1995–96 St. Louis Blues season

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1995–96 St. Louis Blues
Division4th Central
Conference5th Western
1995–96 record32–34–16
Home record15–17–9
Road record17–17–7
Goals for219
Goals against248
Team information
General managerMike Keenan
CoachMike Keenan
CaptainBrett Hull (Oct.)
Shayne Corson (Oct.–Feb.)
Wayne Gretzky (Feb.–Apr.)
Alternate captainsShayne Corson (Oct., Feb.–Apr.)
Brett Hull (Dec.–Feb.)
Al MacInnis
Jay Wells (Oct.–Dec.)
ArenaKiel Center
Team leaders
GoalsBrett Hull (43)
AssistsAl MacInnis (44)
PointsBrett Hull (83)
Penalty minutesShayne Corson (192)
WinsGrant Fuhr (30)
Goals against averageGrant Fuhr (2.87)

The 1995–96 St. Louis Blues season was the 29th in franchise history. The Blues hired head coach Mike Keenan as general manager. The hard nosed Keenan rubbed many Blues players the wrong way, but brought a tough, winning style of play. One of Keenan's first moves was trading Brendan Shanahan to the Hartford Whalers for Chris Pronger. With Brett Hull in Keenan's dog house, the general manager made a bold move by acquiring Wayne Gretzky for the 1995–96 stretch run, reuniting him with former Oilers such as Glenn Anderson, Charlie Huddy, Craig MacTavish, Grant Fuhr and others. The "Great One" couldn't do a whole lot during his limited time in St. Louis once goaltender Grant Fuhr was hurt in the final game of the regular season. The Blues defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Western Conference Quarter-finals. It would be the last playoff series ever played at Maple Leaf Gardens. In the Western Conference Semi-finals, the Blues lost to the President's Trophy winners, the Detroit Red Wings in seven games. The Blues had seven current Hockey Hall of Fame members during the season (Gretzky, Hull, MacInnis, Anderson, Fuhr, Hawerchuk and Pronger).

Offseason[]

Regular season[]

Wayne Gretzky trade[]

On February 27, the St. Louis Blues acquired Wayne Gretzky from the Los Angeles Kings for Craig Johnson, Patrice Tardif, Roman Vopat and draft picks.[1] In 18 regular season games with the Blues, Gretzky recorded 21 points as the Blues qualified for the playoffs for the 17th straight season with a record of 32–34–16. He scored 37 points in 31 games for the team in both the regular season and the playoffs, and the Blues came within one overtime game of the Conference finals. He also served as the team's captain (replacing Corson) in his short tenure with the Blues. Despite reuniting with former Edmonton Oilers teammates Glenn Anderson, Grant Fuhr, and Craig MacTavish, whom Gretzky had not played with since the 1988 Stanley Cup win, he never clicked with the team or with his new right-winger, "The Golden Brett" Hull, on the ice as well as many had expected. On July 12, he signed with the New York Rangers as a free agent, rejoining longtime Oilers teammate Mark Messier.

Final standings[]

Central Division
No. GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 Detroit Red Wings 82 62 13 7 325 181 131
2 Chicago Blackhawks 82 40 28 14 273 220 94
3 Toronto Maple Leafs 82 34 36 12 247 252 80
4 St. Louis Blues 82 32 34 16 219 248 80
5 Winnipeg Jets 82 36 40 6 275 291 78
6 Dallas Stars 82 26 42 14 227 280 66

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Western Conference[2]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 p – Detroit Red Wings CEN 82 62 13 7 325 181 131
2 Colorado Avalanche PAC 82 47 25 10 326 240 104
3 Chicago Blackhawks CEN 82 40 28 14 273 220 94
4 Toronto Maple Leafs CEN 82 34 36 12 247 252 80
5 St. Louis Blues CEN 82 32 34 16 219 248 80
6 Calgary Flames PAC 82 34 37 11 241 240 79
7 Vancouver Canucks PAC 82 32 35 15 278 278 79
8 Winnipeg Jets CEN 82 36 40 6 275 291 78
9 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim PAC 82 35 39 8 234 247 78
10 Edmonton Oilers PAC 82 30 44 8 240 304 68
11 Dallas Stars CEN 82 26 42 14 227 280 66
12 Los Angeles Kings PAC 82 24 40 18 256 302 66
13 San Jose Sharks PAC 82 20 55 7 252 357 47

Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific

bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy


Schedule and results[]

