Which divisions have the St. Louis Blues played in?
For those new to St. Louis Blues hockey, a common question they may have is what division their new favorite team plays in.
The St. Louis Blues have been part of the NHL since the 1967-68 season when they were part of the league’s original expansion from six to 12 teams. And in that frame, one of the league’s most storied franchises has played in quite a few divisions as the NHL has realigned often since the Blues inaugural season.
Currently, the Blues play in the NHL’s Central Division, which is part of the Western Conference along with the Pacific Division. Playing in the Central has given the Blues a fierce geographic rival in the Chicago Blackhawks and, more recently, the Utah Hockey Club, as Salt Lake City is a little closer to Gateway City than Phoenix, Arizona.
Others playing in the Central include the Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, Winnipeg Jets, and the Minnesota Wild. As you can see, it’s a rather vast division geographically, stretching as far north as Manitoba and as far south as Dallas. But the Blues, fortunately, play right in the middle of all the teams listed.
Which divisions have the St. Louis Blues played in before?
Starting with their inaugural season in 1967-68, the Blues played in the West Division and did not belong to a conference. This continued until the 1973-74 season when they became members of the Clarence Campbell Conference and the Smythe Division.
The Blues stayed in the Smythe between 1974-75 and 1980-81 before they shifted gears during a realignment and moved to the Norris for the 1981-82 season, and they remained there before it was renamed the Central Division and the Clarence Campbell Conference, the Western Conference, in 1993-94.
While the NHL has seen plenty of expansion and realignments since then, the Blues have been lucky enough to stick around in the same division. The only exception came in the 2020-21 season when the NHL decided to break up the traditional divisions and conferences and instead roll with a North, South, East, and West Division because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This put the Blues in the West Division for the season before they reverted back to the Central for 2021-22 and beyond. While the NHL has seen relocations and expansion since 2020-21, it doesn’t look like the Blues will be going anywhere soon.
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(Historical data provided by Hockey-Reference)