Blackhawks–Blues rivalry

Chicago Blackhawks–St. Louis Blues
History
1st Meeting	November 12, 1967
1st Result	Chicago, 5–2
Location	Chicago Stadium
Last Meeting	February 19, 2012
Last Result	Chicago, 3-1
Location	United Center
Next Meeting	March 6, 2012
Location	Scottrade Center
Number of Meetings	328
Regular Season Meetings	278
All-Time Series	Chicago, 161–125–42
Regular Season Series	Chicago, 133–103–42
Longest CHI Win Streak
Longest STL Win Streak
Post Season History
Post Season Meetings	50 (10 series)
Post Season Series	Chicago, 28–22 (7–3)
1973 Quarterfinals	Chicago, 4–1
1980 Preliminary Round	Chicago, 3–0
1982 Norris Division Finals	Chicago, 4–2
1983 Norris Division Semifinals	Chicago, 3–1
1988 Norris Division Semifinals	St. Louis, 4–1
1989 Norris Division Finals	Chicago, 4–1
1990 Norris Division Finals	Chicago, 4–3
1992 Norris Division Semifinals	Chicago, 4–2
1993 Norris Division Semifinals	St. Louis, 4–0
2002 Western Conference Quarterfinals	St. Louis, 4–1

The Blackhawks–Blues rivalry features two teams in the Central Division of the NHL, the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues. Since 1970, the two teams have been in the same division together. It is the most intense rivalry in terms of penalty minutes and fighting, and is not uncommon to go to a Chicago vs. St. Louis game and see a brawl break out.

Background

The Blackhawks are an Original Six team, while the Blues entered play in the 1967 expansion. The long-standing bitter rivalry between sports fans from Chicago and St. Louis, which are separated by 300 miles, as seen in the Cardinals–Cubs rivalry in Major League Baseball, has led to the Blackhawks and Blues to have an intense hatred for each other. The two teams have been in the same division since 1970 (Western 1970–74, Smythe 1974–81, Norris 1981–93, Central 1993–present).

The matchups reached their zenith in the early '90s, when both teams had well-known stars such as Denis Savard, Chris Chelios and Ed Belfour for the Hawks and Brett Hull, Adam Oates and Curtis Joseph for the Blues and played in old arenas (St. Louis Arena and Chicago Stadium) that were regarded as two of the loudest in the league.

Notable moments

One notable moment in the rivalry was the 1993 Norris Division Semifinal: Chicago had won the division handily but were swept by the Blues, winning the series on an overtime goal. Belfour, who said he had been interfered with on the goal by Hull, went on to cause thousands of dollars' worth of damage to the visitors' dressing room at the Arena, breaking a coffeemaker, hot tub and television among other objects. To this day Belfour refuses to appear in regular-season games in St. Louis: the only exception coming in 1999 when he replaced Roman Turek for the Dallas Stars in the third period of a 4–4 game, and only after Turek had allowed four unanswered goals. When he was spotted skating onto the ice, the Savvis Center crowd greeted him with the "Bellll-foooour" chant, first popularized in the '93 series. Ironically, Hull and "The Eagle" were Dallas teammates in 1998–99, and both critical in the Stars' narrow Cup win that summer, which came at the expense of the Buffalo Sabres and Belfour's former teammate Dominik Hašek.

The Blackhawks and Blues were also fierce rivals in the Norris Division along with the Minnesota North Stars, a three-way rivalry that was among the most heated, if not the most heated, in the NHL. In fact, it can be argued that all five members of the classic Norris Division (Chicago, St. Louis, Minnesota, Detroit, and Toronto) were mortal enemies.

St. Patrick's Day Massacre

Perhaps the defining moment of the rivalry came in a brawl during a Blackhawks 6-4 win over the Blues in a game on March 17, 1991. This game became known as the "St. Patrick's Day Massacre" for the massive amount of fighting and penalties handed out to both teams. In the game, the two teams, who were fighting for the Presidents' Trophy got into a brawl after Glen Featherstone shoved Jeremy Roenick after his hard hit on Harold Snepsts. Keith Brown shoved Featherstone, beginning a brawl. Twelve players, six on each team, were ejected. After reviewing the tapes, the NHL suspended Blues defenseman Scott Stevens for two games, and Hawks Mike Peluso and Blues Kelly Chase each for 10 games and fined both teams $10,000 each.

Recent developments

The rivalry cooled somewhat in the 21st century as both teams sank in the standings. The Blackhawks missed the playoffs all but once from 1997 to 2008, while the Blues have missed the playoffs in four of the last five years. However, the Blues and Blackhawks did meet in the 2002 Western Conference Quarterfinals. The Blues won that series 4 games to 1. With the rise of the Hawks and Blues back into prominence in the late 2000's and the Blackhawks winning the 2010 Stanley Cup, the rivalry has again become one of the more intense and closely fought in the league.

During the 2011–12 season, both teams are engaged in a battle for first place in the Central Division and the Western Conference, along with another Blackhawks rival in the Central Division, the Detroit Red Wings, which the Blues ended up winning with 109 points as opposed to Chicago's 101.