I Love The Blues

[hockey jedi]

Dan Kelly on the radio WAS theater! He painted pictures, masterpieces, in our minds.

As a kid I watched many games on an old 11-inch screen portable b&w, channel 11. Now, I have a 65" OLED smart TV. Life is good. To think, that old portable weighed a heck of a lot more than my new 65"!

Those broadcasts with Kelly and Gus Kyle.

Remember those 10:05 west coast starts against the Kings and the California Golden Seals with the transistor under the pillow on school nights.

It always seemed like everytime the opposition would score a goal Kyle would say "they got the Blues running around in their own zone".

Thinking about it now it just cracks me up.

The radio broadcast was so far away and poor quality to what we have now. It sounded like they were calling the games from Mars.

[11WSChamps]

Dan Kelly on the radio WAS theater! He painted pictures, masterpieces, in our minds.

As a kid I watched many games on an old 11-inch screen portable b&w, channel 11. Now, I have a 65" OLED smart TV. Life is good. To think, that old portable weighed a heck of a lot more than my new 65"!

Those broadcasts with Kelly and Gus Kyle.

Remember those 10:05 west coast starts against the Kings and the California Golden Seals with the transistor under the pillow on school nights.

It always seemed like everytime the opposition would score a goal Kyle would say "they got the Blues running around in their own zone".

Thinking about it now it just cracks me up.

The radio broadcast was so far away and poor quality to what we have now. It sounded like they were calling the games from Mars.

Yeah but that KMOX AM you could hear all over.

I remember actually hearing a broadcast static and all from Lake Placid, NY.

[Tabasco Flowers]

Dan Kelly on the radio WAS theater! He painted pictures, masterpieces, in our minds.

As a kid I watched many games on an old 11-inch screen portable b&w, channel 11. Now, I have a 65" OLED smart TV. Life is good. To think, that old portable weighed a heck of a lot more than my new 65"!

Those broadcasts with Kelly and Gus Kyle.

Remember those 10:05 west coast starts against the Kings and the California Golden Seals with the transistor under the pillow on school nights.

It always seemed like everytime the opposition would score a goal Kyle would say "they got the Blues running around in their own zone".

Thinking about it now it just cracks me up.

The radio broadcast was so far away and poor quality to what we have now. It sounded like they were calling the games from Mars.

Yeah but that KMOX AM you could hear all over.

I remember actually hearing a broadcast static and all from Lake Placid, NY.

Clear channel. I could pick it up in Houston, TX. Barely.

[hockey jedi]

Dan Kelly on the radio WAS theater! He painted pictures, masterpieces, in our minds.

As a kid I watched many games on an old 11-inch screen portable b&w, channel 11. Now, I have a 65" OLED smart TV. Life is good. To think, that old portable weighed a heck of a lot more than my new 65"!

Those broadcasts with Kelly and Gus Kyle.

Remember those 10:05 west coast starts against the Kings and the California Golden Seals with the transistor under the pillow on school nights.

It always seemed like everytime the opposition would score a goal Kyle would say "they got the Blues running around in their own zone".

Thinking about it now it just cracks me up.

The radio broadcast was so far away and poor quality to what we have now. It sounded like they were calling the games from Mars.

Yeah but that KMOX AM you could hear all over.

I remember actually hearing a broadcast static and all from Lake Placid, NY.

Clear channel. I could pick it up in Houston, TX. Barely.

Were you in Houston when Gordie Howe played for the Aeros?

[blues2112]

Truly, no clue how my brothers and me got into hockey. Mom grew up off Chouteau and dad grew up in Arkansas and the Boot Heel (grandpa worked for Fricso railroad). Each had very different accents!

Seminal players for me were Barclay Plager and had 45 record in which he was part of, but I cannot remember why. Maybe it was the theme song and a photo of him was on the sleeve?!!?! The other was Garry Unger. Him being on the cover of Goal magazine was transcendent!

Went to many games for $8 up in nose bleed where fans would bang on the metal screens. Eventually, moved west and could catch KMOX broadcast in the parking lot of the Wyoming Territorial Prison.

As an old man tends to ramble ... back to the OP. I live out of market and ESPN+ and is $100-ish per year. Catch as many games as I can.

Great posts on this thread!!!!!!

