St. Louis honored another one of it’s sports heroes last month. Blues goaltender Glenn Hall was inducted into the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 14.
Hall only wore the blue-note for four seasons before retiring after the 1970-71 season, though he wasn’t traded, nor did he choose to relocate from Chicago to St. Louis. Hall’s move to the Blues came as a result of what is commonly known as the Expansion Six.
Six teams were created as a result of an NHL expansion in 1967. The California Seals, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and St. Louis Blues were all added to the list of NHL franchises.
But the St. Louis Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks would be strongly linked in the creation of the Blues. In fact, some may even say that Blues fans owe the Blackhawks some thanks for helping the Blues form. Arthur Wirtz, owner of the Blackhawks at the time, insisted on the creation of a pro-team in St. Louis even though nobody from St. Louis put in an initial bid for the expansion.
When the expansion teams were formed, their rosters were built from players from the other Original Six teams already established in the league. Hall moved from Chicago to the top goalkeeper position in St. Louis, and became the first goaltender in St. Louis Blues history.
During his first two seasons with the Blues, Hall was named to the NHL All-Star team and took home another Vezina Trophy in the 1968-69 season. In the post-season, Hall helped the Blues make the Stanley Cup Finals three consecutive seasons from 1968-70, and taking home the Most Valuable Player award.
Hall played in 140 games as a Blue, racking up a 2.43 goals-against average and tallying a 58-52-28 record. He is also the Blues all-time leader in shutouts with 16 while establishing the infamous butterfly-style for goaltenders which is still in wide use today as one of the most popular goaltending styles through all ranks of organized hockey.
DaveSchauer
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