Blues–Blackhawks rivalry

Blackhawks–Blues rivalry

Teams	Chicago Blackhawks St. Louis Blues
First meeting	November 12, 1967
Latest meeting	February 26, 2017
Next meeting	TBD
Statistics
Meetings total	366
All-time series	182–142–35–10 (CHI)
Regular season series	147-114-35-10 (CHI)
Postseason results	35–28 (CHI)
Current win streak	STL, W1
Post-season history
1973 Quarterfinals: Blackhawks won, 4–1 1980 Preliminary Round: Blackhawks won, 3–0 1982 Norris Division Finals: Blackhawks won, 4–2 1983 Norris Division Semifinals: Blackhawks won, 3–1 1988 Norris Division Semifinals: Blues won, 4–1 1989 Norris Division Finals: Blackhawks won, 4–1 1990 Norris Division Finals: Blackhawks won, 4–3 1992 Norris Division Semifinals: Blackhawks won, 4–2 1993 Norris Division Semifinals: Blues won, 4–0 2002 Western Conference Quarterfinals: Blues won, 4–1 2014 Western Conference First Round: Blackhawks won, 4–2 2016 Western Conference First Round: Blues won, 4–3

The Blackhawks–Blues rivalry is a National Hockey League (NHL) rivalry featuring two teams in the league's Western Conference Central Division: the Chicago Blackhawks and the 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 at the height of the rivalry during the Norris Division days, it was common to go to a Chicago vs. St. Louis game and see a brawl break out.

Since the move of the Detroit Red Wings to the Eastern Conference, this rivalry is considered the top divisional rivalry for both teams.

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). They also qualified for the playoffs together every season from 1980 to 1997. Every Norris Division Final from 1982 to 1993 involved either the Blackhawks or Blues, or both teams. The only year that neither team was in the division final was 1987, when the Detroit Red Wings faced the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The rivalry caught fire in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when both teams had well-known stars such as Jeremy Roenick, 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. By coincidence, both were built in 1929 and both closed in 1994 to make way for new buildings. The Blackhawks moved across the street to the United Center, while the Blues moved into the Kiel Center.

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Wikipedia