St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues are a professional hockey team that plays in the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League.

The Blues were originally founded in 1967 by the Salomon insurance family. After a poor start to their inaugural season, coach Lynn Patrick resigned and then assistant coach Scotty Bowman took over as their head coach.

Bowman coached the Blues for a total of five years, beginning in 1967. Their first year in the league they reached the Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Montreal Canadiens. Bowman led the team to the next two consecutive Cup Finals, where they lost to the Canadiens again in 1969 then to the Boston Bruins in 1970. Bowman left the franchise in 1971 after a dispute with team management.

Red Berenson originally joined the Blues in 1967 as a player, where he was team captain until his retirement in 1978. He stayed with the Blues for the following six years as their head coach. Berenson however did not have the same success as Bowman, as the team lost in the first rounds of the playoffs five of his six years as head coach, failing to qualify for the playoffs his first season on the bench.

After a 5-year absence, the St. Louis Blues found themselves in the 2008-2009 playoffs as the 6th seed against the Vancouver Canucks, led by the solid goaltending of Chris Mason. However, the excitement was short-lived as the Blues were swept in four games by the Canucks.