1996–97 St. Louis Blues season
The highlight of the 1996–97 St. Louis Blues season was, after losing Wayne Gretzky the Blues were in turmoil as an ugly public feud between Brett Hull and coach Mike Keenan developed. This was the last season until early 2009, that a huge Blue note would appear at center ice
Offseason
After losing captain Wayne Gretzky to free-agency, the Blues were in turmoil as an ugly public feud between Brett Hull and Coach Mike Keenan developed, as the Blues got off to a slow start. On December 19 the Keenan era would come to a sudden end as he is fired as GM and Coach. Eventually he would be replaced by assistant coach Jimmy Roberts.Roberts' stint as interim head coach lasted nine games, as the team would hire Colorado Avalanche assistant coach Joel Quenneville to serve as the team's head coach. The change worked with Quenneville behind the bench as the Blues recovered and made the playoffs for the 18th straight season with a 36–35–11 record. However, once again the Blues would make a quick exit in the playoffs as they are beaten by the Detroit Red Wings in 6 games.
Regular season
Final standings
Schedule and results
Playoffs
The Blues lost 4 games to 2 to the Detroit Red Wings in the first round.Player statistics
Regular season
;Scoring| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| RW | 77 | 42 | 40 | 82 | 10 | -9 | 12 | 2 | 6 | |
| C | 69 | 25 | 49 | 74 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 7 | |
| LW | 82 | 17 | 40 | 57 | 86 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | |
| RW | 75 | 20 | 25 | 45 | 69 | -1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | |
| RW | 68 | 23 | 20 | 43 | 68 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | |
| D | 72 | 13 | 30 | 43 | 65 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | |
| LW | 74 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 50 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| D | 79 | 11 | 24 | 35 | 143 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 74 | 14 | 18 | 32 | 24 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | |
| D | 82 | 4 | 24 | 28 | 35 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 44 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| LW | 54 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 35 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| C | 61 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 35 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 53 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 45 | -2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 50 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 33 | -12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 13 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 15 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 | -4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 34 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 44 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| LW | 44 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 158 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 31 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 37 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 82 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 53 | -9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| LW | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 24 | -4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 17 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 24 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 37 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 64 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 121 | -8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 11 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 73 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 39 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV | SV% |
| 4261 | 73 | 33 | 27 | 11 | 193 | 2.72 | 3 | 1940 | 1747 | .901 | |
| 707 | 15 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 40 | 3.39 | 0 | 299 | 259 | .866 | |
| Team: | 4968 | 82 | 36 | 35 | 11 | 233 | 2.81 | 3 | 2239 | 2006 | .896 |
Playoffs
;Scoring| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| RW | 6 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| LW | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | -2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | -1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV | SV% |
| 357 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 2.18 | 2 | 183 | 170 | .929 | |
| Team: | 357 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 2.18 | 2 | 183 | 170 | .929 |
Roster
Draft picks
St. Louis's draft picks at the 1996 NHL Entry Draft held at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri.| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club Team |
| 1 | 14 | Marty Reasoner | Boston College | |
| 3 | 67 | Gordie Dwyer | Beauport Harfangs | |
| 4 | 95 | Jon Zukiwsky | Red Deer Rebels | |
| 4 | 97 | Andrei Petrakov | Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg | |
| 6 | 159 | Stephen Wagner | Olds Grizzlys | |
| 7 | 169 | Daniel Corso | Victoriaville Tigres | |
| 7 | 177 | Reed Low | Moose Jaw Warriors | |
| 8 | 196 | Andrej Podkonicky | ZTK Zvolen | |
| 8 | 203 | Anthony Hutchins | Lawrence Academy | |
| 9 | 229 | Konstantin Shafranov | Fort Wayne Komets |