[Phil Roberto fan]

I started watching the Blues in ‘67 with 3 regular season games (Philly, Pitt and Detroit) then went to playoffs in Spring, ‘68 including the Ron Schock Double OT winner. My dad bought season tickets for the next 25 years. I’ve loved the Blues from the start - even when they suck!

[Tabasco Flowers]

Dan Kelly on the radio WAS theater! He painted pictures, masterpieces, in our minds.

As a kid I watched many games on an old 11-inch screen portable b&w, channel 11. Now, I have a 65" OLED smart TV. Life is good. To think, that old portable weighed a heck of a lot more than my new 65"!

Those broadcasts with Kelly and Gus Kyle.

Remember those 10:05 west coast starts against the Kings and the California Golden Seals with the transistor under the pillow on school nights.

It always seemed like everytime the opposition would score a goal Kyle would say "they got the Blues running around in their own zone".

Thinking about it now it just cracks me up.

The radio broadcast was so far away and poor quality to what we have now. It sounded like they were calling the games from Mars.

Yeah but that KMOX AM you could hear all over.

I remember actually hearing a broadcast static and all from Lake Placid, NY.

Clear channel. I could pick it up in Houston, TX. Barely.

Were you in Houston when Gordie Howe played for the Aeros?

No, but I did take a skate where they practiced back in the day. 81-82. One year was enough for me. Hated it, but work is work.

[1983cougar]

I didn't become a hockey fan until the early 70's when we got cable. We got the old msg network with the NY Rangers. My mom liked Ron Duguay with his long flowing hair (of course this was before mandatory helmets). I became a Blues fan later on. I think hockey is a sport that you really need to watch in person, it's very hard to follow on TV sometimes. I have seen the Cardinals win multiple ws titles and I have been a baseball fan since early childhood but for me the Blues winning the Cup after so many disappointments was the best feeling. We drove 2 hours just to see the parade and it was fantastic!
LGB!

You had cable in the 70's? Were you in NY?

I think cable hit STL, or my burb, around 1984 or so....$5.95 a month I believe and some 30 channels.....and oh yeah no commercials.

hahaha

Nope I was in Missouri and now that I think about it it was probably the late 70's and the cable was so finicky that a stiff wind would knock it out. But it was still better than 3 channels or playing pong.

[netboy65]

Dan Kelly on the radio WAS theater! He painted pictures, masterpieces, in our minds.

As a kid I watched many games on an old 11-inch screen portable b&w, channel 11. Now, I have a 65" OLED smart TV. Life is good. To think, that old portable weighed a heck of a lot more than my new 65"!

Those broadcasts with Kelly and Gus Kyle.

Remember those 10:05 west coast starts against the Kings and the California Golden Seals with the transistor under the pillow on school nights.

It always seemed like everytime the opposition would score a goal Kyle would say "they got the Blues running around in their own zone".

Thinking about it now it just cracks me up.

The radio broadcast was so far away and poor quality to what we have now. It sounded like they were calling the games from Mars.

Yeah but that KMOX AM you could hear all over.

I remember actually hearing a broadcast static and all from Lake Placid, NY.

Clear channel. I could pick it up in Houston, TX. Barely.

Not as much competition for the airwaves in those days. Is that still the case now I wonder?

[Tabasco Flowers]

Dan Kelly on the radio WAS theater! He painted pictures, masterpieces, in our minds.

As a kid I watched many games on an old 11-inch screen portable b&w, channel 11. Now, I have a 65" OLED smart TV. Life is good. To think, that old portable weighed a heck of a lot more than my new 65"!

Those broadcasts with Kelly and Gus Kyle.

Remember those 10:05 west coast starts against the Kings and the California Golden Seals with the transistor under the pillow on school nights.

It always seemed like everytime the opposition would score a goal Kyle would say "they got the Blues running around in their own zone".

Thinking about it now it just cracks me up.

The radio broadcast was so far away and poor quality to what we have now. It sounded like they were calling the games from Mars.

Yeah but that KMOX AM you could hear all over.

I remember actually hearing a broadcast static and all from Lake Placid, NY.

Clear channel. I could pick it up in Houston, TX. Barely.

Not as much competition for the airwaves in those days. Is that still the case now I wonder?

