2018–19_St._Louis_Blues_season

2018–19 St. Louis Blues season

2018–19 St. Louis Blues season

NHL team season; 2019 Stanley Cup Champions


The 2018–19 St. Louis Blues season was the 52nd season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 5, 1967.[2] The Blues were in last place in the league in January, but rallied to make the playoffs. They advanced to the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals against the Boston Bruins and won in seven games, their first Stanley Cup in the franchise's 52-year history.

Quick Facts St. Louis Blues, Division ...

The Blues became the fourth St. Louis-based professional sports team to win a major championship, joining the 11-time World Series champions St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB), the 1957–58 St. Louis Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the 1999 St. Louis Rams of the National Football League (NFL). This made St. Louis the eighth city to win a championship in each of the four major U.S. sports.

Off-season

On May 30, 2018, the Blues named Mike Van Ryn as assistant coach, replacing Darryl Sydor, who stepped down to spend more time with his family. Van Ryn played the first three seasons (2000–2003) of his eight years in the NHL with the Blues, scoring 13 points in 69 games.[3]

The Blues extended their affiliation with the Tulsa Oilers of the ECHL on May 31.[4]

Season summary

The Blues started the season sluggish, and head coach Mike Yeo was fired on November 19 with the team's record at 7–9–3.[5] Craig Berube, who had served as assistant coach with the Blues since 2017, was named the interim head coach.[5] St. Louis began the 2019 calendar year with the worst record in the league; 15–18–4 and 34 points recorded.[6] Soon after, rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington joined the team. On January 7, he won his first game in a shutout and took over as the team's starting goaltender. The Blues then went on a franchise-record 11-game winning streak and had a 30–10–5 run to finish the season. They clinched a playoff spot on March 29, 2019.[7][8]

In the playoffs, the Blues defeated the Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars, and San Jose Sharks to advance to the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals, where they faced the Boston Bruins. It was their first Finals appearance since 1970.[9] On May 29, 2019, St. Louis won a Stanley Cup Finals series' game for the first time in franchise history after getting swept in three previous series (1968–1970), as they defeated the Bruins 3–2 in overtime in game 2.[10] On June 12, 2019, they defeated the Bruins in seven games to win the first Stanley Cup title in franchise history.[11] Until then, they were the oldest franchise to have never won a Stanley Cup.[12]

Ryan O'Reilly, who had been acquired in a trade during the previous offseason, was the Blues' top regular season scorer with 77 points. He then had a franchise-record 23 playoff points and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs. O'Reilly also won the Frank J. Selke Trophy for the league's best defensive forward during the regular season.[13][14]

"Gloria"

St. Louis had been in last place in the NHL on January 3. On the night of January 6, a few Blues players were in a Philadelphia bar watching the National Football League "Double Doink" wildcard game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears. The DJ played the 1982 Laura Branigan song "Gloria", and according to defenceman Joel Edmundson, "this one guy looked at the DJ and said, 'Keep playing "Gloria"!' so they kept playing it. Everyone would get up and start singing and dancing. We just sat back and watched it happen. Right there we decided we should play the song after our wins." The following day, goaltender Jordan Binnington made his first start for the Blues that season and won the game with a shutout.[15]

The team played it after every win for the rest of the regular season and playoffs, and as their hot streak continued, the song became popular in the city of St. Louis. "Gloria" was written on signs and t-shirts. The St. Louis radio station KYKY played it for 24 hours straight after series victories in the playoffs.[15]

Standings

Divisional standings

More information Pos, GP ...
Source: National Hockey League [16]
x Clinched playoff spot; y Clinched division

Conference standings

More information Pos, GP ...
Source: National Hockey League [17]
x Clinched playoff spot; y Clinched division

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 15, 2018.[18]

More information ; Road: 2–2–0), # ...

Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.[26]

More information October: 3–4–3 (Home: 2–3–1 ; Road: 1–1–2), # ...

Playoffs

The Blues faced the Winnipeg Jets in the First Round of the playoffs[109] and defeated them in six games.[110] Next up, they faced the Dallas Stars in the Second Round of the playoffs,[111] defeating them in seven games.[112] Then, they faced the San Jose Sharks in the Conference Finals of the playoffs,[113] defeating them in six games.[114]

Finally, they faced the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals,[115] defeating them in seven games to win their first Stanley Cup.[11]

More information 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs, Western Conference First Round vs. (C2) Winnipeg Jets: St. Louis won 4–2 ...

Player statistics

As of June 12, 2019[142]

Skaters

More information Player, GP ...

Goaltenders

More information Player, GP ...
More information Player, GP ...

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Blues. Stats reflect time with the Blues only.
Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Blues only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Transactions

The Blues were involved in the following transactions during the 2018–19 season.

Trades

More information Date, Details ...

Free agents

More information Date, Player ...

Waivers

More information Date, Player ...
More information Date, Player ...

Signings

More information Date, Player ...

Draft picks

Below are the St. Louis Blues' selections at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

More information Round, # ...

