1968–69 St. Louis Blues season

The 1968–69 St. Louis Blues season was the team's second season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Blues finished 1st in the West Division, swept the Philadelphia Flyers and the Los Angeles Kings in the playoffs, winning both series 4 games to 0, before losing the 1969 Stanley Cup Finals in four straight to the Montreal Canadiens for the second straight season.
==Regular Season==
On November 7, 1968, Red Berenson scored six goals in a road game in an 8-0 drubbing of the Philadelphia Flyers. He became the first player to score a double hat trick on a road game.Hockey’s Book of Firsts, p.27, James Duplacey, JG Press, ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9
During the November 13, 1968 match against the New York Rangers, the Blues' starting goaltender Glenn Hall was ejected from the game two minutes into it. Jacques Plante was delayed in taking Hall's place so 21 year old Robbie Irons played three minutes, his only NHL game. The Blues won 3-1.
Goalie Gary Edwards played his first NHL game on December 11, 1968 in a 6-3 loss to the Chicago Black Hawks. Edwards came in for the last 3:49 of the game and would go on to play 286 games. Norm Dennis played the first game of his 12 game NHL career with his debut against Chicago on January 11, 1969.
On March 1, 1969, Bill Plager was called up from the minors and played defense against the Montreal Canadiens alongside his brothers Bob and Barclay. This was the second time in NHL history three brothers played together on the same team, the first time all three were defensemen. Doug, Reg and Max Bentley were the first, during the 1942–43 Chicago Black Hawks season.
On March 22, 1969, goalie Ted Ouimet played his only NHL game, a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Goaltenders Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante shared the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goalie tandem for that season. For Hall, it was his third Vezina, while Plante, who had come out of retirement during the summer of 1968, took home his seventh. It was the second major award that an NHL expansion team has earned. Hall also earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as the NHL Playoffs MVP the previous season.
===Final Standings===
===Game Log===
Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results 	Regular Season Results
No. 	R 	Date 	Score 	Opponent 	Record
1 	L 	October 11, 1968 	3–4 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 	0–1–0
2 	W 	October 12, 1968 	6–0 	Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 	1–1–0
3 	L 	October 16, 1968 	2–4 	Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 	1–2–0
4 	W 	October 19, 1968 	4–1 	Oakland Seals (1968–69) 	2–2–0
5 	L 	October 23, 1968 	4–6 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 	2–3–0
6 	W 	October 24, 1968 	2–1 	@ Boston Bruins (1968–69) 	3–3–0
7 	L 	October 26, 1968 	2–4 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) 	3–4–0
8 	W 	October 30, 1968 	4–1 	Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 	4–4–0
9 	L 	November 2, 1968 	0–2 	Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 	4–5–0
10 	T 	November 3, 1968 	4–4 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 	4–5–1
11 	W 	November 6, 1968 	3–1 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) 	5–5–1
12 	W 	November 7, 1968 	8–0 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 	6–5–1
13 	L 	November 9, 1968 	1–4 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 	6–6–1
14 	T 	November 10, 1968 	1–1 	@ Boston Bruins (1968–69) 	6–6–2
15 	W 	November 13, 1968 	3–1 	@ New York Rangers (1968–69) 	7–6–2
16 	T 	November 16, 1968 	1–1 	Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 	7–6–3
17 	T 	November 17, 1968 	3–3 	Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 	7–6–4
18 	W 	November 20, 1968 	7–0 	Oakland Seals (1968–69) 	8–6–4
19 	W 	November 23, 1968 	1–0 	Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 	9–6–4
20 	T 	November 27, 1968 	4–4 	Boston Bruins (1968–69) 	9–6–5
21 	W 	November 28, 1968 	3–1 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 	10–6–5
22 	W 	November 30, 1968 	1–0 	Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 	11–6–5
23 	T 	December 4, 1968 	3–3 	Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 	11–6–6
24 	T 	December 7, 1968 	1–1 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) 	11–6–7
25 	T 	December 8, 1968 	4–4 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 	11–6–8
26 	L 	December 11, 1968 	3–6 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 	11–7–8
