2012–13 St. Louis Blues season

The 2012–13 St. Louis Blues season was the 46th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on June 5, 1967.[2] The regular season was reduced from its usual 82 games to 48 due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout.

2012–13 St. Louis Blues
Division2nd Central
Conference4th Western
2012–13 record29–17–2
Home record15–8–1
Road record14–9–1
Goals for129
Goals against115
Team information
General managerDoug Armstrong
CoachKen Hitchcock
CaptainDavid Backes
Alternate captainsBarret Jackman
Jamie Langenbrunner (Oct.–Feb.)
Andy McDonald
Alex Pietrangelo (Feb.–May.)
Alexander Steen
ArenaScottrade Center
Average attendance414,328 avg. 17,263 (90.1%) [1]
24 games (19,150 max.)
Team leaders
GoalsChris Stewart (18)
AssistsDavid Backes (22)
PointsChris Stewart (36)
Penalty minutesRyan Reaves (79)
Plus/minusBarret Jackman (+6)
WinsBrian Elliott (14)
Goals against averageJaroslav Halak (2.14)

Off-season

On January 6, 2013, after a 113-day lockout, the NHL Owners and Players reached a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), ratified on both sides by January 12, 119-days after the lockout. The old CBA expired on September 15, 2012, precipitating the lockout of the players by the owners. The new CBA has to be ratified by both the owners and players before the season can begin.[3] On the same day, team owner Tom Stillman released a statement apologizing to the fans for the more-than-three-month lockout.[4]

The Blues and the NHL released the new playing schedules for 2013, covering 48 games instead of the usual 82. The Blues open the season at home on January 19 against the Detroit Red Wings.[5]

Fox Sports Midwest will broadcast 41 of the 48 games. NBC/NBC Sports will broadcast the remaining seven.[6]

On the eve of the start of the abbreviated 2012–13 season on January 19, the Blues trimmed their roster to 23 by the January 18 deadline.[7]

Regular season

January

The first game of the 48-game season scored a first for the Blues: the first shutout in the first game of the season in their 46-year history. A 6–0 shutout of Detroit at home by Jaroslav Halak (14th with the Blues; facing only 14 shots) featured a two-goal game on his first two NHL shots by acclaimed Russian rookie Vladimir Tarasenko, two goals by Chris Stewart and a short-handed goal by T. J. Oshie, with four of the six goals on the power-play, to a standing-room-only crowd of 20,035 in attendance.[8]

The opening game was the highest-rated Blues season or home opener on FOX Sports Midwest. It averaged a 6.0 household rating, making it the highest-rated program in prime time in St. Louis on Saturday.

The second game of the season, on Monday January 21 against the Nashville Predators, was the highest-rated regular season Blues telecast ever on FOX Sports Midwest. The Blues' 4–3 shootout win at Nashville generated a 7.4 household rating in the St. Louis DMA, according to Nielsen Media Research. That easily tops the previous regular season high of 6.3 set March 13, 2012 at Chicago. The Monday telecast peaked at a 9.1 rating (113,000 households) during the shootout. The Blues Live postgame show followed with an impressive 4.7 rating.[9]

On January 27, the Blues honored the late St. Louis Cardinals' baseball Hall of Famer Stan Musial, who died in Ladue, Missouri, on January 19 at the age of 92. The Blues wore number 6 (Musial's number) on their warmup jerseys that were autographed and then auctioned to benefit Cardinals Care and the St. Louis Blues 14 fund.[10]

February

On February 4, Blues' forward Vladimir Tarasenko was named by the NHL as January's Rookie of the Month, as he led all rookie forwards with nine points (five goals and four assists) in seven games in the month.[11]

On February 13, goaltender Jake Allen made his first start in goal, against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena, where his team beat Detroit 4–3 in overtime, stopping 15 of 18 shots.[12]

Vladimir Tarasenko was the early favorite to win the Calder Memorial Trophy as Rookie of the Year after the one-quarter mark (12 games) of the season, scoring six goals and five assists (11 points) in 13 games, playing only 14:27 average per game.[13] On February 22, he was placed on the injured reserve list after getting hit on the head in the February 20 game in Colorado. His five points in his first two games tied him with Wayne Babych for the best start by a rookie in Blues' history.[14]

