2009-10 St. Louis Blues
St. Louis Blues season ticket holders were happy that their team made it back into the NHL Playoffs. No matter that the Vancouver Canucks eliminated them in a 4-game sweep. Fans are just happy that there was improvement shown. Evidently not enough was shown to the franchise as they turned around and fired head coach Andy Murray and inserted Davis Payne as the interim head coach.
In the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the Blues selected Swedish player David Rundblad with the 17th overall pick and Brett Ponich. They also drafted two Americans, Dave Shields and Maxwell Tardy. The team also had a number of resigning, most notably the 3-year $4.35 million contract for Jay McClement, the 1-year $2.15 million contract for Keith Tkachuk and B.J. Crombeen’s 2-year $1.745 million contract. In free agency, the Blues inked seven skaters; Ty Conklin, Hannu Toivonen, Adam Cracknell, Barry Tallackson, Bryce Lampman, Brendan Bell, Derek Armstrong and Darryl Sydor.
The Blues are currently sitting in 13th place in the Western Conference with a 26-25-9 record.
Previous Seasons
Many fans in St. Louis already hope to forget the Blues' 2005-2006 season before the year is even finished. While the St. Louis Blues have been an established presence in the postseason, this year's team ranks last in the National Hockey League for points scored, and head coach Mike Kitchen appears to face the team's first absence from the playoffs in 25 years. The team's ownership recently changed, and captain Dallas Drake hopes to finish the season on a somewhat positive note. However, this season's future does not look bright for the Blues. St. Louis Blues hockey tickets are easy to find with a little research.
When the Blues first joined the NHL in 1967, the team appeared to be one of the most promising young teams in the history of professional sports. Under the leadership of legendary head coach Scotty Bowman, the St. Louis Blues appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals during each of the team's first three years. The goaltending duo of Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante proved to be one of the most intimidating defenses in the league, and the Blues' defense helped the team make an early entrance to the upper echelon of the NHL. However, after Bowman left the team, the Blues struggled through the 1970s. Losing records and three absences from the postseason marked the decade. After years of struggling, the team reappeared in the playoffs in the 1980s with two first place finishes in what was then called the Norris Division. A return to the championship still eluded fans in St. Louis and Blues ticket sales have no increased.
When the team acquired Brett Hull near the end of the 1980s, the team's offensive power greatly improved, and it appeared that fans in St. Louis would witness a revitalized team that could bring the city a national title. The team even signed the league's best player, Wayne Gretzky, in 1995, but he only remained with the Blues for one season before leaving the franchise. Hull stayed with the team, and his 11 years with the Blues established him as one of the NHL's best scorers. However, the team failed to capitalize on the star's presence; he left the team to play in Dallas where he quickly won a championship and earned a following of fans.
Despite many winning seasons and a first place finish in the Central Division in the 1999-2000 season, the St. Louis Blues playoff woes have continued. The team has not advanced further than the Western Conference semifinals since 2002. While center Doug Weight has enjoyed a productive offensive year for the team in 2005-2006, the only other positive for St. Louis fans is the fact that no false playoff hopes exist this season. Coach Kitchen will spend the remainder of the season attempting to improve his injury-ridden team while St. Louis hockey tickets slowly sink to the lowest position among all the teams in the league.
The Blues were so dismal in ’05-’06 that there is nowhere to go but up this year. And there’s definite upgrades. St. Louis has several solid players that have showed incredible improvement this season, possibly enough to scrape by into the playoffs, maybe. There’s still more improvement to be done, especially at goalpost with Manny Legace. Luckily, he has backup options with newcomers Jason Bacashihua and Marek Schwarz. Fans will see improvement this season, as the Blues have no choice but to improve.