I don't know if KMOX is still a clear channel. After a certain time in the evening, other channels close to their output had to decrease their output. That's why you could hear it far out of state.

With the advent of internet radio, I wonder if that's still the case.

[Russdv14]

Every once in a while, we get one of these good threads for us old guys to comment on. I’ve been a fan since day one and like Blues Dave, the Blues are the only sports franchise I really care about. I Feel for Tabasco because I hate missing even one period of watching Blues hockey, thus here I am still working after age 70 so that I can make enough money to not only have cable, but now an iPhone with ESPN + as a “necessity”. This season, however I gave up on watching pre-and post game and the NHL network on DIRECTV because of the excessive cost of adding those channels (living out of state in Texas) . I used to go to about 10 games a year, including standing room only, so I have a two or three I stand for the Blues with the Minuteman symbol button. I always point out to those who have not read it yet that they should be watching “True Blues” on YouTube.
Dan Kelly and Gus Kyle were so entertaining & informative, and knowing each of our players characteristics from watching them, I could picture exactly what was going on on the ice. John Kelly was an extension of his father so that was terrible to let him go. One thing I love(d) about hockey is how traditional they’re been like recognizing the police and military. Now please don’t make this thread turn into hate for this.
I just remember going down to the arena and finding the hockey players were the most fan friendly.. I’ve got autographed from Barc and Bobby and Unger from outside the old arena when the players used to come out to their cars. You get the stories & videos of the players visiting Children’s Hospitals. Unlike baseball, which turned to a snails pace for nine innings, Hockey always has a potential for action even though the current team doesn’t seem to understand that concept. I still will hold out and watch period to period .., watching for each Blues goal & win and another trip to the playoffs. That’s the name of the game make the playoffs that you have a chance for the Cup.

I now own several Blues jerseys and t shirts that I proudly wear around Texas and they are conversation pieces for people who either are from St Louis or love hockey.

[Old_Goat]

I didn't become a hockey fan until the early 70's when we got cable. We got the old msg network with the NY Rangers. My mom liked Ron Duguay with his long flowing hair (of course this was before mandatory helmets). I became a Blues fan later on. I think hockey is a sport that you really need to watch in person, it's very hard to follow on TV sometimes. I have seen the Cardinals win multiple ws titles and I have been a baseball fan since early childhood but for me the Blues winning the Cup after so many disappointments was the best feeling. We drove 2 hours just to see the parade and it was fantastic!
LGB!

Now that is a great memory! I fell in love with the game in October 1963 at a St. Louis Braves game. Went to probably 50-60% of their home games for 4 years. When they announced that they would be gone because St. Louis was getting an NHL team I was very disappointed...I really was not familiar with the NHL, only 6 teams, games never on TV, and now my favorite players were not going to be around. Obviously it did not take but a few games to adopt the Blues. But again, almost never on TV.
But let's get back to your great memory: So, my first home purchase was in San Diego in the late '70s, and cable was a great new thing. And MSG was part of the package, so I saw every Rangers home game on tape delay by the cable company...Duguay, Don & Dave Maloney, John Davidson, Phil Esposito, Anders Hedberg, Steve Vickers, Ron Greschner, Ulf Nilsson, Walt Tkachuk (the real WALT), Carol Vadnais...basically the primary hockey I saw. Occasionally the Kings would be broadcast...Marcel Dionne, Dave Taylor, Charlie Simmer, even Gary Unger and Mike Murphy, eventually Larry Murphy.
And yes the announcers were MUCH better on every channel, for every team, every game than what I'm hearing as I watch regularly now on FDSMW. But I am so glad to just be able to watch almost every game in HD, with great angles and replays. I guess the TV timeouts and long period breaks have to come with that.
Thanks for your memory.