On February 23 at home, Barret Jackman became the all-time Blues' leader in games played by a defenseman with his 616th game played since his debut on April 14, 2002. He has 22 goals and 121 assists for 143 points in his career and a plus-minus rating of +37. This season, he passed Bob Plager (615), Barclay Plager (614), Al MacInnis (613), Larry Patey (603) and Chris Pronger (598). Only forwards Bernie Federko (927), Brian Sutter (779), Brett Hull (744) and Garry Unger (662) have played in more games than Jackman.[15]

After starting out with a 6–1 record in January, the Blues skidded to a 4–7–1 record in February, with a 1–5–1 record at home; in that span, they scored only 11 goals while giving up 26.[16]

March

Rookie goaltender Jake Allen earned his first NHL shutout at home against the Phoenix Coyotes, stopping all 28 shots on March 14. It boosted his record to 7–1 in his first eight games.[17][18]

Goaltender Jaroslav Halak tied Glenn Hall for the Blues' franchise record of 16 career shutouts when Halak shut-out the Edmonton Oilers on March 23, stopping all 19 shots on net. It was his 25th career shutout in the NHL. Roman Turek is third on the franchise list with 13 shutouts.[19]

A freefall at the end of March, losing four of five games, dropped the Blues to eighth place in the Conference, just barely hanging on to a playoff spot.

A few days before the NHL trade deadline (April 3), the Blues, on March 30, picked up a left-shooting defenseman Jordan Leopold in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres to bolster its defense.[20]

April

In his second trade in two days, on April 1, general manager Doug Armstrong, after pushing for 10 months,[21] finally acquired left-shooting defenseman Jay Bouwmeester from the Calgary Flames.[22] In his final trade, his third in four days, just before the deadline on April 3, Armstrong traded defenseman Wade Redden to the Boston Bruins for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2014.[23]

April 16 saw head coach Ken Hitchcock earn his 600th NHL win with the 2–1 shootout victory over the Vancouver Canucks. He became the 11th NHL coach to reach that milestone. Of the 11, only two have higher career point percentages: Scotty Bowman (.657) and Joel Quenneville (.612), with Hitchcock at .595. Ironically, Bowman and Quenneville were both former Blues' coaches.[24]

The Blues clinched a playoff spot in the top eight teams in the Western Conference after their 3–1 home win against the Colorado Avalanche on April 23, giving them a 27–17–2 (56 points) record. Final seeding will depend on the result of their final two games of the season at home against the Calgary Flames and Chicago Blackhawks, with a chance for fourth place giving them home advantage in the first round. They reached the playoffs for 25 consecutive years from 1979 to 2004, and their third in the last eight seasons.[25]

The team was 17–14–2 (36 points), sitting at ninth place in the Western Conference at the end of March, and were in danger of not making the playoffs. A 12–3 run in April, however, pushed them to fourth place and home ice in the first round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings.[26][27]

Goaltender Brian Elliott was named the NHL's Second Star of the Month for April, with his franchise-record (including post-season) 11 wins in the month. He had an 11–2–0 record, 1.28 goals against average and .948 save percentage, with three shutouts in 13 games, to push the Blues into fourth place.[28]

The Blues tied the Vancouver Canucks for most shutouts for in the NHL, with seven.[29]

May

After the Blues' first-round loss, their third playoff loss in four seasons, sportswriter Bernie Miklasz asked why the Blues are so easily satisfied.[30] He previously wrote that the team was good, but just not good enough.[31]

Standings

Central Division
Pos Team GP W L OTL ROW GF GA GD Pts
1 p Chicago Blackhawks 48 36 7 5 30 155 102 +53 77
2 x St. Louis Blues 48 29 17 2 24 129 115 +14 60
3 x Detroit Red Wings 48 24 16 8 22 124 115 +9 56
4 Columbus Blue Jackets 48 24 17 7 19 120 119 +1 55
5 Nashville Predators 48 16 23 9 14 111 139 28 41
Source: National Hockey League
p Clinched Presidents' Trophy; x Clinched playoff spot.
Western Conference
Pos Div Team GP W L OTL ROW GF GA GD Pts
1 CE p Chicago Blackhawks 48 36 7 5 30 155 102 +53 77
2 PA y Anaheim Ducks 48 30 12 6 24 140 118 +22 66
3 NW y Vancouver Canucks 48 26 15 7 21 127 121 +6 59
4 CE x St. Louis Blues 48 29 17 2 24 129 115 +14 60
5 PA x Los Angeles Kings 48 27 16 5 25 133 118 +15 59
6 PA x San Jose Sharks 48 25 16 7 17 124 116 +8 57
7 CE x Detroit Red Wings 48 24 16 8 22 124 115 +9 56
8 NW x Minnesota Wild 48 26 19 3 22 122 127 5 55
9 CE Columbus Blue Jackets 48 24 17 7 19 120 119 +1 55
10 PA Phoenix Coyotes 48 21 18 9 17 125 131 6 51
11 PA Dallas Stars 48 22 22 4 20 130 142 12 48
12 NW Edmonton Oilers 48 19 22 7 17 125 134 9 45
13 NW Calgary Flames 48 19 25 4 19 128 160 32 42
14 CE Nashville Predators 48 16 23 9 14 111 139 28 41
15 NW Colorado Avalanche 48 16 25 7 14 116 152 36 39
Source: National Hockey League
p Clinched Presidents' Trophy; x Clinched playoff spot; y Clinched division.