27 	L 	December 12, 1968 	4–5 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 	11–8–8
28 	L 	December 14, 1968 	2–3 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 	11–9–8
29 	W 	December 15, 1968 	3–1 	Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 	12–9–8
30 	W 	December 20, 1968 	1–0 	@ Oakland Seals (1968–69) 	13–9–8
31 	T 	December 21, 1968 	2–2 	New York Rangers (1968–69) 	13–9–9
32 	W 	December 25, 1968 	2–0 	@ Minnesota North Stars (1968–69)	14–9–9
33 	W 	December 26, 1968 	3–2 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) 	15–9–9
34 	L 	December 28, 1968 	2–6 	Boston Bruins (1968–69) 	15–10–9
35 	T 	January 1, 1969 	0–0 	@ Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 	15–10–10
36 	W 	January 3, 1969 	3–1 	@ Oakland Seals (1968–69) 	16–10–10
37 	W 	January 4, 1969 	3–1 	Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 	17–10–10
38 	W 	January 7, 1969 	5–0 	Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 	18–10–10
39 	L 	January 8, 1969 	1–3 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 	18–11–10
40 	W 	January 11, 1969 	6–1 	Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 	19–11–10
41 	W 	January 12, 1969 	2–0 	@ Minnesota North Stars (1968–69)	20–11–10
42 	W 	January 15, 1969 	4–3 	Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 	21–11–10
43 	T 	January 18, 1969 	2–2 	New York Rangers (1968–69) 	21–11–11
44 	W 	January 19, 1969 	3–1 	@ Minnesota North Stars (1968–69)	22–11–11
45 	L 	January 23, 1969 	2–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 	22–12–11
46 	L 	January 25, 1969 	0–4 	@ Boston Bruins (1968–69) 	22–13–11
47 	W 	January 26, 1969 	3–1 	Oakland Seals (1968–69) 	23–13–11
48 	W 	January 29, 1969 	2–1 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) 	24–13–11
49 	L 	January 30, 1969 	3–4 	New York Rangers (1968–69) 	24–14–11
50 	W 	February 1, 1969 	2–0 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 	25–14–11
51 	W 	February 2, 1969 	5–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 	26–14–11
52 	L 	February 4, 1969 	2–4 	@ Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 	26–15–11
53 	W 	February 6, 1969 	3–1 	Boston Bruins (1968–69) 	27–15–11
54 	L 	February 8, 1969 	0–2 	@ New York Rangers (1968–69) 	27–16–11
55 	T 	February 9, 1969 	4–4 	Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 	27–16–12
56 	W 	February 12, 1969 	2–0 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) 	28–16–12
57 	W 	February 13, 1969 	2–1 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 	29–16–12
58 	W 	February 15, 1969 	4–1 	Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 	30–16–12
59 	W 	February 16, 1969 	6–0 	Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 	31–16–12
60 	W 	February 19, 1969 	3–1 	Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 	32–16–12
61 	L 	February 21, 1969 	2–3 	@ Oakland Seals (1968–69) 	32–17–12
62 	W 	February 22, 1969 	3–1 	@ Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 	33–17–12
63 	L 	February 26, 1969 	2–3 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 	33–18–12
64 	L 	March 1, 1969 	0–3 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 	33–19–12
65 	L 	March 2, 1969 	1–2 	@ New York Rangers (1968–69) 	33–20–12
66 	L 	March 5, 1969 	2–4 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) 	33–21–12
67 	W 	March 8, 1969 	5–2 	Oakland Seals (1968–69) 	34–21–12
68 	T 	March 9, 1969 	2–2 	@ Minnesota North Stars (1968–69)	34–21–13
69 	L 	March 11, 1969 	0–3 	Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 	34–22–13
70 	W 	March 15, 1969 	3–2 	Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 	35–22–13
71 	L 	March 16, 1969 	2–3 	Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 	35–23–13
72 	T 	March 19, 1969 	1–1 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 	35–23–14
73 	L 	March 22, 1969 	1–2 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) 	35–24–14
74 	L 	March 23, 1969 	3–4 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 	35–25–14
75 	W 	March 26, 1969 	5–3 	@ Oakland Seals (1968–69) 	36–25–14
76 	W 	March 29, 1969 	3–1 	@ Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 	37–25–14
*Green background indicates win.
*Red background indicates regulation loss.
*White background indicates tie.
==Playoffs==
===St. Louis Blues 4, Los Angeles Kings 0 ===
===St. Louis Blues 4, Philadelphia Flyers 0 ===
===Montreal Canadiens 4, St. Louis Blues 0===
Claude Ruel became the eleventh rookie coach to win the Stanley Cup. Montreal goaltender Rogie Vachon limited St. Louis to three goals in four games and had his first career playoff shutout.
