*Lauries stress commitment to keep Blues in St. Louis*
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ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- One day after purchasing the St. Louis
Blues and the Kiel Center, Bill and Nancy Walton Laurie stressed
a commitment to keep the team in St. Louis. 

The Lauries, who were rebuffed in their attempt to buy the NHL's
Colorado Avalanche and the NBA's Denver Nuggets last March,
announced details of the purchase at a news conference this
afternoon at the Kiel Center. 

"We looked long and hard and we found the perfect opportunity in
St. Louis," Bill Laurie said. 

The Blues had been owned by a consortium of 19 St. Louis
companies since the early 1990s. 

Bill Laurie said today that operations of the Blues and the
arena will continue normally during the ownership transition and
that management staffs of both entities will remain in place. 

Last spring, the Blues reached the playoffs for the 20th
straight season, a string that leads all professional sports
teams for most consecutive years to qualify for postseason play.

"Nancy has become our big hockey fan, but I'm right there with
her," Bill Laurie said.  "We look forward to the start of the
season, and we want the fans to know that we'll be right there
with them to capitalize on the strong Blues hockey tradition." 

Transfer of the team to the Lauries is expected to be completed
later this month.  The sale also must be approved by the NHL
Board of Governors, which earlier this week gave its nod to the
sale of the cash-strapped Pittsburgh Penguins to a group headed
by Hockey Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux. 

The Blues have no such troubles, although financial instability
nearly forced the team to move to Saskatchewan in 1977 before
Ralston Purina agreed to invest in the franchise. 

Money should not be a problem for the Lauries, a billionaire
couple from Columbia, Missouri.  Nancy Walton Laurie is an heir
to the Wal-Mart fortune. 

In March, she and her husband reached agreement with Ascent
Communications to buy the Avalanche, Nuggets and the new Pepsi
Center for $400 million. But the deal was scuttled after Ascent
shareholders filed lawsuits claiming the price was too low. 

That package ultimately was sold to Denver businessman Donald
Sturm for $461 million. 

st 09-07-99 13:14 et