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 L October 7, 1995 1–4 @ Washington Capitals (1995–96) 0–1–0
2 W October 10, 1995 5–3 Edmonton Oilers (1995–96) 1–1–0
3 W October 12, 1995 3–1 @ Dallas Stars (1995–96) 2–1–0
4 W October 14, 1995 4–1 Colorado Avalanche (1995–96) 3–1–0
5 L October 17, 1995 4–7 Boston Bruins (1995–96) 3–2–0
6 T October 19, 1995 1–1 OT Dallas Stars (1995–96) 3–2–1
7 L October 21, 1995 1–4 Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 3–3–1
8 L October 22, 1995 2–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 3–4–1
9 W October 25, 1995 4–2 @ Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 4–4–1
10 W October 27, 1995 4–2 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96) 5–4–1
11 L October 29, 1995 1–3 Washington Capitals (1995–96) 5–5–1
12 L November 1, 1995 0–3 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96) 5–6–1
13 L November 4, 1995 3–7 @ San Jose Sharks (1995–96) 5–7–1
14 L November 7, 1995 0–1 Los Angeles Kings (1995–96) 5–8–1
15 W November 10, 1995 3–2 Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 6–8–1
16 W November 11, 1995 4–1 @ New York Islanders (1995–96) 7–8–1
17 T November 14, 1995 1–1 OT New York Rangers (1995–96) 7–8–2
18 W November 16, 1995 3–1 San Jose Sharks (1995–96) 8–8–2
19 L November 18, 1995 2–5 @ Boston Bruins (1995–96) 8–9–2
20 L November 21, 1995 2–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96) 8–10–2
21 L November 23, 1995 2–3 Vancouver Canucks (1995–96) 8–11–2
22 T November 25, 1995 2–2 OT Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96) 8–11–3
23 L November 27, 1995 0–2 Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 8–12–3
24 W November 29, 1995 5–4 Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 9–12–3
25 W November 30, 1995 4–1 @ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 10–12–3
26 W December 2, 1995 7–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96) 11–12–3
27 T December 5, 1995 1–1 OT @ Calgary Flames (1995–96) 11–12–4
28 W December 8, 1995 6–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96) 12–12–4
29 W December 9, 1995 2–1 @ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96) 13–12–4
30 L December 12, 1995 2–5 Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 13–13–4
31 T December 14, 1995 3–3 OT Calgary Flames (1995–96) 13–13–5
32 W December 16, 1995 3–2 San Jose Sharks (1995–96) 14–13–5
33 W December 19, 1995 4–1 New York Islanders (1995–96) 15–13–5
34 L December 22, 1995 1–2 @ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96) 15–14–5
35 L December 23, 1995 1–2 @ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 15–15–5
36 L December 26, 1995 2–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 15–16–5
37 W December 28, 1995 4–1 Dallas Stars (1995–96) 16–16–5
38 L December 30, 1995 3–4 OT Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96) 16–17–5
39 W January 4, 1996 3–1 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 17–17–5
40 W January 6, 1996 3–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 18–17–5
41 L January 9, 1996 2–4 @ New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 18–18–5
42 T January 11, 1996 4–4 OT @ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 18–18–6
43 T January 13, 1996 3–3 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 18–18–7
44 T January 14, 1996 3–3 OT @ New York Rangers (1995–96) 18–18–8
45 L January 16, 1996 1–5 Edmonton Oilers (1995–96) 18–19–8
46 W January 24, 1996 6–5 @ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 19–19–8
47 W January 27, 1996 2–1 Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 20–19–8
48 L January 29, 1996 2–4 @ Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 20–20–8
49 W January 31, 1996 4–0 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96) 21–20–8
50 T February 1, 1996 2–2 OT Vancouver Canucks (1995–96) 21–20–9
51 L February 3, 1996 3–7 Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 21–21–9
52 L February 6, 1996 2–5 Dallas Stars (1995–96) 21–22–9
53 L February 8, 1996 1–6 Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 21–23–9
54 W February 10, 1996 6–3 @ Dallas Stars (1995–96) 22–23–9
55 T February 11, 1996 2–2 OT @ Florida Panthers (1995–96) 22–23–10
56 W February 13, 1996 3–2 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 23–23–10
57 W February 16, 1996 4–3 Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 24–23–10
58 W February 18, 1996 3–0 Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 25–23–10
59 L February 20, 1996 1–7 Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 25–24–10
60 W February 22, 1996 4–3 OT @ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 26–24–10
61 T February 24, 1996 2–2 OT Los Angeles Kings (1995–96) 26–24–11
62 T February 29, 1996 2–2 OT @ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96) 26–24–12
63 W March 3, 1996 4–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96) 27–24–12
64 W March 5, 1996 2–0 Florida Panthers (1995–96) 28–24–12
65 L March 7, 1996 2–4 Calgary Flames (1995–96) 28–25–12
66 W March 9, 1996 6–3 Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 29–25–12
67 L March 12, 1996 2–4 @ Calgary Flames (1995–96) 29–26–12
68 W March 15, 1996 4–2 @ San Jose Sharks (1995–96) 30–26–12
69 L March 17, 1996 1–5 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96) 30–27–12
70 W March 18, 1996 3–1 @ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96) 31–27–12
71 L March 20, 1996 1–2 @ Dallas Stars (1995–96) 31–28–12
72 L March 22, 1996 1–6 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96) 31–29–12
73 T March 24, 1996 2–2 OT Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 31–29–13
74 L March 26, 1996 4–8 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 31–30–13
75 T March 28, 1996 4–4 OT New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 31–30–14
76 L March 31, 1996 1–8 @ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 31–31–14
77 W April 3, 1996 6–3 @ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96) 32–31–14
78 L April 4, 1996 1–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96) 32–32–14
79 L April 6, 1996 1–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96) 32–33–14
80 T April 8, 1996 2–2 OT Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 32–33–15
81 L April 11, 1996 2–3 Colorado Avalanche (1995–96) 32–34–15
82 T April 14, 1996 2–2 OT @ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 32–34–16

