The

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

was the 46th season for the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) franchise that was established on June 5, 1967. The regular season was reduced from its usual 82 games to 48 due to the

2012–13 NHL lockout 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to ...

Off-season

On January 6, 2013, after a 113-day lockout, the NHL Owners and Players reached a new

Collective Bargaining Agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...

(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. On the same day, team owner Tom Stillman released a statement apologizing to the fans for the more-than-three-month lockout. 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 The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

Fox Sports Midwest FanDuel Sports Network Midwest is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) operated as an affiliate of FanDuel Sports Network. The channel broadcasts regional event coverage of sports ...

will broadcast 41 of the 48 games.

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

will broadcast the remaining seven. 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.

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 Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

at home by

Jaroslav Halak Jaroslav (also written as Yaroslav or Jarosław in other Slavic languages) is a Czech and Slovak first name, pagan in origin. Its feminine form is Jaroslava. There are several possible origins of the name Jaroslav. It is very likely that origi ...

(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 Vladimir Andreyevich Tarasenko (; born 13 December 1991) is a Russian professional ice hockey right winger for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Prior to playing in the NHL, he played in the system of Sibir Novosibirs ...

, 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. 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 The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

, 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 Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. 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. On January 27, the Blues honored the late

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Stan Musial Stanley Frank Musial (; born Stanislaw Franciszek Musial; November 21, 1920 – January 19, 2013), nicknamed "Stan the Man", was an American baseball outfielder and first baseman. Widely considered to be one of the greatest and most consistent ...

, who died in

Ladue, Missouri Ladue is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 8,989. Ladue has the highest median household income of any city in Missouri with a population over 1,000. Ge ...

, 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.

February

On February 4, Blues' forward

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. On February 13, goaltender Jake Allen made his first start in goal, against the

Joe Louis Arena Joe Louis Arena was an arena in Downtown Detroit. Completed in 1979 at a cost of US$57 million as a replacement for Olympia Stadium, it sat adjacent to Cobo Center on the bank of the Detroit River and was accessible by the Joe Louis Arena ...

, where his team beat Detroit 4–3 in overtime, stopping 15 of 18 shots. Vladimir Tarasenko was the early favorite to win the

Calder Memorial Trophy The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League (NHL)." It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Serving ...

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. On February 22, he was placed on the injured reserve list after getting hit on the head in the February 20 game in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. His five points in his first two games tied him with

Wayne Babych Wayne Joseph Babych (born June 6, 1958) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger (ice hockey), right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the St. Louis Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins, Quebec Nordiques, and Hartford Whal ...

for the best start by a rookie in Blues' history. On February 23 at home,

Barret Jackman Barret D. Jackman (born March 5, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the St. Louis Blues and the Nashville Predators. Jackman was selected 17th overall in the 1999 NH ...

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 Robert Bryant Plager (March 11, 1943 – March 24, 2021) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 14 seasons from 1964 until 1978, primarily for the St. Louis Blues. Plager spent over ha ...

(615), Barclay Plager (614),

Al MacInnis Allan MacInnis (born July 11, 1963) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 23 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames (1981–1994) and St. Louis Blues (1994–2004). A first round selection ...

(613), Larry Patey (603) and

Chris Pronger Christopher Robert Pronger ( or ; born October 10, 1974) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player for the 1999–2000 season and was inducted to the Hockey Hall o ...

(598). Only forwards

Bernie Federko Bernard Allan Federko (born May 12, 1956) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played fourteen seasons in the National Hockey League from 1976 through 1990. Playing career Federko began playing hockey at a young age in his ho ...

(927),

Brian Sutter Brian Louis Allen Sutter (born October 7, 1956) is a Canadian former ice hockey forward and former head coach in the National Hockey League (NHL). Brian is the second oldest of the famous Sutter brothers and the oldest of the six that played in ...

(779),

Brett Hull Brett Andrew Hull (born August 9, 1964) is a Canadians, Canadian–Americans, American former ice hockey player and general manager, and currently an executive vice president of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played f ...

(744) and

Garry Unger Garry Douglas Unger (born December 7, 1947) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League from 1967 until 1983. Early life Unger was born on December 7, 1947, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to ...

(662) have played in more games than Jackman. 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.

March

Rookie goaltender Jake Allen earned his first NHL shutout at home against the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

, stopping all 28 shots on March 14. It boosted his record to 7–1 in his first eight games.Stewart scores two, Allen gets first shutout for Blues
, NHL.com (Mar 14, 2013) Goaltender

tied

Glenn Hall Glenn Henry Hall (born October 3, 1931) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. During his National Hockey League career with the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks, and St. Louis Blues, Hall seldom missed a game and was a co ...

for the Blues' franchise record of 16 career shutouts when Halak shut-out the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

on March 23, stopping all 19 shots on net. It was his 25th career shutout in the NHL.

