St. Louis Blues: Happy belated birthday to our beloved Blues

The St. Louis Blues have been celebrating their anniversary for an entire season already. It was a summer day 50 years ago that saw the team actually come to be though.

The St. Louis Blues touted the 2016-17 season as part of their 50th anniversary. However, their actual 50th birthday was just a couple days ago.

On June 5, 1967 the Blues and five other teams came into the world. Though so many of us were not there for that very moment, it was a day that would forever change our lives.

Those of us that are Blues fans would be very different people if the team had never come to be. Perhaps we would not have had as much sports heartbreak, but who knows how we would have turned out otherwise.

Without the Blues, would we still have become hockey fans? Would we have jumped on someone else’s bandwagon or even gravitated more to other sports?

For myself, I am not sure if I would have even become a hockey fan. I might not have tried to become a broadcaster either.

The Blues got me into both. When I was young, I remember shooting tennis balls at the living room door with one of those jumbo golf clubs for kids while the Blues games were on. I loved listening to Ken Wilson and he was the reason I wanted to be a broadcaster.

If the team never came to be, my outlook on sports and my personal life could be very different. Maybe St. Louis would get an expansion team down the road if they were not one of the “Second Six”, but that would still be different.

So many of us have grown up with the Blues in the world. Even if the Blues took the place of the Predators or even as far back as the Sharks and Senators, it would be so different.

The interesting thing now is the parallels, both past and present. The way stories take place and history repeats itself is so very interesting.

The Blues have had their own history of brushing with not being in existence. The Blues basically were granted their franchise because the owners of the Blackhawks wanted the St. Louis Arena off their hands. The city and owners put forth very little in the way of actual effort to get the team, almost resulting in it going to Baltimore.

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There was the team almost moving to Saskatoon in 1983. Ralston Purina bought the team in 1977 to save it from the possibility of a random owner taking the team elsewhere. There was also vague talk of the team going elsewhere if the Kiel Center (now Scottrade Center) had not been built.

The Blues were not the only expansion team that went through troubled times. Though we think of them as a staple of the league now, the Philadelphia Flyers almost never were.

A power failure on June 5, 1967 interrupted the bank communication between Fidelity Bank in Philly and the Royal National Bank of Canada in Montreal. The Flyers were trying to send the $2 million expansion fee to the league and if the deadline had been missed, they may not have been let in the league.

Back then, teams made their names off the expansion draft too. Now, 50 years later, there is a new team trying to do the same.

Back then, the original six teams could protect 11 skaters and a goalie. In this year’s draft, teams can protect seven forwards, three defensemen and a goaltender or eight skaters and a goaltender.

Some huge names went during that draft. The Blues picked up future Hall of Famer, Glenn Hall.

It is unlikely the Las Vegas Golden Knights will get a player of that caliber. Nevertheless, the rules have been set up to make some good players available. The Knights might just not take the best available since the teams make deals so they won’t.

Again, it is interesting how history repeats itself. The Blues came to be 50 years ago and are now on the opposite side of things. Instead of being one of the teams making the selections, they must worry who will be taken from their roster.

Regardless of how many years we’ve been on this roller coaster, whether five or 50, it has been an enjoyable ride. The only sad part is we are the only team remaining not to win.

The California Golden Seals never won, but moved and then merged with the North Stars. The North Stars never won, but moved to Dallas and took the Cup. Philly won a couple, Pittsburgh has four now and even Los Angeles got two.

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The Blues have watched their brothers all take the crown and even some of their younger cousins win before they’ve had a shot. St. Louis was the best out of the expansion six, going to three straight final appearances, but have not been back since.

As fans, we can only hope it won’t be another 50 years before they get a shot. Even so, the ride has been fun even if we have not found that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Happy belated birthday Blues.