Playoffs[]

In the playoffs, Gretzky would provide a spark as the Blues overcame an injury to goalie Grant Fuhr in Game 1 to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in 6 games. Backup goalie Jon Casey continued to keep the Blues hopes alive as they jumped out to a 3–2 series lead against the Detroit Red Wings. However, the Wings would rally and win the series in double overtime in Game 7 on Steve Yzerman's goal.


April 16 St. Louis Blues 3–1 Toronto Maple Leafs Maple Leaf Gardens
April 18 St. Louis Blues 4–5 OT Toronto Maple Leafs Maple Leaf Gardens
April 21 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–3 OT St. Louis Blues Kiel Center
April 23 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–5 St. Louis Blues Kiel Center
April 25 St. Louis Blues 4–5 OT Toronto Maple Leafs Maple Leaf Gardens
April 27 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–2 St. Louis Blues Kiel Center
St. Louis won series 4–2


May 3 St. Louis Blues 2–3 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena
May 5 St. Louis Blues 3–8 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena
May 8 Detroit Red Wings 4–5 St. Louis Blues Kiel Center
May 10 Detroit Red Wings 0–1 St. Louis Blues Kiel Center
May 12 St. Louis Blues 3–2 OT Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena
May 14 Detroit Red Wings 4–2 St. Louis Blues Kiel Center
May 16 St. Louis Blues 0–1 2OT Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena
Detroit won series 4–3


Player statistics[]

Regular season[]

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Brett Hull RW 70 43 40 83 30 4 16 5 6
Al MacInnis D 82 17 44 61 88 5 9 1 1
Shayne Corson LW 77 18 28 46 192 3 13 0 0
Dale Hawerchuk C 66 13 28 41 22 5 5 0 1
Geoff Courtnall LW 69 24 16 40 101 -9 7 1 1
Brian Noonan RW 81 13 22 35 84 2 3 1 6
Chris Pronger D 78 7 18 25 110 -18 3 1 1
Adam Creighton C 61 11 10 21 78 0 2 0 3
Wayne Gretzky C 18 8 13 21 2 -6 1 1 1
Peter Zezel C 57 8 13 21 12 -2 2 0 1
Stephane Matteau LW 46 7 13 20 65 -4 3 0 2
Craig Johnson LW 49 8 7 15 30 -4 1 0 0
Mike Hudson C/LW 32 3 12 15 26 7 0 0 0
Igor Kravchuk D 40 3 12 15 24 -6 0 0 1
Jeff Norton D 36 4 7 11 26 4 0 0 1
Murray Baron D 82 2 9 11 190 3 0 0 0
Rob Pearson RW 27 6 4 10 54 4 1 0 1
Christer Olsson D 26 2 8 10 14 -6 2 0 0
Ian Laperriere RW 33 3 6 9 87 -4 1 0 1
David Roberts LW 28 1 6 7 12 -7 1 0 1
Stephen Leach RW 14 2 4 6 22 -3 0 0 0
Tony Twist LW 51 3 2 5 100 -1 0 0 1
Roman Vopat C 25 2 3 5 48 -8 1 0 1
Esa Tikkanen LW 11 1 4 5 18 1 0 1 0
Glenn Anderson RW 15 2 2 4 6 -11 2 0 0
J. J. Daigneault D 37 1 3 4 24 -6 0 0 0
Denis Chasse RW 42 3 0 3 108 -9 1 0 1
Patrice Tardif C 23 3 0 3 12 -2 0 0 1
Jay Wells D 76 0 3 3 67 -8 0 0 0
Basil McRae LW 18 1 1 2 40 -5 0 0 0
Paul Broten RW 17 0 1 1 4 -1 0 0 0
Dallas Eakins D 16 0 1 1 34 -2 0 0 0
Grant Fuhr G 79 0 1 1 8 0 0 0 0
Greg Gilbert LW 17 0 1 1 8 -1 0 0 0
Yuri Khmylev LW 7 0 1 1 0 -5 0 0 0
Craig MacTavish C 13 0 1 1 8 -6 0 0 0
Jon Casey G 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Donald Dufresne D 3 0 0 0 4 -2 0 0 0
Charlie Huddy D 12 0 0 0 6 -7 0 0 0
Pat Jablonski G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fred Knipscheer C 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Bruce Racine G 11 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Jamie Rivers D 3 0 0 0 2 -1 0 0 0
Kevin Sawyer LW 6 0 0 0 23 -2 0 0 0
Ken Sutton D 6 0 0 0 4 -1 0 0 0
Alexander Vasilevski RW 1 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Grant Fuhr 4365 79 30 28 16 209 2.87 3 2157 1948 .903
Jon Casey 395 9 2 3 0 25 3.80 0 180 155 .861
Pat Jablonski 8 1 0 0 0 1 7.50 0 5 4 .800
Bruce Racine 230 11 0 3 0 12 3.13 0 101 89 .881
Team: 4998 82 32 34 16 247 2.97 3 2443 2196 .899

