casey, JonJon Casey	G	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dufresne, DonaldDonald Dufresne	D	3	0	0	0	4	-2	0	0	0
Huddy, CharlieCharlie Huddy	D	12	0	0	0	6	-7	0	0	0
Jablonski, PatPat Jablonski	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Knipscheer, FredFred Knipscheer	C	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Racine, BruceBruce Racine	G	11	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Rivers, JamieJamie Rivers	D	3	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0
Sawyer, KevinKevin Sawyer	LW	6	0	0	0	23	-2	0	0	0
Sutton, KenKen Sutton	D	6	0	0	0	4	-1	0	0	0
Vasilevski, AlexanderAlexander Vasilevski	RW	1	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Fuhr, GrantGrant Fuhr	4365	79	30	28	16	209	2.87	3	2157	1948	.903
Casey, JonJon Casey	395	9	2	3	0	25	3.80	0	180	155	.861
Jablonski, PatPat Jablonski	8	1	0	0	0	1	7.50	0	5	4	.800
Racine, BruceBruce Racine	230	11	0	3	0	12	3.13	0	101	89	.881
Team:	4998	82	32	34	16	247	2.97	3	2443	2196	.899

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky	C	13	2	14	16	0	2	1	0	1
Corson, ShayneShayne Corson	LW	13	8	6	14	22	-1	6	1	1
Hull, BrettBrett Hull	RW	13	6	5	11	10	2	2	1	1
MacInnis, AlAl MacInnis	D	13	3	4	7	20	2	1	0	0
Kravchuk, IgorIgor Kravchuk	D	10	1	5	6	4	0	0	0	1
Pronger, ChrisChris Pronger	D	13	1	5	6	16	0	0	0	0
Noonan, BrianBrian Noonan	RW	13	4	1	5	10	-5	0	0	0
Leach, StephenStephen Leach	RW	11	3	2	5	10	4	1	0	1
Anderson, GlennGlenn Anderson	RW	11	1	4	5	6	5	0	0	1
Zezel, PeterPeter Zezel	C	10	3	0	3	2	4	0	1	0
Courtnall, GeoffGeoff Courtnall	LW	13	0	3	3	14	2	0	0	0
Creighton, AdamAdam Creighton	C	13	1	1	2	8	-4	0	0	0
Khmylev, YuriYuri Khmylev	LW	6	1	1	2	4	1	0	0	1
Twist, TonyTony Twist	LW	10	1	1	2	16	0	0	0	0
Casey, JonJon Casey	G	12	0	2	2	8	0	0	0	0
MacTavish, CraigCraig MacTavish	C	13	0	2	2	6	0	0	0	0
Matteau, StephaneStephane Matteau	LW	11	0	2	2	8	-2	0	0	0
Baron, MurrayMurray Baron	D	13	1	0	1	20	4	0	1	0
Huddy, CharlieCharlie Huddy	D	13	1	0	1	8	1	0	0	0
Hudson, MikeMike Hudson	C/LW	2	0	1	1	4	1	0	0	0
Wells, JayJay Wells	D	12	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
Fuhr, GrantGrant Fuhr	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
McRae, BasilBasil McRae	LW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Olsson, ChristerChrister Olsson	D	3	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Pearson, RobRob Pearson	RW	2	0	0	0	14	1	0	0	0
Racine, BruceBruce Racine	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sutton, KenKen Sutton	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Casey, JonJon Casey	747	12	6	6	36	2.89	1	378	342	.905
Fuhr, GrantGrant Fuhr	69	2	1	0	1	0.87	0	45	44	.978
Racine, BruceBruce Racine	1	1	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	0
Team:	817	13	7	6	37	2.72	1	423	386	.913

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Transactions

• July 28, 1995 - Doug Lidster was traded by the St. Louis Blues to the New York Rangers in exchange for Jay Wells.

Draft picks

The 1995 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Edmonton Coliseum in Edmonton, Canada. The drafting order was now set partially by a lottery system whereby teams would not be guaranteed first pick if they finished last.

Round	Pick	Name	Nationality	College/junior/club team
2	49.	Jochen Hecht (LW)	Germany	Mannheim Eagles (DEL)

External links

• Blues on Hockey Database
• Hickok Sports
• The National Hockey League Web Site
• Official website of the St. Louis Blues