The St. Louis Blues have created the blueprint for winning back fans. The 2007-2008 Blues slogan is “Whatever It Takes” and they are truly living by those words. In recent years the Blues had all but fallen off the St. Louis sports scene. Coming in dead last in the NHL the first year after the strike was not a good combination. It is never good when a channel 9 broadcast on bird migration draws a higher Neilson rating than a Blues game. The Blues were not talked about on TV, radio, and readers needed a glossary to find them in the local newspaper.

Dave Checketts and his partners stepped up and purchased the Blues in September 2005. This marks the day when the attitude at Scottrade changed. He and his partners pledged to bring the St. Louis Blues back to where they were in their heyday. Blues fans were skeptical. The team was last in the NHL, and this was the same team that had made the playoffs 25 seasons in a row. Checketts had a tough road to travel while bring this organization back from the dead, but he has done a wonderful job.

Dave Checketts brought in John Davidson as team president, Andy Murray as head coach, and Al Macinnis as vice president of hockey operations. All three are great people that know how to succeed. Andy Murray is a proven coach that understands how to get the best out of his players. John Davidson is a hall of fame goaltender and is respected throughout the league. Al Macinnis had been a fan favorite and it was a great move to keep Al in the organization. Checketts was doing “Whatever It Takes” to bring the fans back.

Last season started very poorly once again, but Andy Murray revitalized this team. The typical hockey fan never left. The hoosier with the mullet and the Curtis Joseph jersey never turned his back on the team, but the casual fan had. When Murray took over the team fans started coming back to Scottrade. They could see that the players were trying and they were also enticed by free food days, but Whatever It Takes to get people in the building. Coming into this season there was more talk about the Blues than I can ever remember. People were honestly excited about the coming season. The Blues were in the top five in season ticket packages sold in the entire NHL. This is the same team that missed the playoffs again. Why was St. Louis so excited about this team?

Unlike the Cardinals, the Blues made a big free agent signing. Paul Kariya inked a 3 year $18 million deal with the Blues. Thousands of fans turned out for the press conference. The Blues had more people at a pre-season practice than most games all of last season. It has become one of the hottest tickets in town, but Checketts and the Blues are relentless in their ultimate goal: bringing a Stanley Cup to St. Louis. Players, coaches, and even Checketts himself are heard on radio airways daily. They do not give excuses for not playing well; there is no BS with this team. They say they will play hard and they do. The fans have responded with the average attendance being well over 15,000. The team is young and exciting and good things are in their future.