My home town of St. Louis is known for lots of historic firsts, but this cold wintry season, and Facebook wise cracks from my buddy Phil Dawson (A Detroit Red Wings fan), made me recall that my home team mascot is named for one of the most popular blues songs of the era penned by W.C. Handy. The St. Louis Blues was published in 1941 and was adopted as the hockey team’s theme song many years later.

As an NHL expansion team in 1967 team owner Sid Saloman Jr. took inspiration from the city’s blues history and Handy’s famed song to name his new franchise. And if you look closely at the emblem on the jersey it’s a fanciful blue-note borrowed from standard sheet music notation.

As a kid listening to the intro to games on KMOX radio I didn’t know that we were listening to a jazzed up version similar to this rendition by Glenn Miller’s Band. Not sure if this was the recording chosen for the broadcast but it definitely sounds like it.

It was great the way the radio broadcast would start. Jack Buck’s voice saying, “The St. Louis Blues are on the air!” and then the drums and horns kicking in exactly the way the song always starts.

So if you ever wondered how the blues and hockey are connected there’s your answer. Know any other little known historical tid-bits about this subject or hockey and Black History in general? Share with us and leave comments after this post.