It’s difficult to imagine today’s NHL without the St. Louis Blues.

They’re one of the league’s oldest expansion franchises, Stanley Cup champions, and one of hockey’s most passionate markets. But in 1983, the franchise came closer to disappearing than perhaps any team in modern NHL history.

For several months, the Blues were on the verge of becoming the Saskatoon Blues, and when that plan fell apart, the NHL nearly folded the franchise altogether.

It remains one of the wildest ownership sagas the league has ever seen.

Why Ralston Purina Wanted Out

The trouble began during the 1982-83 season.

Ralston Purina, the pet food company that had owned the Blues since rescuing the franchise in 1977, had grown tired of losing money. While the company had stepped in years earlier to save hockey in St. Louis, executives no longer wanted to be in the hockey business.

Their solution was simple: sell the team.

Unfortunately for St. Louis fans, the best offer didn’t come from Missouri.

It came from Saskatchewan.

Bill Hunter’s Dream

Leading the charge was legendary hockey builder Bill Hunter, one of the founders of the WHA and an instrumental figure in bringing major league hockey to Western Canada.

Hunter believed Saskatchewan deserved an NHL franchise.

His ownership group, Coliseum Holdings Ltd., reached an agreement with Ralston Purina to purchase the Blues for approximately $11.5 million, with the intention of immediately relocating the club to Saskatoon for the 1983-84 season. 

The plans weren’t theoretical.

Hunter had already begun envisioning a new 18,000-seat arena, increased airline service into Saskatoon, and a future where Saskatchewan finally had an NHL team. The provincial government publicly celebrated the announcement, stating:

“The sale and transfer of the club is subject to the approval of the NHL’s Board of Governors. Given the solid support of the people of Saskatchewan… it is difficult to see any circumstances under which that approval would not be forthcoming.” 

For a brief moment, it genuinely appeared the move was inevitable.

The NHL Says No

There was just one obstacle.

The NHL had to approve the sale.

On May 18, 1983, the Board of Governors voted 15-3 against allowing the franchise to relocate.

League owners questioned whether Saskatoon—whose metropolitan population was only a fraction of St. Louis’—could financially support an NHL franchise long-term. There were also lingering concerns about Hunter’s previous involvement in the rival WHA and whether moving an established American franchise into such a small Canadian market was the right move for the league. 

With one vote, the relocation was dead.

Or so everyone thought.

Things Got Ugly… Fast

Ralston Purina was furious.

The company believed it had every right to sell its asset to the highest bidder and responded by filing a lawsuit against the NHL, claiming the league had illegally prevented the transaction.

The NHL fired back with a countersuit.

Meanwhile, the Blues themselves became collateral damage.

The team’s front office was essentially shut down.

Employees were dismissed.

President and General Manager Emile Francis, who had no interest in moving to Saskatchewan, was released from his contract and accepted a position with the Hartford Whalers. 

Instead of operating the franchise normally, Ralston Purina effectively walked away.

The Only Team to Miss the NHL Draft

Then came perhaps the strangest chapter of the entire story.

The 1983 NHL Entry Draft.

Rather than send representatives to Montreal, the Blues simply… didn’t show up.

To this day, St. Louis remains the only franchise in NHL history to completely skip an Entry Draft.

No picks.

No scouting staff.

Nothing.

The draft eventually produced future Hall of Famers including Steve Yzerman, Cam Neely, Pat LaFontaine, Tom Barrasso and Dominik Hasek.

While nobody can say who the Blues would have selected, missing an entire draft left a scar on the organization for years. 

The NHL Nearly Pulled the Plug

By June, the situation had become so chaotic that the NHL stepped in and assumed control of the franchise.

League officials even discussed dissolving the Blues if a local buyer couldn’t be found.

For a brief period, the possibility that St. Louis might simply lose its NHL team altogether became very real.

It wasn’t just relocation anymore.

The franchise itself was hanging by a thread.

As one NHL.com retrospective later summarized, the league had become “ready to fold the franchise” after rejecting the Saskatoon proposal. 

Harry Ornest Saves Hockey in St. Louis

With time running out, businessman Harry Ornest emerged as the unlikely hero.

Just days before the league’s deadline, Ornest agreed to purchase both the Blues and the Checkerdome, keeping NHL hockey in St. Louis.

“I’m delighted,” Ornest said after completing the purchase. “I’m glad it’s over. Now we can get down to the business of getting the club going.” 

Years later, Ornest reflected on the challenge ahead:

“I was determined to make this work… Keeping the team in business—and competitive—would be a huge challenge.” 

NHL President John Ziegler Jr. also welcomed the sale, saying the league was pleased that “the loyal fans of the St. Louis Blues can look forward to continuing… and cheering their Blues to future successes.” 

Against all odds, hockey survived in St. Louis.

What If Saskatoon Had Worked?

It’s one of hockey’s great “what ifs.”

Would the Saskatoon Blues have succeeded?

Hunter believed so, and he had already built substantial support within Saskatchewan.

Others believed the market simply wasn’t large enough to compete financially with major U.S. cities over the long term.

Ironically, just over a decade later, even larger Canadian markets like Quebec City and Winnipeg lost their NHL franchises during the financial struggles of the 1990s.

Many historians believe Saskatoon would have faced even greater challenges.

A Decision That Changed NHL History

Looking back today, it’s remarkable how close the NHL came to losing one of its cornerstone franchises.

Had the Board of Governors approved the sale, the Blues almost certainly would have played in Saskatchewan.

Had Harry Ornest not stepped in weeks later, the franchise may have ceased to exist entirely.

Instead, St. Louis remained an NHL city, eventually winning its first Stanley Cup in 2019—an outcome that seemed impossible during the darkest days of 1983.

For Blues fans, the Stanley Cup wasn’t just the culmination of decades of hockey.

It was proof that a franchise which nearly vanished forever had survived its greatest battle before it ever lifted the Cup.