Roman Turek Roman Turek (born May 21, 1970) is a Czech former professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames in a nine-year National Hockey League (NHL) career. He last played in the Czech Extraliga for ...

is third on the franchise list with 13 shutouts. 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 In professional sports within the United States and Canada, a trade is a sports league transaction between sports clubs involving the exchange of player rights from one team to another. Though player rights are the primary trading assets, draft ...

(April 3), the Blues, on March 30, picked up a left-shooting defenseman

Jordan Leopold Jordan Douglas Leopold (born August 3, 1980) is an Americans, American former professional ice hockey defenceman, defenseman. He was drafted in the second round, 44th overall, by the Anaheim Ducks, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 1999 NHL Entry Draft, ...

in a trade with the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

to bolster its defense.

April

In his second trade in two days, on April 1, general manager Doug Armstrong, after pushing for 10 months, finally acquired left-shooting defenseman

Jay Bouwmeester Jay Daniel Bouwmeester (born September 27, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played seventeen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues. He was a firs ...

from the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

. In his final trade, his third in four days, just before the deadline on April 3, Armstrong traded defenseman

Wade Redden Wade Redden (born June 12, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and a development coach of the Ottawa Senators, with whom he spent the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL), which lasted from 1996 to 201 ...

to the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. April 16 saw head coach

Ken Hitchcock Kenneth S. Hitchcock (born December 17, 1951) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey coach. Hitchcock coached the Dallas Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, St. Louis Blues and Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League ...

earn his 600th NHL win with the 2–1 shootout victory over the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

. He became the 11th NHL coach to reach that milestone. Of the 11, only two have higher career point percentages:

Scotty Bowman William Scott Bowman (born September 18, 1933) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey head coach. He holds the record for most wins in National Hockey League (NHL) history, with 1,244 wins in the regular season and 223 in the Stanley Cup ...

(.657) and

Joel Quenneville Joel Norman Quenneville (born September 15, 1958) is a Canadian–American professional ice hockey coach and former player who is the head coach for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Coach Q", he is second in NHL c ...

(.612), with Hitchcock at .595. Ironically, Bowman and Quenneville were both former Blues' coaches. 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 The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...

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

and

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

, 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. 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 The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

. Goaltender

Brian Elliott Brian Elliott (born April 9, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played parts of 16 seasons in the National Hockey League. He was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the ninth round, 291st overall, of the 2003 NHL E ...

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. The Blues tied the

for most shutouts for in the NHL, with seven.

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. He previously wrote that the team was good, but just not good enough.

Standings

Schedule and results

(all games on

, except those on

marked with a * )
Blues' Schedule

NBC/NBC Sports schedule

Playoffs

Key: Win Loss

Player statistics

Final stats ;Skaters

* indicates not currently on the active roster.
⁺ indicates on Injured Reserve.
^‡Traded away mid-season, date of last game in ( ). Stats reflect time with Blues only.
^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Blues, date of first game in ( ). Stats reflect time with Blues only.
Bold = leading team in category.

Goaltenders

(through game on April 27, 2013) FINAL (through game on May 10, 2013) FINAL ^†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

Milestones

Transactions

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

Trades

Free agents signed

* $468,293 (pro-rated over 48 games)

Free agents lost

Claimed via waivers

Lost via waivers

Lost via retirement

Player signings

Draft picks

St. Louis' picks at the 2012 NHL entry draft in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, at the

Consol Energy Center PPG Paints Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that serves as the home of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). It previously was the home of the Pittsburgh Power of the Arena Football Leagu ...

from June 22–23, 2012.

Farm teams

Peoria Rivermen

The Peoria (Illinois) Rivermen are the Blues

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

affiliate in

.
On April 1, 2013, the Blues announced that the

on March 29 agreed to buy the Rivermen from the Blues, pending approval from the NHL. Details not available. It is expected the Blues will affiliate with the AHL's

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena ...

for the 2013–14 season. The Blues officially announced their affiliation with the Wolves on April 23, for at least three seasons. They play in the

Allstate Arena Allstate Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Rosemont, Illinois, United States, northwest of Chicago, located at the corner of Mannheim Road and Lunt Avenue, just north of Mannheim Road's interchange with the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway ( I-90) ...

in the Chicago suburb of

Rosemont Rosemont may refer to: People Rosemont is a surname. Notable people with this surname include: * David A. Rosemont, American television producer * Franklin Rosemont (1943–2009), American poet, artist, historian * Norman Rosemont (1924–2018), ...

. The team was formerly affiliated with the

from 2011–2013, and the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL sea ...

from 2001–2011. The swap was hard to take for the fans of the team, but the team's attendance was light, and the sponsorship not very strong. The team is one of the premier franchises in the AHL. The team's owner is Don Levin, coached by Scott Arniel, and their GM is Wendell Young.

Evansville IceMen

The

Evansville IceMen The Evansville IceMen were a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL in Evansville, Indiana. The franchise was originally a member of the United Hockey League before it merged into the Central Hockey League in 2010. The franchise won four post-s ...

are the Blues affiliate in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

References

External links

2012–13 St. Louis Blues season at ESPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:2012-13 St. Louis Blues Season St. Louis Blues seasons S

St Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...