How Chicago made the Blues

How Chicago made the Blues

[paypal_donation_button]How Chicago made the Blues

The St. Louis Blues are a storied franchise, with over 40 years of history and 3 Stanley Cup Finals appearances—and they never would have been a club at all, if not for the Chicago Blackhawks, or at least their owner’s business acumen.

The 1967 expansion was the largest in NHL history, both in terms of percentage and in the number of teams added at one time. In addition to the St. Louis Blues, the expansion brought the Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Philadelphia Flyers into the league, along with the Dallas Stars (at the time, the Minnesota North Stars) and the now-defunct California Seals. It was the first change to the league since 1942, when the Brooklyn Americans folded and started the original six era. The aim of the expansion was two-fold: to expand interest in professional ice hockey, garnering more attention and potential TV broadcast time nationwide, and to prevent the formation of another league that would take talented players away from the NHL. While other cities like Philadelphia and Cleveland had shown interest in joining the league for years at this point, the owners of the original six had previously been staunchly opposed to the addition of new teams into the NHL, fearing their own profits would suffer. It wasn’t until the television networks started to consider televising games from the Western Hockey League, threatening the role of the NHL in the North American hockey landscape, that the owners relented and agreed to take bids for six new teams, spreading NHL hockey truly from coast to coast.

Many markets were excited by the prospect of securing their own NHL team; St. Louis, at least at the ownership level, wasn’t one of them. The city did not place a formal bid for the 1967 expansion. Other cities in both the United States and Canada put in bids that were ultimately rejected. Some of these, like Vancouver, would eventually get their team; others, like Cleveland and Baltimore, would not. It was not for lack of interest from other markets but a far more business-driven motivation that prompted St. Louis to be suggested, and accepted, as a new market.

Bill Wirtz was the new owner of the Chicago Blackhawks at the time of the 1967 expansion. Wirtz made a significant chunk of his money in real estate and owned the rights to a wide range of properties, one of which was the St. Louis Arena. Built in 1929 to host the National Dairy Show, the arena was massive—the second-largest entertainment space in the country at that time, behind Madison Square Garden—but had fallen into disuse since the 1940s, and was further damaged by a tornado in 1959. Wirtz figured he could unload this costly piece of real estate on a new NHL franchise if one was put in the city, and he used his influence with the other owners to add St. Louis into the expansion even though it didn’t yet have an owner. NHL President spun Wirtz’ business move in public announcements, simply saying St. Louis was chosen as a market because the city had a more suitable arena than runner-up Baltimore, whose potential arena only seated 12,000. Investors were found, a deal was made, and in the 1967-68 NHL season professional ice hockey officially arrived in St. Louis.

It’s interesting to think of how history may have played out differently if Bill Wirtz hadn’t intervened in the bid-granting process. If Baltimore had gotten an NHL team, their home arena would have been the smallest in the league, but not by much; the Oakland Seals and Boston Bruins both played in arenas with capacities under 15,000 in the 1967 season. A team could have easily been successful in that market, which welcomed the nearby Washington Capitals when they joined the league 7 years later. The addition of St. Louis did facilitate the NHL’s westward expansion, which would continue throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s. And though they may not have shown initial interest, the city embraced its new team. St. Louis Arena quickly earned a reputation for being one of the loudest buildings in the league. On the ice, the Blues established early that they belonged in the NHL, proving themselves the best of the expansion teams from 1967-1970 by reaching the Stanley Cup Final in three consecutive seasons. The Blues may have be founded on somewhat underhanded motives, but seeing their success and the passion of their fans, it’s safe to say the ends have justified those means.