2003 St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues -- playing in downtown St. Louis, Missouri's Savvis Center -- are one of the most successful teams in the sporting world, having set a professional sports record by reaching the playoffs for the 24th consecutive year in 2002-2003.

In the upcoming season they will look to Calder Trophy winner Barrett Jackman (for Rookie of the Year) and Pavol Demitra (one of the NHL's top ten scorers) to carry them deep into playoffs territory. Joel Quenneville is back as Head Coach and is looking to add to his St. Louis Blues record total for career wins and games coached.

Though the Blues set the record for consecutive Playoff appearances in 2002-2003, they are still shooting for their first NHL Championship. They began playing in 1966 and the Blues were an immediate success that season. Led by Hall of Fame coaching legend Scotty Bowman, the Blues reached the Stanley Cup Finals three consecutive times in their first three years but fell short of bringing home the Stanley Cup each time. The Blues are still trying to get back to the Finals and hopefully bring the Cup home for their fans.

Thanks to their successful run over the last quarter of a century the Blues have built some classic rivalries with the greatest teams in hockey. The Savvis Center rocks , especially when rivals such as the Detroit Redwings or Chicago Blackhawks come to town.

St. Louis is one of the country's foremost sports cities, playing home to the St. Louis Cardinals (Busch Stadium), always one of the teams to beat when Baseball season starts in March; the NFL's Rams (Edward Jones Dome) are already neck-deep in their trek to the Superbowl when the first puck is dropped for the Blues in October; St. Louis also has a devoted College basketball following thanks to the St. Louis Billikens (who also play at the Savvis Center) and the annual Missouri-Illinois basketball game.