Schedule and results

(all games on Fox Sports Midwest, except those on NBC/NBC Sports marked with a * )

2012–13 Game Log

Legend:   Win (2 points)  Loss (0 points)  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

Key:   Win   Loss

2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Player statistics

Final stats[32]

Skaters

Goaltenders

(through game on April 27, 2013)   FINAL

Regular Season
Player GP GS TOI W L OT GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Brian Elliott24201,291:561481  492.28  526.9073000
Jaroslav Halak1615   812:35 651  292.14  286.8993010
Jake Allen1513   803:53 940  332.46  346.9051000
Totals482,908:24291721112.291,158.9047010

(through game on May 10, 2013)   FINAL

Playoffs
Player GP GS TOI W L OT GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Brian Elliott66378:29241121.90149.9190000

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Blues. Stats reflect time with the Blues only.
Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Awards and milestones

Awards

Regular Season
PlayerAwardAwarded
Chris Stewart [33]NHL First Star of the WeekMarch 17, 2013
Jake Allen and Chris Stewart [34]NHL Hot ListMarch 17, 2013
Brian Elliott [35]NHL Second Star of the WeekApril 7, 2013
Brian Elliott [28]NHL Second Star for AprilApril 29, 2013

Milestones

Regular Season
PlayerMilestoneReached
Jake Allen [17]1st Career NHL ShutoutMarch 14, 2013
David Backes [36]300th NHL PointApril 27, 2013

Roster


Updated July 18, 2013.[37]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
34 Jake Allen G L 22 2008 Fredericton, New Brunswick
10 Keith Aucoin C L 34 2013 Waltham, Massachusetts
42 David Backes (C) C/RW R 29 2003 Minneapolis, Minnesota
21 Patrik Berglund C L 24 2006 Västerås, Sweden
4 Jay Bouwmeester D L 29 2013 Edmonton, Alberta
43 Taylor Chorney D L 26 2012 Thunder Bay, Ontario
28 Ian Cole D L 24 2007 Ann Arbor, Michigan
79 Adam Cracknell RW R 27 2009 Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
1 Brian Elliott G L 35 2011 Newmarket, Ontario
37 Jani Hakanpaa D R 21 2010 Kirkkonummi, Finland
41 Jaroslav Halak G L 27 2010 Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
5 Barret Jackman (A) D L 32 1999 Trail, British Columbia
26 Dmitrij Jaskin RW L 20 2011 Omsk, Russia
40 Maxim Lapierre C R 28 2013 Montreal, Quebec
33 Jordan Leopold D L 32 2013 Golden Valley, Minnesota
74 T. J. Oshie RW/C R 26 2005 Mount Vernon, Washington
56 Magnus Paajarvi LW L 22 2013 Norrköping, Sweden
27 Alex Pietrangelo (A) D R 23 2008 King City, Ontario
46 Roman Polak D R 27 2004 Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
32 Chris Porter C L 28 2007 Toronto, Ontario
75 Ryan Reaves RW R 26 2005 Winnipeg, Manitoba
12 Derek Roy C L 30 2013 Ottawa, Ontario
9 Jaden Schwartz C L 20 2010 Melfort, Saskatchewan
22 Kevin Shattenkirk D R 24 2011 Greenwich, Connecticut
17 Vladimir Sobotka LW/C L 25 2010 Třebíč, Czechoslovakia
20 Alexander Steen (A) LW L 29 2008 Winnipeg, Manitoba
25 Chris Stewart RW R 25 2011 Toronto, Ontario
91 Vladimir Tarasenko RW L 21 2010 Yaroslavl, Soviet Union

Transactions

The Blues have been involved in the following transactions during the 2012–13 season

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