1998–99 St. Louis Blues season
| 1998–99 St. Louis Blues | |
|---|---|
| Division | 2nd Central |
| Conference | 5th Western |
| 1998–99 record | 37–32–13 |
| Home record | 18–17–6 |
| Road record | 19–15–7 |
| Goals for | 237 |
| Goals against | 209 |
| Team information | |
| General Manager | Larry Pleau |
| Coach | Joel Quenneville |
| Captain | Chris Pronger |
| Arena | Kiel Center |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals | Pavol Demitra |
| Assists | Pavol Demitra |
| Points | Pavol Demitra |
Despite the loss of Brett Hull the Blues made the playoffs for the 20th straight season by finishing in 2nd place with a record of 37–32–13.
Realignment came, as the NHL went from four to six divisions. Carolina, Florida, Tampa Bay and Washington were grouped in the Eastern Conference's new Southeast Division and Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton and Vancouver moved into the new Northwest Division in the Western Conference.
Blues captain Chris Pronger was in midseason form during one of the team's voluntary scrimmages in late August. After 90 minutes of exhausting four-on-four hockey with only eight players per team, Pronger was campaigning to prolong the game.
The sentiment was nothing new for a man who logged more ice time per game (30:37) than any other player in the league last season. And when Pronger wasn't on the ice, it seemed that Norris Trophy winner Al MacInnis was. At 35, MacInnis had the finest season of his outstanding 16-year career. He led NHL defensemen in scoring with 62 points, averaged more than 29 minutes per game (fourth in the league) and was +33 on a team whose next-highest mark in that category was center Craig Conroy's +14. The problem for the Blues was finding four other defensemen they wanted to put on the ice.
In training camp the Blues were getting ready for the regular-season wars. During intrasquad games MacInnis and Pronger exchanged slashes—MacInnis called them "love taps"—and Pronger fought rookie forward Brandon Sugden and had a nasty mid-ice collision with defenceman Jamie Rivers, who was subsequently lost in the waiver draft. That ill-tempered defense will help goalie Roman Turek, who had sparkling numbers (16–3–3, 2.08 goals-against average) as Ed Belfour's backup in Dallas last season. Turek, 29, will get his first crack at being a No. 1 goalie now that Grant Fuhr has been shipped to Calgary. Netminding was a problem for the Blues in 1998–99: St. Louis allowed the fewest shots of any team in the league, but its goals-against average ranked only 14th.
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