Playoffs[]

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Wayne Gretzky C 13 2 14 16 0 2 1 0 1
Shayne Corson LW 13 8 6 14 22 -1 6 1 1
Brett Hull RW 13 6 5 11 10 2 2 1 1
Al MacInnis D 13 3 4 7 20 2 1 0 0
Igor Kravchuk D 10 1 5 6 4 0 0 0 1
Chris Pronger D 13 1 5 6 16 0 0 0 0
Brian Noonan RW 13 4 1 5 10 -5 0 0 0
Stephen Leach RW 11 3 2 5 10 4 1 0 1
Glenn Anderson RW 11 1 4 5 6 5 0 0 1
Peter Zezel C 10 3 0 3 2 4 0 1 0
Geoff Courtnall LW 13 0 3 3 14 2 0 0 0
Adam Creighton C 13 1 1 2 8 -4 0 0 0
Yuri Khmylev LW 6 1 1 2 4 1 0 0 1
Tony Twist LW 10 1 1 2 16 0 0 0 0
Jon Casey G 12 0 2 2 8 0 0 0 0
Craig MacTavish C 13 0 2 2 6 0 0 0 0
Stephane Matteau LW 11 0 2 2 8 -2 0 0 0
Murray Baron D 13 1 0 1 20 4 0 1 0
Charlie Huddy D 13 1 0 1 8 1 0 0 0
Mike Hudson C/LW 2 0 1 1 4 1 0 0 0
Jay Wells D 12 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0
Grant Fuhr G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Basil McRae LW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Christer Olsson D 3 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0
Rob Pearson RW 2 0 0 0 14 1 0 0 0
Bruce Racine G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ken Sutton D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Jon Casey 747 12 6 6 36 2.89 1 378 342 .905
Grant Fuhr 69 2 1 0 1 0.87 0 45 44 .978
Bruce Racine 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0
Team: 817 13 7 6 37 2.72 1 423 386 .913

[3]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Transactions[]

  • July 28, 1995 – Doug Lidster was traded by the St. Louis Blues to the New York Rangers in exchange for Jay Wells.

Draft picks[]

The 1995 NHL Entry Draft was held at Edmonton Coliseum in Edmonton, Canada. The drafting order was now set partially by a lottery system whereby teams would not be guaranteed first pick if they finished last.

Round Pick Name Nationality College/junior/club team
2 49 Jochen Hecht (LW)  Germany Adler Mannheim (DEL)
3 75 Scott Roche (G)  Canada North Bay Centennials (OHL)
4 101 Michal Handzus (C)  Slovakia Iskra Banská Bystrica (Slovakia)
5 127 Jeffrey Ambrosio (LW)  Canada Belleville Bulls (OHL)
6 153 Denis Hamel (LW)  Canada Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
7 179 Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre (D)  Canada Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL)
8 205 Derek Bekar (C)  Canada Powell River Paper Kings (BCJHL)
9 209 Libor Zabransky (D)  Czech Republic HC České Budějovice (Czech Republic)

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Wayne Gretzky's hockey statistics profile at hockeydb.com
  2. ^ "1995-1996 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
  3. ^ "1995-96 St. Louis Blues Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-15.

External links[]

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