[blues2112]

Every once in a while, we get one of these good threads for us old guys to comment on. I’ve been a fan since day one and like Blues Dave, the Blues are the only sports franchise I really care about. I Feel for Tabasco because I hate missing even one period of watching Blues hockey, thus here I am still working after age 70 so that I can make enough money to not only have cable, but now an iPhone with ESPN + as a “necessity”. This season, however I gave up on watching pre-and post game and the NHL network on DIRECTV because of the excessive cost of adding those channels (living out of state in Texas) . I used to go to about 10 games a year, including standing room only, so I have a two or three I stand for the Blues with the Minuteman symbol button. I always point out to those who have not read it yet that they should be watching “True Blues” on YouTube.
Dan Kelly and Gus Kyle were so entertaining & informative, and knowing each of our players characteristics from watching them, I could picture exactly what was going on on the ice. John Kelly was an extension of his father so that was terrible to let him go. One thing I love(d) about hockey is how traditional they’re been like recognizing the police and military. Now please don’t make this thread turn into hate for this.
I just remember going down to the arena and finding the hockey players were the most fan friendly.. I’ve got autographed from Barc and Bobby and Unger from outside the old arena when the players used to come out to their cars. You get the stories & videos of the players visiting Children’s Hospitals. Unlike baseball, which turned to a snails pace for nine innings, Hockey always has a potential for action even though the current team doesn’t seem to understand that concept. I still will hold out and watch period to period .., watching for each Blues goal & win and another trip to the playoffs. That’s the name of the game make the playoffs that you have a chance for the Cup.

I now own several Blues jerseys and t shirts that I proudly wear around Texas and they are conversation pieces for people who either are from St Louis or love hockey.

Love it!

As to the boldface, same here. Followed Cards closely for awhile, but the 1990s reduced me to a very casual fan: strike right before the World Series, steroids, games that became home-run derbies, etc.. What's more, move out of state in 1993.

Still have about 1,500 baseball cards from the 1970s.

AND, Gretzky rookie card — with a nail hole in it!

[PPG]

I've been a fan since the very first year also. So many great memories from games in the old barn. Probably saw over 500 games in that place. So many iconic players and great games.
Winning the Cup finally, was the icing on the cake. The Blues have always done things the hard way. Had several teams that were good enough to win a Cup, but somehow always fell short. Then, when you least expect it, 2019 happens. And even then, it would have been so awesome to see them clinch it on home ice in game 6, but you almost knew that wasn't going to happen.
I live in Florida and when they won game 5 in Boston, I went on Stub Hub or some 3rd party seller and paid $1700 for a ticket. Then booked a flight Sunday morning for STL, rented a car and went to the game. So of course they had to lose....LOL
I really thought there was no way they would win a 3rd straight game in Boston in game 7. Wrong again....
With 32 teams now in the league and so much parity, and now talk of adding 2 or more teams, it will make it exceedingly difficult for a mid market team like the Blues to repeat what happened in 2019.
So I am glad they at least did it once while I'm still around...

[Russdv14]

Like you other posters, this is a great thread, and I feel the camaraderie with the last 2 posters and the old goat for sure. When (especially) Fox Sports MW took over broadcasts, the camera angles and replays were Tops. I could't figure out why anyone would want to attend a Blues game live anymore-though I did go from Austin to Dallas to see 2 games including the kindly Brummer poster. An now all the iphone viewing on ESPN + (Dick Tracy watch territory)
My father took me to a St Louis Braves game too where I think I saw an Esposito or two, and I think Gus Kyle may have been a coach (would need to Google) and the star of the team, Boom Boom Caron. I had a bunch of baseball cards too -some from the 60's too), but while I loved Brock and Gibson, I think Curt Flood and free agency ruined the game and I became disinterested as to why players seemed to have no loyalty to their teams. Hockey makes trades which disappoint us, but you do not see to see a lot of player movement like baseball and the hockey players are so good with their fans. You can feel the appreciation.
PPG reminds me to mention my best friend, Stan W (who Dawg Dad also knew) how he passed away not too many years before the Blues won in 2019. What a great shame he did not witness the excitement. We shared board hockey games and played them & attended games together and played "street" hockey with me. This reminded me of another story regarding game 6 in St Louis where we hoped the Cup would be raised in St Louis for the great fans.Another boyhood friend happened to have planned a trip to the Austin area in June and just happened to come a couple of days before Game 6 ..as we had no clue the Blues would be in the Stanley Cup final series when he made his reservations! We were so thrilled to sit together and hoped to witness our favorite team win the Cup . Imagine our disappointment together-but did not spend $1700 to watch! WOW. He went back home to St Louis and we did not know what would happen...so glad we won..and experience the ultimate thrill since age 14 when the Blues were born . Thanks for the memories