The St. Louis Blues' Greatest Teams in Franchise History

Across 57 seasons, the St. Louis Blues may only have one Stanley Cup championship, but the franchise has seen other forms of success since joining the league during the 1967/68 NHL expansion. So what are the team's highest accounts of success as they approach their 60th NHL season?

2018/19, Stanley Cup Champions

It couldn't be more of an obvious choice- the Blues' first and only championship season is their greatest year in franchise history. And like many champions' seasons throughout NHL history, it didn't start as planned. St. Louis fired then-head coach Mike Yeo after a 7-9-3 start, succeeded by Craig Berube, who would lead the team until the middle of the 2022/23 season.

Yeo helped the initially struggling 2018/19 Blues catch fire in the last 4 months of the regular season, capped by an 11-game win streak from late January to early February, followed by winning 8 of their final 10 regular season contests.

The Blues entered the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the 3rd seed in the Western Conference. They faced the West 2nd seed Winnipeg Jets in the 1st round, jumping out to a 2-0 series lead after winning Games 1 and 2 in Winnipeg 2-1 and 4-3, effectively ignoring the intensity from the Whiteout crowd. The Jets came back in the series however, winning the first 2 games in St. Louis 6-3 and 2-1 in overtime.

That'd be the last contest they'd win though, as the Blues shook off the series tie and won the following 2 games on the road and back home, both by 3-2 scores. St. Louis marched on and then clashed with Central rivals Dallas in a thrilling 7-game series ended by St. Louis' very own Patrick Maroon in a dramatic overtime finale.

The Blues faced the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals, picking up another 4-2 series win, and then went the distance with the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals to claim their first NHL title.

2000/01- Defeated by Eventual Champion Colorado in WCF

The Blues returned to the postseason after a 1999/00 campaign that saw them reach only the 1st round despite defenseman Chris Pronger's Hart Trophy win as league MVP. This time, St. Louis made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals thanks to the talent of Pronger and leading goalscorers like C Pierre Turgeon (30 goals, 52 assists for 82 points in 79 games) and RW Scott Young (40 goals, 33 assists for 73 points in 81 games).

St. Louis entered the postseason as a 4 seed, having finished 2nd in the Central behind Detroit, and got through their first round series in 6 games by beating San Jose in both teams' 2nd consecutive playoff matchup. The Blues then swept aside Pacific winner Dallas, marking the first time the Stars had been swept in a playoff series since relocating from Minnesota.

The WCF for 2000/01 saw the Blues duel with Northwest Division winners Colorado, and though they gave the Avalanche a bit of a run, their season came to an end after Joe Sakic needed less than 30 seconds into the 1st overtime period to send Colorado to another Stanley Cup Final.

Honorable Mention(s): 1967/68, 1968/69, 1969/70- 3 Consecutive Cup Finals Appearances

The Blues' first 3 seasons in the NHL are also worth mentioning, as they made the Stanley Cup Finals every year then, becoming the first expansion team to do so and the last until the Vegas Golden Knights faced the Washington Capitals in the 2018 Finals.

Though they may have lost all 3 of those late 60s series via a sweep, twice to Montreal and the last to Boston in (in)famous fashion, the Blues otherwise proved every other team wrong in those years. They knew how to make deep playoff runs, and did it consistently year after year, season after season.

It may have been a while since the St. Louis Blues last made a deep playoff run, but maybe if all the biggest and best puzzle pieces are in place for season number 57, this team could see a return to glory. And if that happens, Blues fans only know one thing to do- PLAY GLORIA!!