1967 – 68 St . Louis Blues season The 1967 – 68 season was the inaugural season for the St . Louis Blues . The Blues were one of the six new teams added to the NHL in the 1967 expansion . The other franchises were the Minnesota North Stars , Los Angeles Kings , Philadelphia Flyers , Pittsburgh Penguins , and California Seals . The league doubled in size from its Original Six . St . Louis was the last of the expansion teams to officially get into the league . The Blues were chosen over Baltimore at the insistence of the Chicago Black Hawks . The Black Hawks were owned at that time by the Wirtz family , who also owned the St . Louis Arena . The team ' s first owners were insurance tycoon Sid Salomon Jr . , his son , Sid Salomon III , and Robert L . Wolfson . Sid Salomon III convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team . Salomon then spent several million dollars on renovations for the 38 - year - old Arena , which increased the number of seats from 12 , 000 to 15 , 000 and provided its first significant maintenance since the 1940s . Regular season . October 11 , 1967 - The franchise ' s first game . The Blues and Minnesota North Stars played to a 2 – 2 tie at the St . Louis Arena . The Blues were originally coached by Lynn Patrick who resigned in late - November and was replaced by Scotty Bowman . Although the league ' s rules effectively kept star players with the Original Six teams , the Blues were one of the stronger teams of the Western Division . The playoff format required an expansion team to make it to the Stanley Cup finals , and the Blues made it to the final round . Player stats . Forwards . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; AST = Assists ; PTS = Points ; PIM = Points " Defencemen . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; AST = Assists ; PTS = Points ; PIM = Points " Goaltending . " Note : GP = Games played ; MIN = Minutes ; W = Wins ; L = Losses ; T = Ties ; SO = Shutouts ; GAA = Goals Against " Postseason Stats . Forwards . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; AST = Assists ; PTS = Points ; PIM = Points " Defencemen . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; AST = Assists ; PTS = Points ; PIM = Points " Goaltending . " Note : GP = Games played ; MIN = Minutes ; W = Wins ; L = Losses ; T = Ties ; SO = Shutouts ; GAA = Goals Against " Playoffs . Stanley Cup Finals . The St . Louis Blues made a series of the Stanley Cup finals although they lost in four straight games . Glenn Hall was sensational , especially in game three when the Blues were outshot 46 to 15 . Wrote Red Burnett , the dean of hockey writers then : " A number of Hall ' s saves were seemingly impossible . Experts walked out of the Forum convinced no other goaltender had performed so brilliantly in a losing cause . " In the overtime of game three , Hall made a spectacular save on Dick Duff and then , standing on his head , made another save . " It was a heartbreaker to see " said Burnett " After the saves on Duff , Bobby Rousseau came and batted home the second rebound . " Hall ' s heroics won him the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs . However , Montreal was not to be denied and won the Stanley Cup in game four as J . C . Tremblay fired home the winning goal . When the game ended , the fans came on the ice to celebrate , and balloons , hats and programs were thrown from the stands . Jean Beliveau , in a cast and crutches from his broken ankle , with Ralph Backstrom accepted the Cup from NHL president Clarence Campbell and the players did a victory lap with the Cup . Less than 30 minutes after the Canadiens won the Cup , Canadiens coach Toe Blake announced his retirement . He gave reason that it had been a hard season , but the real reason was that his wife was dying of cancer and he wanted to spent his time with her . The celebration turned to a mournful event with players paying tribute to Blake , many in tears . " Montreal wins the series 4 – 0 . " References . < / div >