Notes:

  1. The Toronto Maple Leafs' first-round pick went to the St. Louis Blues as the result of a trade on June 22, 2018, that sent Winnipeg's first-round pick in 2018 (29th overall) to Toronto in exchange for a third-round pick in 2018 (76th overall) and this pick.[185]

References

  1. "2018-2019 NHL Attendance". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  2. National Hockey League (2013). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2014. Diamond Sports Data, Inc. p. 113. ISBN 978-1-894801-26-3.
  3. "Yeo fired as coach of Blues". NHL.com. November 19, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  4. Pinkert, Chris (March 29, 2019). "Blues clinch spot in Stanley Cup Playoffs". NHL.com. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  5. "Rain can't dampen Blues' championship parade". espn.com. June 15, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  6. Cotsonika, Nicholas J. (May 21, 2019). "Blues can end 'a lot of heartache' in Final against Bruins". NHL.com. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  7. "Blues Beat the Bruins and Get Their First Stanley Cup Finals Victory". The New York Times. May 30, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  8. Zupke, Curtis (June 12, 2019). "Blues defeat Bruins in Game 7 to win franchise's first Stanley Cup". latimes.com. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  9. Johnson, Alex (June 12, 2019). "St. Louis Blues beat Boston Bruins, 4-1, to win first Stanley Cup". NBC News. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  10. Kaplan, Emily. "Blues' O'Reilly scores again, wins Conn Smythe". espn.com. June 13, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  11. "Tampa duo Kucherov, Vasilevskiy win top awards". espn.com. June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  12. Spiegel, Jackie. "How 'Play Gloria' became the rallying cry of the St. Louis Blues". sportingnews.com. June 13, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  13. "Blues release 2018 preseason schedule". NHL.com. June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  14. Pinkert, Chris (June 21, 2018). "Blues release complete 2018-19 regular season schedule". NHL.com. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  15. Pinkert, Chris (April 7, 2019). "Round 1 Schedule: Blues vs. Jets". NHL.com. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  16. "Blues take Game 6 to eliminate Jets from playoffs". TSN. April 20, 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  17. "Round 2 Schedule: Blues vs. Stars". NHL.com. April 24, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  18. Korac, Louie (May 8, 2019). "Blues defeat Stars in Game 7 in 2OT, advance to Western Final". NHL.com. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  19. "Western Conference Final begins May 11". NHL.com. May 8, 2019. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  20. Satriano, David (May 21, 2019). "Blues advance to Stanley Cup Final with Game 6 win against Sharks". NHL.com. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  21. "Stanley Cup Final schedule". NHL.com. May 21, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  22. "St. Louis Blues Stats - 2018-2019". NHL.com. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
  23. "Sabres acquire Thompson, Berglund, Sobotka, 2 picks from Blues". NHL.com. July 1, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  24. "Blues acquire Jerabek from Oilers". NHL.com. October 1, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  25. "Blues acquire Coreau from Anaheim". NHL.com. January 3, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  26. Pinkert, Chris (February 26, 2019). "Blues acquire Del Zotto from Anaheim". NHL.com. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  27. "St. Louis Blues Sign Brian Flynn to Two-Way Deal". lastwordonhockey.com. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  28. "Sabres, Hutton agree to 3-year deal". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  29. Wakiji, Dana (July 1, 2018). "Wings move quickly on first day of free agency". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  30. "Blues sign Perron to four-year deal". nhl.com. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  31. "Blues building San Antonio roster". stltoday.com. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  32. "Blues sign Nolan to one-year, two-way deal". nhl.com. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  33. "Maroon signs one-year deal with hometown Blues". nhl.com/blues.com. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  34. "PETTERI LINDBOHM EST LAUSANNOI..." lausannehc.ch (in French). Archived from the original on July 28, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  35. Набатов, Геннадий (May 3, 2019). "Ержабек возвратится в "Витязь"". hcvityaz.ru (in Russian). Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  36. "Jakub Jerabek: KHL bound". CBSSports.com. May 4, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  37. "В "Салавате Юлаеве" – Никита Сошников!". hcsalavat.ru (in Russian). June 3, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  38. "Capitals Claim Dmitrij Jaskin". NHL.com. October 2, 2018. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  39. "Ducks Claim Johnson off Waivers from St. Louis". NHL.com. December 11, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  40. "Dmitrii Sergeev: Waived by Blues". CBSSports.com. September 15, 2018. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  41. "Brian Flynn: Hits unconditional waivers". CBSSports.com. January 18, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  42. "Soshnikov agrees to one-year, one-way deal". NHL.com. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  43. "Fabbri agrees to one-year deal with Blues". NHL.com. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  44. "Blues sign MacEachern to one-year deal". NHL.com. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  45. "Blues agree to one-year contract with Jaskin". nhl.com. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  46. "Blues agree to entry-level deal with Bokk". nhl.com. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  47. "Edmundson agrees to one-year deal". nhl.com. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  48. Pinkert, Chris (September 12, 2018). "Schmaltz agrees to two-year deal with Blues". NHL.com. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  49. Pinkert, Chris (December 13, 2018). "Toropchenko agrees to entry-level contract with Blues". NHL.com. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  50. "Blues sign MacEachern to one-year, one-way extension". NHL.com. February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  51. "Blues sign Hofer to entry-level deal". NHL.com. March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  52. "Blues sign Bouwmeester to one-year contract extension". NHL.com. April 8, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  53. "Leafs select D Sandin with No. 29 pick". June 22, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2018.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 2018–19_St._Louis_Blues_season, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.