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	April 27	St. Louis Blues 	1-3 	Montreal Canadiens	0-1
2	April 29	St. Louis Blues 	1-3 	Montreal Canadiens	0-2
3	May 1 	Montreal Canadiens	4-0 	St. Louis Blues 	3-0
4	May 4 	Montreal Canadiens	2-1 	St. Louis Blues 	4-0
==Player Stats==
===Regular Season===
;Scoring
# 	Player	Pos 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
7 	 	C 	76	35	47	82 	43 	7 	1 	6
11 	 	RW 	75	25	23	48 	58 	3 	0 	3
20 	 	LW 	68	21	21	42 	12 	2 	0 	4
21 	 	C 	64	17	22	39 	8 	7 	0 	1
10 	 	C 	67	12	27	39 	14 	4 	0 	3
8 	 	RW 	72	12	26	38 	22 	3 	0 	3
14 	 	LW 	68	11	23	34 	31 	1 	0 	4
6 	 	D/RW	72	14	19	33 	81 	2 	1 	1
15 	 	LW 	71	13	17	30 	50 	3 	1 	4
8 	 	D 	61	4 	26	30 	120	0 	0 	1
4, 12 	 	D 	67	5 	19	24 	131	0 	0 	1
2 	 	D 	70	2 	20	22 	30 	1 	0 	0
16 	 	RW 	72	11	5 	16 	40 	2 	0 	1
12 	 	C 	57	6 	9 	15 	14 	1 	1 	0
18 	 	LW 	46	5 	9 	14 	6 	0 	0 	2
17 	 	D 	69	5 	4 	9 	24 	0 	0 	1
3 	 	D 	67	1 	6 	7 	50 	0 	0 	1
5 	 	D 	32	0 	7 	7 	43 	0 	0 	0
22 	 	RW 	8 	4 	0 	4 	4 	2 	0 	1
1 	 	G 	41	0 	2 	2 	20 	0 	0 	0
22 	 	LW 	16	0 	2 	2 	11 	0 	0 	0
19 	 	D 	11	1 	0 	1 	6 	0 	0 	0
22 	 	C 	2 	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
22 	 	D 	2 	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
31 	 	G 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
30 	 	G 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
1 	 	G 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
30, 31	 	G 	37	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T 	GA 	GAA 	SO
 	2354	41	19	12	8 	85 	2.17	8
 	2139	37	18	12	6 	70 	1.96	5
 	4 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0.00	0
 	3 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0.00	0
 	60 	1 	0 	1 	0 	2 	2.00	0
Team: 	4560	76	37	25	14	157	2.07	13
===Playoffs===
;Scoring
Player	Pos 	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	RW 	12	6	5	11 	12 	1 	0 	2
 	C 	12	7	3	10 	20 	2 	0 	1
 	LW 	12	4	5	9 	8 	1 	0 	2
 	C 	12	3	4	7 	20 	0 	0 	2
 	C 	11	2	5	7 	0 	1 	0 	0
 	RW 	12	3	3	6 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	12	1	5	6 	14 	1 	0 	1
 	RW 	11	3	2	5 	8 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	12	1	4	5 	30 	0 	0 	0
 	D/RW	12	1	4	5 	10 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	12	2	2	4 	20 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	12	0	4	4 	31 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	9 	0	4	4 	47 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	12	2	1	3 	10 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	12	1	2	3 	6 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	12	0	2	2 	6 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	10	0	1	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	2 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	4 	0	0	0 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	12	0	0	0 	10 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	3 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA 	SO
 	589	10	8	2	14	1.43	3
 	131	3 	0	2	5 	2.29	0
Team: 	720	12	8	4	19	1.58	3
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals 
MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts 
==Awards and Records==
* Red Berenson, Most Goals in One Road Game (6), Achieved on November 7, 1968 vs. PhiladelphiaNational Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.179, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5
*Clarence Campbell Trophy: St. Louis Blues
*Vezina Trophy: Glenn Hall & Jacques Plante
==Roster==
Goaltenders
*
*		
Defensemen
*
*
*
*		
Wingers
*
*
*
*
*		
Centers
*
*GM:
*Coach:
==Draft Picks==
St. Louis made the following picks at the 1968 NHL Entry Draft:
Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
 	 	 	 	 	
==Trivia==
*Blues who recorded a hat trick this season include:
**Camille Henry during the 4-4 tie with the Detroit Red Wings on November 3, 1968.
**Red Berenson had a six goal game during the 8-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on November 7, 1968.
==Gallery==
24Oct1968-Williams_Bucyk_Hall.jpg|Tom Williams, John Bucyk, Glenn Hall, October 24, 1968.
68-69NHLStlouisExhOttawaGameAd.jpg|Pre-season @ Ottawa
68-69NHLStlouisExhOttawaGameAd2.jpg|Pre-season @ Ottawa
68-69NHLStlouisExhOttawaRadioAd.jpg|Pre-season Ottawa radio ad
==References==
* Blues on Hockey Database
* 
Category:St. Louis Blues seasons
Category:1968 in hockey
Category:1969 in hockey